Fast twins
There's a lot going on in the village gym in Schwarzenburg, Bern. Loud music booms from inside, snappy instructions from the coach alternate with the typical squeaking of indoor gym shoes. The Schwarzenburg gymnastics club's athletics group is training here, with a dozen track and field athletes on site - from toddlers to teenagers. They are running, jumping and snorting. It smells of training and happy hormones buzzing around.
Two slim, blonde whirlwinds stand out from the crowd, obviously not quite so comfortable in the spotlight. Although they notice the photographer, they keep looking sheepishly in a different direction. The identical twins Lena and Lisa Leuthold, 11, look like shy little deer. Yet they have already made quite a name for themselves in junior athletics with their good performances: As part of the UBS Kids Cup, in which over 100,000 children and young people from all over Switzerland take part, they have regularly stood on the podium for the past four years.
The talented girls move remarkably swiftly. The coach gives short, concise commands. They look focussed and completely in their element: movement. Time and again they look at their parents, who are standing in the stands and exude that typically stoic mixture of parental routine and pride.
The Leutholds are not drill parents. Instead, they want to encourage their girls' talents in a measured way. «The two of them were already running before they could walk,» says Brigitte Leuthold. They attended girls' gymnastics at the age of six. «It's almost compulsory for a girl here in Schwarzenburg.»
At their very first UBS Kids Cup in the summer four years ago, the two of them competed without a care in the world - and won. Their father, Stefan Leuthold, explains: «Lisa and Lena's good results totally surprised us. They were only seven at the time!» It quickly became clear that these talents needed to be adequately supported. In 2011, Lisa and Lena competed in the Swiss final of the Kids Cup for the first time. Lena won and Lisa, still feverish and ill the evening before, came fifth. In 2012, they both stood on the podium again. And the success story continued. Today, the girls are regarded as the most promising young talent on the Swiss athletics scene.
«We want to give Lena and Lisa moderate support. They have to enjoy doing it. And they should be allowed to be children,» says the mum.
Training is over at half past ten on this Saturday. In the warmth of the first rays of spring sunshine, Lisa and Lena sit down outside on the sports field: on the floor of the tartan track, completely uncomplicated. In their everyday clothes, they look like normal 11-year-olds. Who like to listen to the hit parade, hang out with friends and paint their nails colourful.
Almost two years ago, the first report on the Leuthold twins appeared in the Swiss parents' magazine Fritz+Fränzi. Back then, the reporter wrote: «Lena wins, Lisa comes second.» What's it like today? «We enjoy good performances and spur each other on,» says Lena. It's just settled in, she says, she's usually «a bit better, but that can change from time to time». What's more, each of them has now become stronger in their own discipline. Lisa, for example, was better at long jump last season, whereas she prefers sprinting. They both enjoy the competitive atmosphere, and regular training has also become «absolutely essential» for both of them, says Lisa. And yes, Lena is still a little more ambitious than she is. «She dared to jump off the 10-metre tower in the pool earlier than I did.»
Even though they feel a close bond, each has her own mind and a healthy dose of egotism. Neither of them would give up athletics just because the other no longer wants to. But it doesn't look like that at the moment either. The Leuthold twins recently joined TV Längasse in Bern, a club that offers better sporting opportunities. For Lena and Lisa, this means that in addition to their weekly training at LAG and the girls' squad in Schwarzenburg, they also train in the city every week. «It's very important for all of us that the girls don't lose their enthusiasm,» says Brigitte Leuthold. For the trained nurse, one thing is clear: «They have to enjoy doing it and they should be allowed to be children.»
The girls would love to achieve something. Their four eyes light up when they talk about the competition at Letzigrund in Zurich. Last year, they attended the world-class meeting as spectators for the first time, and the atmosphere there made a big impression on them. Lisa and Lena take part in around 15 competitions a year, four of them indoors during the winter season, but the main season is during the summer.
During the school holidays, they also like to take a break from training. Then they meet up with their friends. They love going on trips with the family or going on holiday to Italy. «Pizza and the sea are great,» say the two, who also have two older siblings. But they are almost grown up.
Being really grown up is still an abstract concept for the girls. Ever since the duo were allowed to accompany their mum Brigitte to her place of work at the hospital on Future Day, Lena has been convinced: «I want to be a nurse too!» Lisa, on the other hand, doesn't really know yet: «I still have some time to make this decision.»
UBS Kids Cup
The UBS Kids Cup is an athletics triathlon in the disciplines of 60 metre sprint, long jump and long ball throw. The UBS Kids Cup has existed in its current form since 2011, with over 100,000 children up to the age of 15 taking part every year. The UBS Kids Cup season begins in April. Until June, the focus is on the local competitions throughout Switzerland, which in many places also take place as part of PE lessons at schools. After that, the best in each year group and gender in each canton can take part in the cantonal finals. From there, the winners qualify for the big Swiss final, which takes place two days after the Weltklasse Zürich athletics meeting in the Letzigrund stadium.