Hope for the Olympics is fading
Frenzel’s situation is becoming “more and more difficult”
02/12/2022 10:44 am
Two golds, one bronze, that is Eric Frenzel’s haul at the 2018 Olympic Games. Medals are to be added in Beijing, but this goal is a long way off with the positive corona test of the Nordic combined athletes. He and teammate Terence Weber are still stuck.
For Eric Frenzel and Terence Weber, who tested positive for Corona, the hope of competing in the second individual competition of the Nordic Combined at the Olympic Games in Beijing on Tuesday is fading. “The values have improved, but unfortunately not in a range that would allow the competition,” said team doctor Stefan Pecher. Both are doing well physically, but mentally the situation is “more and more difficult,” said Pecher.
Both Frenzel and Weber were quarantined immediately upon arrival in Beijing. “We still have good hopes, Eric Frenzel and Terence Weber too, of course, that they can still take part. I would only have to decide whether they are then also able to take part in the competition from a sports medicine point of view, when they are released from the quarantine,” said bad luck
National coach Hermann Weinbuch is currently only available for normal hill Olympic champions Vinzenz Geiger, Johannes Rydzek and Julian Schmid, and Manuel Faißt has also arrived as a substitute. In order to secure the relay on Thursday in the event of another failure, there are currently considerations to let team Olympic champion Fabian Rießle travel to China.
“Different standards are set in Germany”
On Saturday, the German combined athletes showed good performances in the first training session on the large hill, especially youngster Julian Schmid was at the forefront. Geiger also appeared to have recovered well after his strenuous rush to gold. Weinbuch’s protégés do without jumps on Sunday. “We want to go to ice hockey, so we’re skipping training,” said the national coach.
Weber was allowed to briefly hope for release from isolation last week and was even on the starting list for the first decision before the values deteriorated again. “Unfortunately, it is still the case that the values are very stable within a range that does not yet allow release for sport here in China. Different standards are set in Germany, but that’s the way it is here,” said Pecher . Both Frenzel and Weber require two negative tests 24 hours apart, or three consecutive days where the CT is above the cut-off of 35.