Symbol of the rowing crisis: Bad World Cup disgrace for Germany eighth

Symbol of the rowing crisis
Bad World Cup disgrace for Germany eighth

You can rely on one constant on the regatta courses of this world: Germany’s eighth place in the World Championship final. Now this unwritten law is being broken, the parade boat of the German Rowing Association also fails in the repechage after the direct qualification. That hasn’t happened in 23 years.

The Germany eight missed the final at a World Cup for the first time in 23 years. The heavily rejuvenated flagship of the German Rowing Association (DRV) had no chance in the repechage in Racice in the Czech Republic and had to settle for third place behind the Netherlands and the USA. The distance to the two leading teams was two boat lengths at the finish. In the B final on Sunday afternoon, it’s all about the final placement in the World Cup.

In the race for the medals, only defending champion Oliver Zeidler, who reached the final in singles with a comfortable semi-final victory, and the women’s doubles sculls remain. On the other hand, Alexandra Föster, who was third at the European Championships, narrowly missed the final despite a spirited final sprint, the 20-year-old only came in fourth in the semi-finals. Zeidler, who was completely exhausted and only finished fourth at the home European Championships in Munich, underpinned his claim to a medal with a sovereign run against Graeme Thomas from Great Britain and Jordan Parry from New Zealand.

The eight got off to a good start in the semifinals, but after 500 meters the big German boat increasingly lost touch with the competition. At the finish, the gap to the Netherlands was more than seven seconds. Shortly before the race there was a corona case in the team. Max John from the coxless four replaced Julian Garth, who tested positive on Wednesday.

Most recently, the German eights were eliminated in the repechage in 1999 in the title fights in Canada. In addition, the DRV parade boat, which is being rebuilt after the Olympic silver medal last year, will not win a World Championship medal for the first time since 2003. Before the Summer Games in Tokyo, the eight had won World Cup gold three times in a row.

The DRV is threatened with the next disappointment after the home European Championship in Munich with only one medal. In the Czech Republic, the German fleet is at the start in 8 of the 14 Olympic classes, in addition to Zeidler, only Pia Greit and Frauke Hundeling qualified in the twos with third place for the final.

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