Zeyen is the latest hire for the International University Sports Federation (FISU) event which has also seen Stefan Kürten hired as managing director and Alexis Schäfer take the role of chief operations officer in recent months.

"Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games is extremely delighted to welcome German World and Paralympic Handcycling Champion Annika Zeyen onboard as Senior Manager - Brand, Identity & Look," read a Rhine-Ruhr 2025 statement.

Zeyen became Paralympic champion for the first time at London 2012 where she was part of Germany's victorious team in the women's wheelchair basketball competition.

This was sandwiched between two silver medals at Beijing 2008 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.

The 37-year-old then took up handcycling and won gold in the Tokyo 2020 H1-3 time trial as well as the H1-4 road race silver.

She is also a three-time world champion in the sport.

The Games are set to run from July 16 to 27 in 2025 with approximately 10,000 athletes taking part across five sub-sites in the region - Bochum, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, and Mülheim.