Wednesday 4th August 2021
That is waiting for the Olympic Thursday
Kaul’s coronation as the athlete king is missing
In and on the water there are brilliant prospects for precious metals for the German team. One of the kings of athletes will be able to crown himself – Niklas Kaul unfortunately not after his dramatic end. To achieve this, medals are emerging in cycling, table tennis and hockey.
Swimming, open water: Before midnight German time, the open water swimmers get into the water in the Odaiba Marine Park and look for their Olympic champion over 10 kilometers from 11.30 p.m. (6.30 a.m. local time). According to national coach Bernd Berkhahn, the high water temperatures of around 30 degrees and the strong sunlight will affect the tactics of the swimmers in the Olympic open water race with Florian Wellbrock and Rob Muffels. “I think the men will swim very, very carefully,” said the 50-year-old after the women’s competition on Wednesday.
In order to save energy, one must first “hold back as much as possible,” he said with a view to double world champion and gold candidate Wellbrock. “We had considered putting pressure on relatively early and maybe getting started,” said Berkhahn. “But I think that’s a bad idea.” Wellbrock and Muffels had watched the initial phase of the women’s competition early on Wednesday morning (local time), in which Leonie Beck from Würzburg was fifth and Finnia Wunram from Magdeburg was tenth.
Athletics: At 2 a.m., heptathletes start their second and last day of competition, on which the queen and king of athletics are crowned. German viewers will look at the final disciplines with a crying eye: Because world champion Niklas Kaul dropped out on the first day of the competition in a dramatic way. The 23-year-old injured his foot during the high jump, and then collapsed in tears during the subsequent 400-meter run. The winner will be determined after the 1500-meter run (2.40 p.m.) and the winner (for Germany, Vanessa Grimm and Carolin Schäfer are at the start) after the 800-meter run (2.20 p.m.).
While Nils Brembach and Leo Köpp have more of an outsider’s chance over 20 kilometers of walking (9:30 a.m.), there is no longer any German starter at all in the prestigious men’s 400-meter run (2:00 p.m.). Here the favorites Michael Norman and Michael Cherry (both USA) duel with Steven Gardiner from the Bahamas.
Hockey: The German hockey players have to quickly shake off their semi-final against Australia (1: 3) from duty, because from 3.30 a.m. the selection of the German hockey association plays for the bronze medal. Record Olympic champion India, who clearly lost in the semifinals (2: 5) against Belgium, is waiting in the “small final”. With a win, the team of national coach Kais al Saadi would continue a brilliant German hockey tradition: in 2008 and 2012 it was gold, in 2016 bronze.
Against the Indians, captain Hauke relies on the standing up qualities of his colleagues: “The team is so close together and goes in the same direction from day one on this trip, no matter what.” The national coach promised poetically after the close semifinals: “If you throw so much heart into it, you run the risk of breaking it,” said al Saadi and promised: “But from tomorrow we will glue it together.” The German hockey women missed the fight for the medals with a quarter-final defeat against Argentina. From 12 noon, Australia and Belgium will play the new Olympic champions.
Canoe: The semifinals for the canoeists will start at 4.27 a.m. – and it could be a successful morning for the German boats. The duo Max Hoff / Jacob Schopf and the single with Jule Hake and Sabrina Hering-Pradler paddled straight to the semi-finals on Wednesday. Canoeing specialist Lisa Jahn, who also came second in the quarter-finals of the canoeing competitions at her Olympic premiere, managed to do this in a roundabout way. At the Sea Forest Waterway, the duo Hoff / Schopf in particular showed a strong performance with second place in the preliminary run. In the final sprint the duo drove confidently past the Slovaks, but the victorious Australians could no longer be intercepted. “Everything is checked, tomorrow it’s about the sausage, we can add a little more,” promised Hoff with a view to the following finals. A total of two gold medals will be awarded to men and women on the water on Thursday.
Water jumping: The sisters Elena and Christina Wassen fight in the semi-finals from 3 a.m. to make it into the final (from 8 a.m.). “I’m very happy with sixth place. I didn’t expect it to be so confident,” said Elena Wassen. It was a bit tighter with her sister, who was two years older than her. She came to 297.15 points and finished 13th. The best 18 jumpers qualified for the semifinals on Thursday. “It wasn’t a huge mistake. I’m just happy that it was enough,” she said. National coach Lutz Buschkow was also satisfied: “A very nice performance, both women in the semifinals at the Olympic Games.” The Chinese Chen Yuxi secured victory in the preliminary fight with 390.70 points ahead of her teammate Quan Hongchan with 364.45 points. It is already the second Olympic Games for Elena Wassen. In 2016, when she was 15, she was there in Rio de Janeiro. Christina Wassen celebrates her Olympic premiere in Tokyo.
Handball: No, the German handball men had imagined the second Olympic Thursday very differently: After the bitter quarter-final clap against Egypt, the team of national coach Alfred Gislason is no longer part of the medal hunt, but can only watch. If any. Instead of the German selection, Egypt will play against France from 10 a.m. to make it into the final, from 2 p.m. Spain will meet Denmark.
Table tennis: Against the table tennis overwhelming power from China it was a clear 0: 3 for the German women in the semi-finals, but a medal is still in there. The small final is against Hong Kong, the time has not yet been set. The final between China and Japan will take place at 12.30 p.m.
Cycling: Track cycling world champion Emma Hinze made it to the quarter-finals in the Keirin with difficulty. Nevertheless, from 9:06 a.m. after silver in the team sprint, she is considered a favorite for the next Olympic medal. But Lea Sophie Friedrich, who exuded great sovereignty despite her young 21 years of victory in the run-up, can also raise her hopes. The final will take place at 10.45 a.m. In the Omnium, Roger Kluge, who has now recovered from his fall injuries from the tour, is about precious metal (from 8.30 a.m.).
Skateboard: In the park discipline, the Olympics are now also beginning for Germany’s most successful skateboarder: Tyler Edtmayer starts his preliminary run despite an arm broken a few days ago (4:06 a.m.). From 5.30 a.m. onwards, the Olympic champion will be sought in the final run.
Sport climbing: For the first time in Olympic history, medals will be awarded in sport climbing. German participants could not qualify for the decision in the indoor summit hunt (from 10.30 a.m.).
Basketball: At the latest in the final sprint in their quarter-finals against Spain, the US basketball players have probably reached operating temperature: After falling behind, the team around superstar Kevin Durant turned on and ended the medal dreams of the world champion. The Americans won gold in 2008, 2012 and 2016, respectively. However, the world number one does not have the best line-up and has to do without greats like LeBron James in Japan. In the preliminary round it started with a defeat against France. It was the first bankruptcy for the USA at the Olympics since 2004. The USA will face Australia, France in the semifinals on Thursday and the Slovenians with Luka Doncic will play the second final participant (from 6.15 am).
.