Disciplined daily routine
Born in Lauchhammer, she has already won several medals in race walking on the track and on the road. And she is studying patholinguistics at the University of Potsdam, a theoretically and practically oriented subject for the treatment of speech and developmental disorders. To do justice to both competitive sports and her studies, she must follow an extremely disciplined daily routine.
Lena Sonntag has no problem with that. She concentrates on what needs to be done. “Today we're doing a speed program.” That means alternating between walking two kilometers and one kilometer at a fast pace, for a total of ten kilometers. “There’s a 90-second break in between – or less if you want it to be more strenuous.” Once or twice a week, this is part of her training at Potsdam's Luftschiffhafen. Sonntag only took up competitive sport as a teenager. Before that, she was active in athletics with her twin sister at SC Potsdam. From there, she came to race walking by chance – and enjoyed it. “You make rapid progress at the beginning, and the competition isn’t that strong. I often came in first place.” The sport is well suited for a woman of 1.60 meters, she says with a laugh. “With short legs, you can achieve a high stride frequency.” The challenge is mastering the right technique, Sonntag explains. Anyone who cheats, moves their knees incorrectly, or doesn’t touch the ground will be shown the paddle or a red card by the referee in the competition – and sometimes also given a time penalty. There’s no danger of that with her. “I have a very clean technique, and we also train specifically for this.”
Setting priorities
Even when Lena Sonntag was attending senior high school at Humboldt Gymnasium in Potsdam, she was doing her daily rounds. “I usually had classes until 2 or 4 p.m., then I trained, did my homework quickly at home, ate, and slept for five hours,” she says. “I don’t even know how I managed to stand that. But I wanted to keep up at this performance-oriented school.”
And partying? Just recently, she had to turn down a friend’s birthday invitation. “You have to set priorities. In the end, I would be annoyed if I trained every day but then sabotaged myself with alcohol and too little sleep,” she emphasizes. “I’ve been living this way for a long time; I don’t miss staying out until the early morning. I was always too exhausted for that.” That’s why it’s all the more important for her to meet people on the Golm Campus who have nothing to do with sports. Some people are pleasantly surprised to learn that she is a race walker. “However, when I train outside, people always stare at me because many of them don’t know what it is. Some even make fun of me,” she laments. Unfortunately, race walking is not highly regarded in German athletics either and is no longer part of the youth championships.
In the meantime, her commitment to the sport has increased to 10 - 12 training sessions per week. Only Thursday and Sunday afternoons are free. The Olympic training center’s supervisors ensure that the many hours of training are compatible with her studies. “We agreed on disadvantage compensation at the university and divided the first year of study into two years.” It was the right decision: “It allows you to get settled, have a little time buffer, and prevents you from failing half of the courses.”
A longer distance is also an advantage for Sonntag when it comes to sports. “My coach always says that I’m like a diesel. It has to warm up first before it really works.” The older she got, the more she enjoyed running not just three or five kilometers, but ten or twenty.
Health comes first
With success: After only one year of training, she won the title at the U16 German Youth Championship in 2019. “Fifteen minutes and six seconds for 3,000 meters,” she remembers. “I was two minutes faster than the best boy. That was cool – even though he’s faster than me today.” She also won gold in the three years that followed. “I was able to improve with every competition.” She also competes internationally and finished 23rd in the 10,000-meter track walk at the U20 World Championships in Cali, Colombia.
This year, the competitive athlete had problems for the first time due to a cyst in the hollow of her knee. She was out of commission for a month and a half, but after three weeks of training, she was able to compete in the German Championships. “Then the next thing happened. I had hip problems that dragged on.” Now she listens more to her body. “As soon as something hurts, I say health is more important than carrying on.”
At 5:30 p.m., it has not yet become a degree cooler at Lake Templin. On his bike, her coach rides next to Lena Sonntag, paying attention to her steps and talking to her. She has long since found the right pace and walks - lap after lap - past the bathers, looking ahead.
This text was published in the university magazine Portal - Zwei 2025 „Demokratie“. (in German)
Here You can find all articles in English at a glance: https://www.uni-potsdam.de/en/explore-the-up/up-to-date/university-magazine/portal-two-2025-democracy