Don’t give up – SWYRL, fun themes that inspire you.

The 2022 European Championships in England is a watershed for German women’s football: For the first time, the sport was a mass event in this country – in terms of ratings, but also in terms of nationwide enthusiasm. Above all, Julia Gwen has been in the public eye since last year’s tournament: the midfielder has more than a million followers on Instagram, for example. Like the rest of the women’s national soccer team combined.

In a new issue of ZDFkultur’s “Supermodels” series, Sven Heisler portrays the young woman who, like her teammates, repeatedly hears sexist and derogatory comments despite her success. Julia Gwen still has no idea she’s giving up — even when her health becomes her biggest challenge. The 23-year-old had serious injuries in the past. In the fall of 2022, a few months after the European Championships, Gwin tore his cruciate ligament for the second time during training with the national team.

A major setback for the Bayern Munich defender whose goal was to be on the field for the World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand (Start: 20 July). Despite months of rehabilitation, it is now clear that she will not take part in the German team’s first match on July 24. “Julia is very far from her rehabilitation plan, but she missed several weeks of training,” said Martina Voss-Tecklenburg, the national coach at the beginning of June, when she said she was out for the World Cup.

A “role model” that accompanies Gwinn through the most difficult phase of her career so far. In the film, the young athlete talks about her rocky return to the field, but also “her background, her ambitions, and the development of women’s football.”

Gwen is the sixth woman to profile her life in the series. Also photographed are Nikiata Thompson, Sophia Florsch, Dozen Tikal, Leila Bidayesh and LUNA. All previous episodes of the documentary series are available at ZDFmediathek.