A 2014 World Cup winner with Germany, André Schürrle ended his football career in 2020 at the age of 29. Since then, the former football prodigy has been living a life of increasingly extreme sporting feats, which he shares with his followers on Instagram and YouTube. These performances command respect for a man who no longer felt at home in the modern world of football.

“You can’t have an extraordinary life and do what everyone else does!!!” This is the description of the latest “extreme” post shared on his Instagram account by André Schürrle three weeks ago, showing him with his friends, shirtless and in shorts, in the snow and icy winds. And this, more broadly, seems to be a perfect summary of the first thirty-four years of the former German international footballer’s unpredictable career.

A rising star of German football, André Schürrle made a name for himself in his first professional seasons with Mainz, where he scored 20 goals in 68 matches. In 2011, at just 21 years old, this 1.84m right winger moved to Bayer Leverkusen, where he found the net 23 times in 83 appearances, before being signed by Chelsea in 2013, where he struggled to live up to expectations (14 goals in 65 matches). A dip in form that did not prevent him from being one of the great men of the 2014 World Cup played in Brazil and won by Germany after a campaign where André Schürrle scored three times - including a brace in the semi-final against the host country (7-1) - and above all delivered the decisive pass for the title-winning goal scored by Mario Götze against Argentina in the 113th minute (1-0, aet).

A player who grew tired of football at 29 years old

The pinnacle of a professional footballer's career, but also the beginning of the end for André Schürrle, who was only 24 at the time. The German never rediscovered his passion for the beautiful game after Germany's fourth World Cup victory. Following stints at Wolfsburg (2015-2016), Borussia Dortmund (2016-2020), and then two loan spells at Fulham (2018-2019) and Spartak Moscow (2019-2020), he ended his career at 29, having terminated his contract with Dortmund. "The decision had been brewing in me for a long time. You always have to play a specific role to survive in this world, otherwise you lose your place and you won't get another one," he explained at the time.

The end of an extraordinary first life, not the beginning of an ordinary one. Since retiring from competitive sports, the 34-year-old German has been living life at breakneck speed. On social media, both Instagram and YouTube, where he has over 5 million subscribers, André Schürrle shares his increasingly extreme sporting experiences. His lifestyle is based, in particular, on the Wim Hof Method, which combines breathing techniques, deliberate and gradual exposure to cold, and mental training.

Shirtless in -19°C and facing the wind gusts

It was by applying this extreme method of cold resistance that André Schürrle and three of his best friends took on the challenge, in January 2023, of climbing the Zugspitze mountain, Germany's highest peak (2,962 meters). They did so shirtless, wearing only shorts, a hat, and a pair of gloves. "The toughest mental and physical thing I've ever done," wrote the former footballer after facing terrible temperatures (-19°C), wind gusts of 100 km/h, as well as heavy snow and rain. "In the last few minutes, I couldn't feel anything and I had to find something deep inside to keep going!" "An adventure that has become a habit for the German who, despite some criticism, climbs a mountain every winter shirtless, facing the wind and snow, in Poland, Austria or elsewhere in Eastern Europe.

Extreme conditions that didn't deter him from climbing without proper clothing; quite the opposite. In July 2024, Schürrle's crew set off again, still shirtless, this time to conquer Gran Paradiso. They climbed and descended 4,061 meters in 13 hours, starting at 3:30 a.m. "So happy to be alive," shared the 2014 world champion when recalling this climb. "I had so many moments on this trip where I was just truly grateful for my life! For the universe and especially for all the beautiful moments I get to experience!" And in the future, the ambition is to climb even more peaks, including Triglav (2,864 m, Slovenia), Monte Rosa (4,634 m, Switzerland), and Mont Blanc (4,809 m, France).

Two marathons and a half marathon in one month

And André Schürrle didn't stop there. Throughout 2024, the athlete distinguished himself with numerous running achievements. To kick off his season, the 2014 world champion tackled the Barcelona Marathon, six months after completing his first marathon in Berlin. "But I wasn't as well prepared in Berlin," he explained in a YouTube video recounting his race in Spain. "This time, I trained more and I really wanted to see if I could maintain a pace of 42 kilometers without slowing down. I really wanted to push my physical limits to achieve the best possible time." The result: a distance completed in 3 hours, 52 minutes, and 50 seconds, followed a week later by another impressive performance.

The following weekend, André Schürrle was in Italy to compete in the Chianti Ultra-Trail marathon. He completed the 43.3 kilometers with 1,614 meters of elevation gain in 5 hours, 43 minutes, and 49 seconds. Two weeks later, on April 7th, he took on the Berlin Half Marathon, covering 21 kilometers in 1 hour, 41 minutes, and 14 seconds. The following month, he and his family and friends challenged themselves to run as many laps as possible around a stadium track in the German capital. The result: a total of 344 kilometers, including 44 laps by the former footballer alone—his personal best at the time. "Blisters, muscle pain, mental chatter, discomfort, difficulties, etc., are exactly what I look for in these races!" he confessed on his Instagram account, encouraging everyone to "test their limits." Don't be afraid to fall because that's how you learn and progress. Go out and do really difficult things.

One objective: "always push your limits"

But his most memorable achievement of 2024 was probably the Everest Challenge, or Eversting, which he completed in Palüdbahn, Austria, on June 22, 2024. The goal: to climb the same 538-meter ascent 17 times consecutively—descending by cable car—to surpass the 8,848-meter summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas, all within a maximum of 36 hours. He started at 5:00 a.m. and embarked on an impressive 22-hour effort with over 9,282 meters of elevation gain, which André Schürrle shared on YouTube and Instagram. “Twenty-two hours in the mountains… I can’t even believe it. I gave it my all, and finishing this challenge was one of the best feelings of my life.” I think the worst moment, but also the best, was after lap 15, when I saw you again (he addresses the cameraman) but I was completely destroyed mentally and physically. And you told me that Lino (his best friend) was still on the mountain. It was so good to know he was still pushing. The last two laps, I felt like I was flying.

While some might have seen this feat as the end of hostilities for 2024, André Schürrle, barely two weeks later, was, as mentioned above, tackling the ascent of Gran Paradiso in Italy. Before that, on September 7th, he completed the 44.2 kilometers and 3,146 meters of elevation gain of the Ultra-Trail Terrex marathon (Austria) in 8 hours, 5 minutes, and 36 seconds. Three weeks later (September 29th), he ran the Berlin marathon in 3 hours, 28 minutes, and 45 seconds before participating, on October 2nd, in the Ö till Ö race in Cannes, a competition alternating between swimming and running.

André Schürrle had a year of extraordinary sporting achievements in 2024, and 2025 started off just as well, with a mountain climb in Poland with friends, all while shirtless, of course, despite the snow and the grueling conditions. And if that weren't enough, the former German footballer will be at the starting line of the Challenge Roth 2025 on June 6th in Bavaria, Germany. Quite simply, it's one of the most demanding triathlons in the world, with a 3.8-kilometer swim, a 180-kilometer bike ride, and a 42-kilometer run. "I'm always searching for my absolute limits, both physical and mental. This race will allow me to get to know myself even better, and that's exactly what I'm looking for in this challenge," he explained to confirm his participation. Pushing his limits, again and again. A true philosophy of life for a 2014 world champion, who never seems to have blossomed as much as since the end of his football career.