From Dirk Nowitzki to the Olympic Games: How Bauerfeind supports athletes with customized medical products

Medical devices play an important role in sports, helping to prevent and treat injuries, enhance athletic performance, and relieve pain. In short, they help people live an active life without discomfort and perform at their best.

Bauerfeind AG was founded in 1929 in Zeulenroda, Germany. As one of the leading manufacturers of medical aids and high-quality sports products, Bauerfeind makes an important contribution to enabling people to perform at their best without pain. Proximity to top athletes has always been an important factor. In 1981, for example, the world's first flat-knit knee support - the GenuTrain - was developed in cooperation with the team physician of the German national soccer team at the time, the Chief Medical Director of the Orthopedic State Hospital Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe, aand Prof. Hans B. Bauerfeind, the former owner of Bauerfeind, who died in 2023.

This long-standing collaboration with top athletes has not only resulted in a deep understanding of the specific needs of athletes, but is also the basis for the development of the sports line "Bauerfeind Sports", which was launched in 2016.

Bauerfeind Sports offers high-quality products for peak performance. They are proven to prevent premature fatigue during exercise and can prevent sport-specific injuries. After exercise, they support regeneration and shorten the recovery phase. Not only in competition, but also during the many training sessions.

Support for athletes extends all the way to the Olympic Games: Since the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Bauerfeind has gained extensive experience in caring for top athletes as a partner of the respective Olympic organizing committees and is known for its services in the Olympic villages.

At the last Summer Games in Tokyo, Bauerfeind was a partner of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games for the sixth time and was the only manufacturer in the world to supply supports, orthoses, medical compression stockings and orthopedic insoles. More than 680 athletes used the Bauerfeind service in the Olympic Village. Track and field athletes were treated most frequently by Bauerfeind technicians, followed by handball and volleyball players. The most common injuries were acute due to overuse.

Professional athletes push themselves to their limits in order to perform even better. Whether they are at the top of the podium or fighting their way back onto the field, Bauerfeind supports and accompanies them on their way and has been involved in various sports for many years.

Current partnerships include Alba Berlin (basketball), THK Kiel (handball), Eintracht Frankfurt (soccer) and SSC Palmberg Schwerin (volleyball). Starting with the 2023/2024 season, Bauerfeind will also sponsor the Dutch national player Fleur Savelkoel, who plays for Palmberg and wants to return to full fitness after a cruciate ligament injury. Bauerfeind also sponsors the individual athletes Andreas Toba (gymnastics), Thomas Röhler (javelin), Anna and Lisa Hahner (running) and Josie Hoffmann (speed skating/ inline skating).

The company has also been cooperating with Sporthilfe for many years. More than 4,000 sponsored athletes have access to Bauerfeind products through this organization. Sporthilfe is a non-profit foundation that supports top athletes in Germany.

The internationally renowned basketball star Dirk Nowitzki has been Bauerfeind's official brand ambassador since 2016. However, this partnership is much more than a collaboration on a purely communicative level. The basketball pro has been using Bauerfeind products in games and training since 2008 - long before his time as a brand ambassador. This made him a valuable source of feedback for the further development of the medical product portfolio right from the start. 

The cooperation with the NBATA, the coaches' association of the National Basketball Association of the USA (NBA), can also be attributed to him. Products and product innovations are tested by the NBATA and approved or recommended for use in the NBA. Today, all 30 NBA teams are loyal Bauerfeind customers and the products worn on the court are licensed by the NBA and can therefore be used by basketball players and fans worldwide.