Last night Julia Paszkiewicz and Nike Hunecke (GER) stood at the top of the podium, gold medals glinting under the bright lights of the Jianyang Cultural and Sports Centre Gymnasium where the Ju-Jitsu competition took place.
The German Mixed Duo Para Visual pair had just claimed their sport’s highest prize—and done so on a stage where para and able-bodied athletes compete side by side.
For both, the moment carried weight far beyond the medal as the Mixed Duo Show does for all its participants at The World Games whether it be in the Para Visual, Physical or Mental disciplines.
“It’s such an honour that we have an event like the World Games because we get the gratitude for all the things we’ve done over the years,” said Paszkiewicz who now has four TWG medals in Ju-Jitsu. “We work hard, as hard as all the other Olympians, but we have to work or go to school during this time.”
“We don’t have only one thing—we have our sport and all the other stuff we have to combine. I think it’s the best part for inclusion, to be honest—not a separate event, but altogether it’s amazing.”
It’s a format that sets The World Games apart.
Unlike the Paralympics, there is no separate timetable in Chengdu. Para-athletes compete in the same arena, at the same time, with the same audience. Thus, the applause is shared, and the spotlight is equal – everything that represents TWG’s values.
Hunecke knows that balance well. Still in school, the 19 year old has spent the past year juggling A-levels with daily training. “I have A-levels, I’ve been training every day, every hour, training in school too,” she said whilst visibly emotional shortly afterwards. “It’s been one year full of exams and training. I had some exams during Chengdu, and I cancelled that for this.”
Paszkiewicz’s path to this point has been less linear. A veteran of the “classic” discipline, she competed at The World Games 2017 – where she claimed Gold in the Team event and Silver in Duo Mixed – and again in Birmingham – Silver in the Team event – before temporarily stepping away from the sport, spending more time in the office as an online marketer than rolling on the mats.
Then, last spring, a conversation with her coach changed everything.
“Our boss asked if we’d like to start here (in Mixed Para Pair), said there’s an opportunity. Well, why not? We decided to try and see what happens.”
“We had eight weeks to the World Championship, so we said, ‘OK, let’s begin.’”
The pairing was, in more ways than one, a leap of faith. Hunecke and Paszkiewicz live nearly 800 kilometres apart, meaning a year of constant travel had to be undertaken for training. However, the bigger challenge was forging the trust essential for a mixed duo, especially when one partner has a visual impairmen . In this case it is Hunecke who is partially sighted.
A successful World Championships last year though in Heraklion qualified them for The World Games 2025, a staggering accolade considering they had only known each other for little less than two months.
“I think it’s a lot about trust and that has to be earned, especially because we didn’t know each other very well,” replied Paszkiewicz when asked what was the hardest part of their journey.
“When trying some techniques for me, it was an experience because I never tried with someone who has the visual impairment.”
“It was very much about talking—what can you do? What can you see? How can you move? Talking to gain that trust.”
On Sunday in Chengdu, the trust was there for all to see as they flipped their way – quite literally – to the top podium, defeating China’s own Pan Tianyou and Wang Wenqiang 149 to 143 points.
For both, the medal is proof that the long-distance travelling, the sacrifices, the growing pains of picking up a new discipline were worth it and that inclusion on the same stage is not just possible, but powerful.
In Chengdu, Paszkiewicz and Hunecke weren’t a “para” duo or an “able-bodied” duo. They were simply one team and one champion for Germany.