“I pulled the ripcord”
Long Covid costs vice Olympic champion her career
08/17/2022, 5:17 p.m
A year and a half ago, canoeist Kriegerstein fell ill with Corona. Your efficiency will not return. Under stress, fatigue, headaches and dizziness occur. The silver winner from Rio sees no chance of returning to competitive sport.
The canoe Olympic silver medalist in Rio de Janeiro, Steffi Kriegerstein, has ended her career due to the consequences of a corona infection. “Despite all the health problems, I tried to get fit again last year,” said the 29-year-old in Dresden. “But I noticed that this jump to return to competitive sports is huge. And it turned out that my body just can’t take it anymore. That’s why I pulled the ripcord,” said Kriegerstein one day before the start of the European Canoe Championships taking place in Munich.
Kriegerstein fell ill with Covid-19 in December 2020. She still feels the consequences today. “As soon as I increase the load, fatigue, headaches, dizziness become noticeable. Unfortunately, there is not that much knowledge about Long Covid and how to treat it,” said the 2015 K2 World Champion. “I was always in contact with Doctors, but the physical exertion robs me of the quality of life for everyday life. Next week I will finally say goodbye to competitive sports at the German Championships.” Kriegerstein had already had to skip the games in Tokyo because of the consequences of the illness.
Kriegerstein celebrated her greatest success in Rio in 2016, where she won the silver medal with the K4. A year earlier she had become world champion in the K2 over 1000 meters in Milan, in 2017 and 2018 she won silver and bronze with the foursome. Kriegerstein wants to keep canoeing, she is currently in charge of a group of children at KC Dresden as a trainer.