Sunday 01 August 2021
That brings the Olympic Monday
This medal will definitely be historic
This has never happened before: Aline Rotter-Focken wins the first medal for the German women wrestlers at the Olympic Games. That is already clear before the final, the color is still open. There should also be a medal at the start of the track cycling competitions – despite the lack of an Olympic feeling.
Athletics: It goes a long way – initially for the men. The long jump starts at 3:20 a.m. And the EM second Fabian Heinle is there. With 7.96 meters, the 27-year-old four-time German outdoor champion from Stuttgart made it into the final battle in tenth place. “I think I still need the strength to realize that. I am overjoyed,” Heinle told ARD. “If someone had told me that a week ago, I would have signed it directly.” Heinle failed in qualifying at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Heinle has no chance of a medal, the competition already offered a flight show beyond eight meters in the qualification. The Cuban World Cup third, Juan Miguel Echevarria, made the longest jump with 8.50 meters.
Germany will be represented three times at 1 p.m. – in the women’s discus final. Kristin Pudenz from Potsdam (63.73 meters), Marike Steinacker from Leverkusen (63.22) and Claudine Vita from Neubrandenburg (62.46) qualified. “The first Olympic Games are exciting for me. I was already super satisfied with the first throw. The ring is fast, you have to get used to it,” said Pudenz on ARD. “I don’t worry about a medal. Anything is possible in the final. People who have already thrown further had problems.” The US-American Valarie Allman achieved the top distance in the qualification with 66.42 meters, Rio Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic from Croatia also made it through, she took it easy with 63.75 meters.
Shoot: Is the new Olympic champion with the rapid-fire pistol also the old one? Then gold would go to Germany. Christian Reitz won in Rio in 2016. And will be there again in Tokyo. In the first part of the qualification he was able to be shown, with 296 rings in third place. The second German starter Oliver Geis is already under greater pressure before the second qualification on Monday with 285 rings in 17th place. Reitz and Geis carry the last hopes of the German sport shooters, who have so far remained without precious metal in the Asaka Shooting Range. Part two of the qualification is at 1.30 a.m., the final follows from 7.30 a.m.
Sail: A rather unexpected medal could lie on the water: Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke go into the medal race of the Olympic sailing competitions with gold chances. The athletes start at 07:33 as third overall in the 49er FX class, just three points behind the leaders from Brazil in the final, which counts twice. “Before today we were 20 points behind the medal ranks. We worked out a medal chance in the three races and that makes us very happy,” said Lutz / Beucke on Saturday.
As the best of the day with the individual ranks seven and twice three, Lutz / Beucke made up a lot of ground in front of Enoshima. And the top with Grael / Kunze from Brazil (70 points) and the Dutch women Bekkering / Duetz (71) moved closer together. The duel in the front could play the Germans in the cards, who have five points on the fourth-placed Spaniards.
Equestrian sport: Germany has the chance of gold in versatility. Well, that doesn’t sound like a special detail at first, as Michael Jung was an individual Olympic champion in both 2012 and 2016, there was also gold in London and silver in the team in Rio. And Jung is also back in Tokyo – but he will not be able to repeat his triumphs. Rather, it is Julia Krajewski who fights for a medal when the final competition starts at 10 a.m. Jung made a mishap at an obstacle while riding off-road and received eleven penalty points for it. Even a protest by the German team did nothing to change that. Jung is only tenth, the team, which is completed by Sandra Auffarth, only sixth. All eyes on Krajewski at her first Olympic Games. With only two points behind the leading Briton Oliver Townend, she is currently in second place.
Cycling track: A horror hotel as accommodation, no Olympic flair far from Tokyo, but a clear medal mission as motivation: Emma Hinze and the German track cycling aces all had the “shock” about the conditions in the “underground” hostel before the first competition Deprived of illusions. A sociable get-together in the evening? Not possible! An exchange with athletes from other sports? Nothing! In Izu, far outside of Japan’s capital, the riders of the Association of German Cyclists (BDR) are among themselves. But nobody wants to be slowed down by the adverse circumstances. With the start of the track cycling competitions, the medal balance of “Team D” is now to be revitalized.
But: There has been no trial of strength with the big nations on the international stage for 18 months. No World Cup, no European Championship and no World Cups either. For Hinze and her colleague Lea Sophie Friedrich, the team sprint starts. The qualification starts at 8:30 a.m., the final at 11:09 a.m. in the program. Five years ago in Rio Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte won bronze after being Olympic champions in London. For the new generation it is now important to build on old successes as far as possible.
Wrestling: She reaches for gold to finish her career: Former world champion Aline Rotter-Focken has already won the first ever German Olympic medal in women’s wrestling. The woman from Krefeld made it into the final in Tokyo and has already secured at least silver. The opponent in the fight for gold from 1.55 p.m. is the reigning world champion and the top seeded American Adeline Gray at the games in Japan. “I believe that I can do it,” says Rotter-Focken. “She brought three great performances. You have to get these opponents out of the way first. And to beat a Japanese woman in Japan – that says it all,” said DRB President Manfred Werner after the big fight against the favored Japanese Vice World Champion Hiroe Minagawa in the semifinals. No matter which medal it is, then Rotter-Focken will end her sporting career. A great ending.
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