Joey Kelly’s passion for extreme sports is “still burning”. He and a team have now climbed the 3,000-meter-high Zugspitze.
He is a musician, entrepreneur, member of the famous pop and folk band The Kelly Family – and then there is also extreme sports, which are “an outlet and the perfect complement” for Joey Kelly (51). Endurance and competitive sports have been his hobbyhorse for decades. A passion that he discovered by “pure chance”.
In his 20s, he took part in a triathlon purely because of a bet and discovered that he really enjoyed the sport. He revealed this on the sidelines of a campaign run by the food retailer tegut, where he accompanied the managing directors and five participants on a hike up Germany’s highest mountain: the 2,962-meter-high Zugspitze.
Hiking 900 kilometers or climbing stairs for 24 hours
Kelly knows the almost 3,000 meter high peak very well, as he has climbed it several times. In September 2010, the musician of Irish-American descent did not simply set off from Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, where the mountain is located. Instead, he began a 900-kilometer hike from Wilhelmshaven 17 days earlier and during this time only ate what nature offered him along the route. An RTL camera team from “stern TV” accompanied the extreme athlete at the time.
Just one of many sporting challenges that Kelly has faced in the course of his career. In addition to diving and the Wok World Championship of TV entertainer Stefan Raab (57), the musician has also cycled more than 5,000 kilometers from Berlin to Baghdad for eleven days in a row. Kelly is also in the Guinness Book of Records several times, for example after a 24-hour walk on a balance bike, underwater or on a stair treadmill. He also covered numerous kilometers – and all of this mostly for a good cause, such as the RTL donation marathon or the German Sports Aid.
After more than 20 years of competitive sport: Joey Kelly is “still having fun”
Today, the 51-year-old proudly sums up: “Over 20 years, I have competed in over 100 competitions as a competitive athlete.” But Kelly still hasn’t had enough: “It’s still fun. The fire is still there.”
With this same passion, he led the tegut group up to the Zugspitze summit in four days, in all weathers and wind. Once at the top, managing director Thomas Gutberlet was full of enthusiasm: it was “hard” but also “incredibly great”. “I’m extremely happy that Joey did this with us. It was an amazing experience.” However, Kelly does not see himself as the group’s motivator: “You have to motivate yourself – I’m not a motivational trainer, and nobody needs one. If you don’t have your own drive and fire, you won’t be successful in the long term.” Kelly himself is the best example of this.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
