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Topics: Jurgen Klopp, Paralympics, Liverpool
Josh Lawless
Jurgen Klopp surprised fans by showing up in Paris for the Paralympics but the German's appearance was for a very good reason.
Klopp is in the middle of an extended hiatus from football management after nine glorious years at Liverpool.
But he has been keeping himself active and on Thursday, was courtside for the SL3 badminton competition.
There will have been plenty of curiosity as to why he was in attendance at the La Chapelle Arena.
Klopp was actually supporting Wojtek Czyz, a long-time friend of his.
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Czyz is a seven-time Paralympic medalist across various track and field events, including three golds at Athens in 20024.
This time around he was having a crack at badminton, losing 21-5, 21-2 Daniel Bethell of Great Britain.
The Polish-born athlete was a promising footballer with Fortuna Cologne but suffered a brutal knee injury in 2001 which led to his leg being amputated.
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Czyz met Klopp when he played with with a prosthetic leg in a charity game against a Mainz team managed by the 57-year-old.
They linked up coincidentally on a beach in Lisbon in 2015 and struck up a friendship.
“He’s too crazy,” Klopp said about his pal's achievements, as per The Guardian.
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“We are completely different. He’s constantly doing things I’m not brave enough to do. He told me only yesterday how easy it is to dive with sharks and I said: ‘Yeah, I heard it now, I still don’t do it.’
“How was it to watch him? Great, I enjoyed all five points. He’s 44, by the way. I stood next to Elena [Brambilla-Czyz], his incredible wife, and we had tears in our eyes.
"I know sport is always about the result and winning, but there’s much more behind that story and being here is always so touching that I couldn’t get my head around it.”