Thursday July 29, 2021
That brings the Olympic Friday
Only gold counts for the German parade boat
On the seventh day of the Olympic Games, athletics will finally start in Tokyo. However, the eyes are initially on the rowing course and the German eight. A rare German medal beckons in table tennis, while hockey and handball fear bitter disappointments.
Rowing: It should be two gold opportunities, but only one remains. And the men’s rowing eight is now hoping to deliver redemption after the dramatic failure of the women’s double foursome and one’s favorite, Oliver Zeidler. At 3.25 a.m. German time, Laurits Follert, Malte Jakschik, Torben Johannesen, Hannes Ocik, Olaf Roggensack, Richard Schmidt, Jakob Schneider, Johannes Weißenfeld and helmsman Martin Sauer set out to win the seventh German Olympic victory in the parade boat.
After the win, batsman Hannes Ocik said in advance: “For us as a team it is very important to win first, also with the driving time and what we have achieved today.” For the finals, however, the sometimes difficult because windy conditions on the Sea Forest Waterway apply, as Richard Schmidt announced: “The cards will be reshuffled and we’re back to zero.”
Horse riding: After the dressage festival of the German riders around double Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, the focus is back on the square. The decision in eventing begins at 1 a.m. with the dressage of the first group, the second follows at 10 a.m. The decisions in individual and team will be made on August 2nd (next Monday), when the cross-country ride will be followed by jumping. Michael Jung starts as the 2016 Olympic champion and is again considered a gold candidate. Sandra Auffarth and Julia Krajewski are also part of the team, while European Champion Ingrid Klimke is injured and is likely to reduce the chances of a medal significantly. Great Britain, New Zealand and France are considered favorites, while the German team is most likely to fight for Brone.
Athletics: The core sport starts. For many Olympic fans, the games only really start when there is running, jumping and throwing. The only decision on the first day starts at 1.30 p.m. when the new Olympic champion over 10,000 meters in men is sought. The former dominator Mo Farah is missing because he simply missed the norm. Instead, eyes are on Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda, who has held the world record since October 2020. His compatriot Jacob Kiplimo and the Ethiopians Selemon Barega and Yomif Kelecha are considered to be the worst competitors.
German athletes are meanwhile in various qualifications at the start. Mateusz Przybylko, the European high jump champion of Berlin 2018, will fight for the finals from 9.15 a.m. In addition, there are the preliminary rounds for women over 100 meters, 800 meters, 5000 meters as well as in the triple jump and shot put, with the men there are the 400 meter hurdles, 3000 meters obstacle and the discus throw. There will be an Olympic premiere at 1 p.m. German time with the heats of the mixed relay over 4×400 meters.
Swim: Four gold medals are to be awarded in the Tokyo Aquatics Center; if you want to be there live, you have to be awake between 3:41 a.m. and around 4:20 a.m. The South African Tatjana Schoenmaker swam an Olympic record over 200 meters breaststroke in the preliminaries, in the semifinals she was only 17 hundredths slower – and is the clear favorite. At 3.50 a.m. the title holder over the men’s 200 meter back will be determined, a three-way battle between Luke Greenbank (Great Britain), Yevgeny Rylow (Russian Olympic Committee) and the American Ryan Murphy, who won this distance in Rio in 2016, is to be expected .
In the women’s 100 meter freestyle, Emma McKeon is the one to beat for gold. Olympic record in the run-up, fastest time in the semi-finals: the Australian is in top form. Her compatriot Cate Campbell is the worst competitor, but Siobhan Bernadette Haughey from Hong Kong surprised in the semifinals, who was only eight hundredths slower than McKeon. Philip Heintz clearly missed the final in the men’s 200 meter medley in 13th place, now he is ending his career and switching to the financial sector. After the impressions of the semifinals, Shun Wang from China, Briton Duncan Scott and Japanese Daiya Seto are arguing about the successor to Rio Olympic champion Michael Phelps, they were at least the fastest there.
Boxing: Ammar Abduljabbar is fighting for a medal in the heavyweight division. If the man from Hamburg wins his fight at 6:39 a.m., he will be in the semi-finals – and would already have bronze for sure. Because the rules of the Olympic boxing tournament stipulate that both losers in the semifinals receive a medal. Before Abduljabbar can worry about it, however, he must first defeat Muslim Gajimagomedov from the Russian Olympic Committee. Otherwise it’s over in the quarter-finals.
Shoot: Five years ago in Brazil, Monika Karsch won the silver medal at the sport pistol, and the Regensburg native was also one of the favorites in Tokyo. And missed the final of the best eight – starting at 7 a.m. – then surprisingly clearly as 23rd. In addition to Rio winner Anna Korakaki from Greece, Serbian Zorana Arunovic also made a strong impression.
Canoe: Hannes Aigner not only competes in the kayak one, but is also one of the candidates for the medals. Before they leave at 9 a.m., however, the semi-finals are due at 7 a.m. That, in addition to Aigner, the fellow favorites Jiri Prskavec from the Czech Republic and the Slovak Peter Kauzer would also like to survive.
Judo: The German judokas have already won two medals and are now sending one athlete – Jasmin Grabowski in the women’s class over 78 kilograms – and one athlete – Johannes Frey in the men’s over 100 kilograms – to the mat in hope in the heavyweight competitions to cause a surprise. The finals are scheduled for 11:38 a.m. (women) and 12:09 p.m. (men).
Table tennis: Not much was missing for Dimitrij Ovtcharov. Against Ma Long, the Olympic champion from Rio, he showed an outstanding catch-up race in the semifinals, equalized after 0: 2 and 2: 3 set deficit and even fended off two match points in the decisive seventh set. But because the third was sitting, the Chinese moved into the final against his compatriot Fan Zhendong and sent the German into the game for bronze at 1 p.m. today. Against Lin Yun-Ju from Taiwan, Ovtcharov can now win his second Olympic medal in 2012, it would be only the third ever for the German Table Tennis Association.
Hockey: It’s not yet about medals for the German hockey men. But against the impending end. Because that threatens a defeat against the Netherlands, the reigning European champions. Oranje won the final in June against the German selection. At 1:45 p.m., only a win brings real progress.
Handball: The situation of German handball players has become similarly acute. After three preliminary round games, there are two defeats in the statistics. “I was hoping for such a strong group,” said Bob Hanning before the tournament, which could end surprisingly early. A win against Norway (2.30 p.m.) is a must, otherwise the knockout round threatens to remain a distant dream.
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