Thursday, August 5th, 2021
Update
“Absolutely gigantic race”
Florian Wellbrock swims to Olympic victory
The Olympic Games end with a triumph for Florian Wellbrock: In open water swimming over ten kilometers, he puts his stamp on the race right from the start and secures the first Olympic gold for the German Swimming Association since Britta Steffen’s victories in the pool competitions 13 years ago .
Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock proudly tensed his strong biceps after this show of force. In the open water race over ten kilometers, the double world champion determined the action from the start with the self-image of a champion and swam on Thursday night to the first gold medal for the German Swimming Association in 13 years. At the finish, the 23-year-old was only too happy to be hugged by the team members after a performance in a class of its own. “For me personally, I think this is my summer fairy tale today,” said Wellbrock.
After a little less than 1:50 hours, Wellbrock struck with over 25 seconds ahead of the Hungarian Kristof Rasovszky and the Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri. Wellbrock’s team-mate Rob Muffels, at least third in the World Championship, crossed the finish line in eleventh place. For the German swimmers, it was the third medal in Tokyo after Wellbrock and his fiancée Sarah Köhler in the 1500 meter freestyle pool. The last time the swimmers were more successful was in Beijing in 2008, when Britta Steffen was crowned double Olympic champion and record world champion Thomas Lurz won bronze in the open water. At that time there were a total of five medals for the DSV.
Overall, swimming in the DSV is “a bit uphill,” said Wellbrock, especially with a gold finish. World record holder Paul Biedermann congratulated him on this. “He achieved something historic with the first Olympic victory in open water for Germany. Winning a medal in the pool and in open water is a league of its own and speaks for the exceptional talent Florian Wellbrock,” said Biedermann. Lurz won the last Olympic open water medal for Germany to date with silver in London in 2012. “An absolutely gigantic race. Exceptionally strong, exceptionally fast,” said Lurz as a Eurosport expert. The DSV was clearly more successful in Tokyo with three swimmer and two jumper medals than at the games in Rio 2016 and London 2012, when there was only one medal for the entire team.
Off to a strong start and even better
Wellbrock set an example right after the start with a water temperature of 29.2 degrees in the early morning hours in the Odaiba Marine Park. He immediately put pressure on in his first Olympic open water race and quickly gained a head start on the field in which Muffels was only at the forefront at the beginning. The Frenchman Marc-Antoine Olivier, Olympic third in 2016 and vice world champion, set out to pursue Wellbrock and skipped the first refreshment station. He soon caught up with Wellbrock, and Rasovszky followed. But the Magdeburg resident increased the pace again and again, even though the group of direct pursuers grew larger. Paltrinieri in particular worked a lot. Wellbrock continued to improve – he was simply too strong for the competition that day and won by a large margin.
Wellbrock started the race as the favorite in the women’s race the day after Leonie Beck finished fifth. The 23-year-old, who won the bronze medal in the 1500 meter freestyle at the Tokyo Aquatics Center on Sunday, was crowned historic double world champion two years ago. At the World Cup in South Korea, he first triumphed over the Olympic ten kilometers and then also won over 1500 meters in the pool. Now he is the first German gold medalist in open water, which has been Olympic since 2008. Wellbrock did not allow himself to be disturbed by the hustle and bustle around himself as the greatest hope for a medal among German swimmers even before the Olympics. Born in Bremen, who trains with national trainer Bernd Berkhahn in Magdeburg, was highly concentrated in the days of Tokyo and also put away an annoying fourth place in his first final. Over 800 meters he was only 35 hundredths of a second short of bronze.
He and Köhler, who has already left the Japanese capital, were the medal guarantors for the German swimmers. On the short distances, some athletes – including former top performers – did not reach their top form at the great sporting climax.
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