Abby from Kiel takes part in the ARD family show “Small vs. Big.”

As. Abby was attracted by the ARD family show “Small vs. Big.” Take a look behind the scenes of a TV show and see celebrities live. So she applied to Kai Pflaume a year and a half ago with a short video. She thought of a suitable challenge. But then she heard nothing more. “I didn’t expect it at all,” says the youngster, now 13 years old.

But suddenly everything happened very quickly and now, on Saturday, January 4, at 8:15 p.m., she will compete at dizzying heights in a spectacular duel against sports presenter Jochen Breyer. The principle of the show is simple: children and young people with special abilities face off against adult celebrities. This time there are: Ralf Schumacher, Tobias Moretti, Bianca Heinicke (BibisBeautyPalace), Lothar Matthäus, Oliver Zeidler, Lukas Dauser, Fabian Hambüchen, Peter Wohlleben and Jan Josef Liefers.

Abby from Kiel: she likes the thrill

Abby has no problem with high altitudes. She is part of the competition team of the show acrobatics group Face, which has been among the best in the world for many years. The group won silver at the European Championships in Bodø, Norway, and qualified for the 2025 World Championships in Lisbon, the Portuguese capital. Abby has been training at least three times a week for six years.

She loves flying through the air, balancing on top of the pyramids, the competitive atmosphere, traveling – just the thrill. Abby actually wanted to learn to ride a horse when she was seven years old. But it was deemed too small. “So I looked for a sport where being small was an advantage,” she says. Her mother then Googled sports options and came across the acrobatic performance group Face.

The mix of dance, acrobatics and gymnastics is a good prerequisite for the challenge, the idea of ​​which came to him in a playground in Denmark. There was a course with narrow boards, placed at different distances. She was rushing up the little poles so fast that even her father couldn’t keep up. The challenge has been found. But when the call came, Abby only had two weeks left to train. “It wasn’t easy to organize.”

In addition, the competition has been redesigned in a telegenic way. According to the motto: higher, faster, further. In the “Pillar Course Duel”, she challenges Jochen Breyer to navigate a four-meter-high course with several narrow, moving platforms as quickly as possible.

In order to prepare at least a little, she and her parents went to the playground near Ringkøbing and to the Kiel rope course “High Spirits”. “But my opponent wasn’t able to train properly either,” she consoles herself. In addition, a formal request for school exemption had to be filed. A certificate from the pediatrician had to be presented, attesting that she was physically capable of supporting the shipment. The Youth Protection Office intervened and explained to Abby the possible negative consequences – for example the lot of attention that she might not have wanted. A television crew also came to Kiel for a whole day to film the music video in which Abby is featured.

Only then was she able to go to Berlin for three days at the beginning of November with her parents, sister, grandmother and grandfather. There she had the opportunity to practice the course in the studio on several occasions. “It was pretty wobbly up there.” His shoelaces also came undone during the first test. “I had to tie it to the platform.” She also made a mistake and got caught on the safety rope. But during the dress rehearsal, she completed the course in 14 seconds. You will find out on Saturday whether she can do it on the show and whether she is faster than Jochen Breyer.

She was impressed with the effort put into the show. “It was a great experience to see how it works behind the scenes and how many people work for a program like this. » The recording lasted almost five hours. “I have the greatest respect for Kai Pflaume.” He was there all the time and was always friendly. But all this did not deter her. On the contrary: it gave her even more solidity in her dream of becoming a presenter.

KN