Beckenbauer (b. 1945) is considered as the greatest German footballer of all time. He was actually proclaimed the best footballer twice. His career however did not come to its close following his stopping playing. Beckenbauer became a coach and an organizer, most recently excelling in his duties during the recent World Cup organized in Germany (2006). His German nickname is the Kaiser, or the Emperor, on account of his compatriots celebrating his style of playing and also the fortunate incident of his first name evoking the emperors of now extinct Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

Boris Becker

Boris Becker used to be world's best professional tennis player from Germany. He has won Grand Slam singles championship six times, an Olympic gold medal once and was the youngest winner of the men's singles title ever at Wimbledon when he was only 17. Becker started his professional career in 1984 and won his first professional doubles title same year in Munich. He got his first top-level singles title at Queen's Club in June and later, on July 7, became the first German winning the Wimbledon singles title when he had beaten Kevin Curren in four sets. He was also the youngest ever male Grand Slam singles champion until Michael Chang broke the record in 1989 by wining the French Open at the age of 17 years and three months(four months younger than Becker). Soon after his triumph, Becker also became the youngest tennis player to win of the Cincinnati Masters. In 1986 Becker defended his Wimbledon title by winning the match against Ivan Lendl, at the time the best tennis player in the world, in the final.

Becker surprisingly lost the second round of Wimbledon in 1987, but won the Davis Cup the same year in one of the longest matches in tennis history (6 hours and 39 minutes) against John McEnroe. 1989 was the top of Becker's career. He won the title at the Wimbledon final, US Open and the Davis Cup, winning a long match against Andre Agassi. In 1990 he lost from Edberg in the Wimbledon final and was defeated in the US Open semi-finals by Agassi. Becker managed to get to the finals of the Australian Open for the first time in 1991 and defeated Lendl to become world's best tennis player. He again lost from Agassi in the French Open semi-finals and never managed to finish a year ranked as the world's best tennis player. Becker reached the Wimbledon finals for the seventh time in 1995 and finally defeated Agassi in the semi-finals, but lost from Pete Sampras in the finals. He won at the ATP Tour World Championships in Frankfurt the same year defeating Michael Chang in the final. Becker's sixth and final Grand Slam title was the one in 1996, when he won the match against Michael Chang in the finals of the Australian Open. In 1997, Becker lost from Sampras in the Wimbledon's quarter finals and although it seemed this was his last appearance there, he played at Wimbledon again in 1999 to be defeated by Patrick Rafter. In his career Becker has won 49 singles titles and 15 doubles titles. He won six Grand Slam titles, Tennis Masters Cup in 1988, 1992, and 1995, and four singles titles at London's Queen's Club. In 2003, Becker entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Michael Schumacher

Since the regulations in Germany require a driver to be at least at the age of 14 to get a kart license, Schumacher got his license in Luxembourg at the age of 12.

Michael Schumacher is a former Formula One driver, who has won the world championship seven timesand now works as a test driver for Ferrari. To quote the official Formula One website, Schumacher is "statistically the greatest driver the sport has ever seen". He was the first German who has won the Formula One World championship and made Formula One popular in Germany. Michael Schumacher was elected the most popular driver among Formula One fans In a 2006 FIA survey. After he won two championships with Benetton, Schumacher moved to Scuderia Ferrari in 1996 to win five drivers' titles in a row with them from 2000–2004. Schumacher has set many records in Formula One, including race victories, several drivers' championships, points scored, fastest laps, pole positions and most races won in a one season. His driving sometimes created controversy: he was twice involved in crashes which affected the outcome of the world championship and for one of them he was disqualified at the championship of 1997, when he caused a collision with Jacques Villeneuve. Schumacher was famous for his ability to make fast laps at crucial moments in a race, pushing his car to the very limit for short periods. Some of Schumacher's best performances occurred in wet conditions, which earned him the title of the rain king (Regenkönig) or rain master(Regenmeister). He is also known as "the Red Baron" because of his red Ferrari and referring to the German Manfred von Richthofen. Schumacher's nicknames also include Schuey, Schumi and Schu. In 2006 Schumacher retired from race driving. Today Schumacher UNESCO's ambassador and a spokesman for driver safety. He also took park in numerous humanitarian actions and donated millions of dollars to charity. Michael Schumacher is the elder brother of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher who is now racing in Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM).

Steffi Graf in Nagoya

Steffi Graf

Stefanie Maria Graf was the first ranked female tennis player in the world. She is also considered to be among the greatest female tennis players in history. Steffi Graf has won 22 Grand Slam tournaments, only two titles less than the first ranked Margaret Court. Graf is also ranked third (behind Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert) on the list of tennis players with most single titles, with 107 singles titles. She was proclaimed the best female tennis player of the 20th century in December 1999. In 1988 Steffi Graf won the gold medal in singles at the Olympic games. She also won all four Grand Slam singles titles in 1988 and became the first and only player who's ever won the Golden Slam. She was the No.1 player of the Women's Tennis Association's for a 377 weeks - the longest period of time ever. She is also the only player who's won all Grand Slam tournaments - the US Open, Wimbledon, the Australian Open and the French Open. Graf's became known for her capability to play on all playing surfaces. Her successes also include six singles titles at French Open singles titles and seven singles titles at Wimbledon. Graf won her first WTA tournament on 13th April 1986 against Evert in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Soon she won another three tournaments at Amelia Island (Charleston) and Berlin, winning against Martina Navratilova.

Graf has won the Grand Slam tournament in 1987 and continued with six more tournament victories and the French Open where she defeated Gabriela Sabatini and Martina Navratilova. Her first loss in that year was in the finals of Wimbledon from Navratilova. She again lost from Navratilova at the US Open and the Virginia Slam Championships was to decide about the world's No.1 player of that year. Graf won the tournament and finished that year with 74-2. After winning to Natalia Zvereva at the French Open, Graf defeated Navratilova at Wimbledon in a very exciting match. Graf has won to Sabatini at the US Open in a three-set final and won the Calendar Year Grand Slam (only two women managed to do it Margaret Court and Maureen Connolly Brinker). After she's defeated Sabatini and won the gold medal at the Olympics in Seoul, she became the first woman to win the 'Golden Slam'. It was also the only year when she managed to win the Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon, with Gabriela Sabatini as her partner, which brought her a bronze medal at the Olympics. Graf is also the only singles player which has won the Calendar Year Grand Slam across all types of tennis field - other Calendar Year Grand Slams won by other players were won while Australian and US Opens were still played on grass fields. She managed to get to thirteen consecutive Grand Slam singles finals, starting with the French Open in 1987, and won nine of them. She took part in 36 Grand Slam singles tournaments starting with the 1987 French Open and reached the finals 29 times. Graf won her last Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1999, reaching 31 Grand Slam singles finals in total.