Inka Grings

Forward Inka Grings was a member of the German women’s football squad that won the bronze medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympics by beating Brazil 2-0. Therefore, she was awarded the Silver Bay Leaf, Germany’s highest sports award. She won 96 international caps and scored 64 goals. In 2005 and 2009, she was a member of the squads that won the UEFA European Women’s Championship and was top scorer on both occasions. She missed the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup and 2004 Olympic Games due to injuries.

At club level, Grings played with FCR Duisburg (1995-2011), FC Zürich in Switzerland (2001-13), Chicago Red Stars in the US (2013) and 1. FC Köln (2013-14). She won the German Championship with Duisburg in 2000, and the Swiss Championship with Zürich in 2012 and 2013. Grings also won the German Cup with Duisburg in 1998, 2009, and 2010, and the Swiss Cup with Zürich in 2012 and 2013. In 2009, she won the UEFA Women’s Cup with Duisburg. Grings was top scorer in the German Bundesliga six times in 1999-2000, 2003, and 2008-10, and was three times named Player of the Year in 1999 and 2009-10.

Grings later became a successful coach with MSV Duisburg (2014-17), FC Viktoria Köln (2017-18), and in 2019-20 she became the first women ever to coach a men’s team; fourth league club SV Straelen. Grings coached in Switzerland with FC Zürich in 2021-22 and since 2023 the Swiss women’s national team. She won the Swiss Championship and Swiss Cup with Zürich in 2022.Grings also owned an insurance agency and lived openly as bisexual.