(L-R) German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Thomas Weikert, President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation ('Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund', DOSB), sing the national anthem at the end of a ceremony to award German Olympic and Paralympic medal winners with the "Silver Laurel Leaf" on November 4, 2024 in Berlin. The "Silver Laurel Leaf" is the highest state award for sporting excellence in Germany. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) (Photo by JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images)