Nils Ehlers & Clemens Wickler – Olympic heroes and experts in resilience, team spirit and error culture
Nils Ehlers and Clemens Wickler are the figureheads of German beach volleyball. Since the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, they have been known throughout Germany – and millions cheered them on as they sensationally defeated the world number two from Brazil in the round of 16, the world number four from the Netherlands in the quarter-finals and the 2021 Olympic champions from Norway in the semi-finals. They were celebrated as the ‘Eiffel Towers’ by the media and fans.
But then came the final: a thrilling scenario under the floodlights at the Eiffel Tower, an audience full of German fans – and probably the hardest moment of their career. In the most important game, everything suddenly failed. Instead of gold, they ‘only’ won silver. The disappointment was boundless.
Today, Nils and Clemens talk about how they learned their most important lessons from this experience. They discuss mental strength, the courage to allow mistakes, and how to draw new potential from setbacks. Their message: failure is not the end – it is the beginning of growth.
Nils Ehlers & Clemens Wickler Talk topics
Lost gold – won silver: What we can learn from defeat
A thrilling account of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris: From flying high to a painful finale – and how a bitter moment became a source of personal growth.
World-class team spirit
How to achieve peak performance as a team, build trust and get through crises together.
Error culture in top-level sport – transferred to business
Why dealing openly with mistakes is the key to innovation and success, not only in sport, but also in business and everyday life.
In addition to their inspiring talks on error culture and resilience, Nils and Clemens also provide exciting insights into training, motivation and top performance – always authentic, humorous and close to their audience.
Specifically, the two discuss the importance of mindset and the significance of teamwork in the smallest team in the world. They also explain how important a good error culture is, because errors must be understood as learning opportunities and seen as chances for improvement in order to develop positively. The balance between short-term successes and long-term development is also of crucial importance.
The two top athletes are available as speakers for business talks, panel discussions and interviews on the topic of ‘Parallels between top-level sport and business’. They can be booked as a duo or for individual performances.