Niklas Ludwig is a young and aspiring professional triathlete from Munich, Germany, who focuses on racing over the middle distance.
Until 2023, the Bavarian competed as an amateur, achieving many Age-Group Podiums and wins on the European Racing circuit. When Niklas won Challenge Gran Canaria and Mallorca (Amateur overall), he knew it was time to take the next step. As his last race of the season at Triathlon Ibiza, he raced in the professional field for the first time, and proved a point. After the Bike leg, Ludwig entered T2 in 2nd place, proving a strong Swim-Bike-Combination. In the end, he finished in a respectable 8th place. Though his Run still needs some more work, the German is confident about his success in the professional field: “I've got a great team around me and am still very young, both in terms of my age and also in training years. It will only be a matter of time until I'll give the best a run for their money.”
Ludwig is known for being public about his goals. In 2023, he tried to win the Ironman 70.3 World Championship as an amateur and shared his journey on Instagram. This not only created fans, but also quite a bit of controversy. But even after missing his target on the day, his resume is positive, as setting and sharing this big goal kept him accountable to work towards his personal dream. In his first professional season, he is trying to climb the ladder in the PTO Standings to eventually qualify and race the best at the T100.
Against the common approach of “Win races and sponsors will knock on the door”, he took matters in his own hand from the beginning. Niklas Ludwig thinks, that to achieve the goals he has set himself, you have to fully focus on the sport. Therefore, he started learning about marketing and quickly found his first sponsors. From the beginning of 2022, he was able to do the sport as his only job, because he sees the Business side as part of being a professional Athlete.
At the beginning of 2024, Niklas started studying Sport Management part-time on distance to further deepen his knowledge. “Until now, I educated myself when I didn't train in private. The only thing that changes with the university is that I'll be able to achieve a Mile Stone in the form of a Bachelors degree.”
His highest education currently is his 3-year-training to be a chef. Niklas still enjoys cooking and is happy he attained the knowledge to make healthy food taste good — something that will be helpful to achieve his big goals in the sport.