As part of the Top Team, the German medal hopefuls - 29 female and 17 male Para-athletes - will receive extra funding which will enable them to better focus on training and preparations for the upcoming Games.

Members are drawn across the 12 sports of fencing, judo, canoeing, athletics, equestrian, cycling, swimming, sailing, tennis, table tennis, triathlon and shooting, with most of them targeting major medals for the first time. 

Each athlete receives a base funding of €400 (£306/$465) per month, while employed athletes can reduce their working time by up to 50 per cent, with their employers receiving financial compensation.

The Team, which is also open to students, is financed by the NPC's sponsors Allianz and Deutsche Telekom, and seeks to provide more financial independence in order for athletes to have more time for training and competitions. 

Germany won 15 medals, including nine golds, at Sochi 2014, with Top Team members contributing to the success ©AFP/Getty Images



The Top Team was first initiated during the Turin 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, with this helping the European nation finishing second behind Russia on the medals table, with eight golds in an 18 medal haul.

Top Team members have since won medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics and at the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympics, where four members won 12 of Germany's 15 medals.

This included Anna Schaffelhuber, the Alpine skier who won five gold medals across downhill, slalom, giant slalom, Super G and combined sit-skiing events. 

"The funding of the Top Team for Rio and Pyeongchang by our partners Allianz and Telekom improves the conditions for an ideal preparation," said DBS President Friedhelm Julius Beucher.

"The success of the past proves that we are on the right way with this concept."

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