Here we go again! The Paralympic Summer Games under the motto ‘Citius, altius, fortius’ (faster, higher, further) started in Tokyo on Tuesday. 14 female and male athletes from TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen are competing at the Paralympics.
One of them is the visually impaired Taliso Engel. The 19-year-old is a big medal hope for Germany in swimming. “My big target at the Paralympics is to end up in the top three in the 100 metre breaststroke. That would be my main aim and it would be a dream come true, ” explained Engel ahead of the games.
The European and World champion from Nuremberg with be the first TSV athlete to compete at the games. On Friday, 27 August, at 09.00 CEST he will take part in the qualifiers for the men’s 400 metre freestyle. The final is at 17.00 CEST on the same day.
We wish all the German Paralympians, above all the athletes from TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, great success at the summer games in Tokyo.
The TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen athletes at the Paralympics:
Taliso Engel (swimming), Nele Moos (100m/400m), Léon Schäfer (long jump/100m), Johannes Floors (100m/400m), Markus Rehm (long jump), Irmgard Bensusan (100m/200m), Maria Tietze (100m/200m), David Behre (relay), Lise Petersen (javelin), Dominik Albrecht (sitting volleyball), Stefan Hähnlein (sitting volleyball), Lukas Schiwiy (sitting volleyball), Jürgen Schrapp (sitting volleyball), Mathis Tigler (sitting volleyball)
Paralympics on TV:
Over 60 hours of the games will broadcast live from Tokyo on German TV channels. There are also live stream of the competitions (sportschau.de and zdfsport.de). The main broadcast times are 9.05 to 13.00 CEST, and 14.00 to 15.00 CEST.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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