Repechage against Olympia-Aus
Germany eight rows behind at the World Cup
09/05/2023, 05:05 p.m
What would German rowing be without its flagship boat, the Germany Eight? At the Rowing World Championships in Belgrade, the big tremors are now beginning. In the lead, the eighth follows and has to go into the repechage. Failure would greatly complicate the road to the Olympics.
The Germany eight suffered a setback in the fight for the ticket for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. At the World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, the German flagship had to settle for third place behind Australia and the USA in what was supposedly the easier of the two preliminary heats, and thus missed a direct entry into the final. On Friday the eighth will go into the repechage.
“We got off to a good start, we didn’t have the necessary resources in the second half,” said national coach Sabine Tschäge, who expects a “tough number” in the repechage: “We have a chance and we’ll take advantage of it. We don’t need to keep our heads down sand the sand.” The result was “in the frame”, only the clear distance to the front bothered her.
Batsman Mattes Schönherr’s crew, who didn’t make it into the final last year, found it difficult to follow Australia and the USA. In the duel with Italy, the flagship of the German Rowing Association (DRV), which was greatly rejuvenated after Olympic silver in Tokyo, claimed at least third place. In the second heat, defending champion Great Britain won in front of the boat from the Netherlands.
Oliver Zeidler demanded on Wednesday
Only the five best-placed eights at the World Cup will secure a ticket for the summer games, the remaining nations will have to fight for the last two places in the tricky post-qualification in May 2024. After the mythical gold of the “Ratzeburg Eight” in Rome in 1960, the Olympic qualification only failed in 1984 and 2000.
Of the remaining DRV boats in the twelve Olympic classes, only the men’s quadruple and the four without a helmswoman were convincing on Tuesday, both teams reached the semi-finals. The two without a coxswain, the light women’s double scull and the four without a coxswain missed the semi-finals and have no chance of the Olympic tickets in Belgrade. The women’s eight has to be fourth in the repechage.
The DRV hopes to qualify for Paris with six to seven boats. It’s all about medals in the Olympic classes from Saturday. Defending champion and gold hopeful Oliver Zeidler is again challenged in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.