Sports personalities
Veteran table tennis player Xia Lian Ni made up for a disappointing Olympics by reaching the semi-finals of the world championships with partner Sarah de Nutte.
Recovering from injury in 2020, Paralympic shot putter Tom Habscheid placed second in the European Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, and then travelled to Tokyo where he finished fourth. He announced his retirement from international sport soon after the Tokyo games.
Charles Grethen had a simply superb Olympics in Tokyo. The 29-year-old middle distance runner reached the 1,500 metres final (where he finished 12th) and set a personal best and a of 3:32:86 in the semi-final.
New restaurants
Ryôdô Kajiwara rightly took the award for Luxembourg for his work at . The restaurant in Hollerich technically opened last year just before lockdown, but this year has won plaudits for its innovative Japanese cuisine and sommelier Olivier Chocq’s knowledge and passion for sake.
The latest place to open on rue de Strasbourg, specialises in healthy, delicately flavoured Latin American cuisine and superb cocktails, all in a slightly kitsch setting and with excellent service.
Amore on rue du Marché-aux-Herbes serves mean cocktails as well as having a neat dining menu. Romain Gamba / Maison Moderne
is the latest establishment to be opened by Gabriel Boisante and the Hickey brothers. Like its nearby sister venue Bazar, it is a blend of urban cool and exotic sophistication, with several neatly portioned dishes good for sharing. Also serves some mean cocktails.
Films
Radu Jude’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (co-produced by Paul Thiltges Distributions) is a delightful, thoughtful and slightly crazy look at hypocrisy in society--in this case Romania, but it could apply to almost any western nation.
Fans of Capitani’s Luc Schiltz will flock to see Jean-Louis Schuller’s doc-fiction crossover Hytte (produced by a-BAHN). Schiltz plays Luc, a Luxembourger who ends up in a remote part of northern Norway where he looks for meaning and affirmation of his masculinity.
Directed by Karolina Markiewicz and Pascal Piron, The Living Witnesses (Paul Thiltges Distributions) is a moving account of how three young people whom society might call marginalised learn about the Shoah from those who survived on a journey across Europe.
Social media accounts
Siggy the Cyclist () the self-proclaimed “Urban Cycling Guerilla”, together with ProVelo.lu asbl (), continued a sustained campaign on Twitter to make cycling safer and more accessible, especially in the capital city.
The on Facebook continued to provide helpful information on the latest covid measures, especially for those wanting to travel. And it served as a useful platform to call out anti-vaxxers and dispel other conspiracy theories.
Mélody Funck showcase her extravagant and elegant sense of fashion on Instagram and Tik Tok Mélody Funck Instagram screenshot
++Those we have lost in 2021++
Paul Helminger, the former mayor of Luxembourg City, diplomat and chairman of Luxair and Cargolux, passed away in April at the age of 80.
Chris Garratt, the scout leader, facilitator, coach and trainer for leadership, project and change management, died in August, aged 79.
Manuel Schortgen, the third generation of the family to head the publishing house that bore his family name, died on 14 January following an accident.
Sachin Vankalas, the general manager of Luxflag, died at the age of just 38 in July after contracting covid-19
Frédéric Genet, the former CEO of Société Générale Bank & Trust, died in August at the age of 66.
Frédéric Antzorn, the journalist who was last employed by Delano publisher Maison Moderne in its Brand Studio, died unexpectedly in July at the age of 53.