Alexander Leibkind

Alexander Leibkind studied civil engineering and architecture at Darmstadt and Frankfurt, and then sports science at Sporthochschule Köln (Cologne). Between 1971 and 1979 he was a German Champion in judo seven times. In 1976, he participated in the lightweight class at the 1976 Montréal Olympics with limited success. After his sports career he made his living as a sports manager and managed German sport stars like Steffi Graf, Ulrike Meyfarth, Michael Groß and surf legend Robby Naish.

He then began to organize sport events such as the Indoor Freeclimbing World Championships in Frankfurt in the 1990s, helped install the NFL Europe in Germany in 1993 and 1995, and was general manager of the American football team Rhein Fire Düsseldorf, which won the World Bowl in 1998 and 2000. In 2001 Leibkind was appointed Chief Executive of the Olympia Rhein-Ruhr GmbH which organized the 2012 Olympic Bid for the Ruhrgebiet Region. In 2004 he became Chief Executive of the Düsseldorf Town Marketing Company and in this role he organized the Cross Country World Cup in Düsseldorf and the Opening Event of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft at Königsallee in Düsseldorf. In May 2006 Leibkind had a heart attack during a business trip to New York and died at the age of 53.