World Championship Gold for Postdoc Valentin Luz

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A major success for Valentin Luz: The para-rower and postdoc at the Institute for Finance & Banking successfully defended his world championship title in the PR3 mixed double sculls alongside Kathrin Marchand at the World Championships in Amsterdam in late August.

Luz and Marchand lived up to their status as favorites and confidently prevailed over the boats from Ukraine and Australia in the final. The German duo led from the start and at one point extended their lead to more than six seconds. After 7:03.97 minutes, the two finally crossed the finish line with a 5.31-second lead over Ukraine.

The final day was marked by a 90-minute interruption due to a storm. Even the difficult conditions couldn’t throw the duo off their rhythm. “It was really tough; we didn’t feel good during the race. But that’s why we train so hard—so we can win even on bad days,” Luz said after the race.
This victory marks Luz and Marchand’s second joint world championship title. The pair also hold the world record in their boat class. For Luz, one of the keys to their success lies in their shared mindset: “We have similar ideas about rowing; we’re equally ambitious.”

The next major goal is the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles.

The LMU Munich School of Management is proud of its postdoc and congratulates the two world champions!