Thursday night begins with a purely sporting Olympic demonstration: Florian Wellbrock swims in a “gigantic race” to free-water gold. The second German medal of the night will also be fished out of the water. But there are also disappointments.
Swimming, open water: Florian Wellbrock has been crowned Olympic champion. With a demonstration of strength, the 23-year-old swam to the first gold medal for the German Swimming Association in 13 years. In the open water race over ten kilometers, the double world champion determined the action from the start with the self-image of a champion and hit the Hungarian Kristof Rasovszky and the Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri after a little less than 1:50 hours. Wellbrock’s team-mate Rob Muffels, after all third in the World Championship, crossed the finish line beaten.
For the German swimmers, it was the third medal in Tokyo after Wellbrock and his fiancée Sarah Köhler in the 1500 meter freestyle pool. The last time the swimmers were more successful was in Beijing in 2008, when Britta Steffen was crowned double Olympic champion and record world champion Thomas Lurz won bronze in the open water. At that time there were a total of five medals for the DSV.
Hockey: Germany’s hockey men are returning from the Olympic Games without a medal for the first time in 21 years. The selection of the German Hockey Association lost the small final against India 4: 5 (3: 3) and came fourth empty-handed. The last time the DHB team was in Sydney in 2000 was without precious metal. After that, there were bronze in Athens in 2004 and Rio in 2016, and gold in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012. In a dramatic game, Timur Oruz scored the German goals in the 2nd minute, Niklas Wellen (24th), Benedikt Furk (25th) and Lukas Windfeder (48th). For India, Simranjeet Singh (17th / 34th), Hardik Singh (27th), Harmanpreet Singh (29th) and Rupinder Pal Singh (31st) scored by seven meters.
Table tennis: Germany’s table tennis women missed the bronze medal. Five years after the surprising silver medal in Rio, Han Ying, Petrissa Solja and Shan Xiaona lost 3-1 to Hong Kong. The victory in the doubles for Solja and Shan was not enough in the game for third place. So the success of 2016 remains the only Olympic medal for the German table tennis women for the time being. The men around individual bronze winner Dimitrij Ovtcharov want to finish their final in the team competition with the hoped-for gold medal on Friday (12.30 p.m. CEST). Opponent in the final, however, is the one-seeded China.
Canoe: It wasn’t quite enough for Max Hoff and Jacob Schopf to get the longed for gold, but the two world champions in kayak two were also happy with silver. Shortly after crossing the finish line, they hugged, were boat to boat with the winners Jean van der Westhuyzen and Thomas Green from Australia. The two were 0.304 seconds short of the 1000 meters on the Sea Forest Waterway after a real canoe thriller. Third place went to the Czechs Josef Dostal and Radek Slouf. “That was important, the boat was one of our medal banks. But it is also obvious that the Oceania countries such as Australia and New Zealand had excellent preparation,” said Canoe Sports Director Jens Kahl. After the bronze medal by Sebastian Brendel / Tim Hecker in the two-man canoe, it was the second medal for the German Canoe Association at the Summer Games in Tokyo.
Athletics: The shot put giant Ryan Crouser was also unbeatable in Tokyo. After 2016 in Rio, the 28-year-old American won the second gold medal. With the world record holder and second in the World Cup, the question was not whether he would win, but with what distance. In Japan’s capital, too, the Portland-born Crouser catapulted the iron ball over 23 meters by 23.30 meters – just seven centimeters from his world record distance. He hit 23.37 meters in Eugene on June 18. The competitors in the Olympic final were not up to him: his compatriot and two-time world champion Joe Kovacs took silver with 22.65 meters, just like five years ago in Rio. Tomas Walsh from New Zealand also repeated his Olympic bronze win with 22.47 meters. Due to a back injury, David Storl (SC DHfK Leipzig), the 2012 Olympic runner-up, was unable to compete in this outdoor season and qualify for the Tokyo Games.
Athletics II: The Frankfurt world class heptathlete Carolin Schäfer experienced a serious setback on the second day of the competition. In the long jump, the 29-year-old only reached a weak 5.78 meters and ranks twelfth with 4584 points. The best performance of the former World Cup second and Olympic fifth is 6.57 meters. The Dutch ex-European champion Anouk Vetter (4965 points) and Nafissatou Thiam (Belgium), who only collected four points less, are in a close race for Olympic victory.
Rio’s Olympic fourth, Kai Kazmirek, had a poor start to day two of the decathlon. In the hurdles sprint it only lasted for 14.53 seconds. The 30-year-old from LG Rhein-Wied was able to defend his 13th place with 5113 points. He should have nothing more to do with the medal award. After six disciplines, the Canadian Damian Warner is the undisputed leader with 5767 points. Second is the Australian Ashley Moloney with 5605 points. World record holder Kevin Mayer from France is only fourth with 5327 points. Medal favorite Niklas Kaul had given up on his Olympic debut on Wednesday in the race over 400 meters after the half. Because of a foot injury that the world champion sustained in the high jump, he was no longer able to take part in the competition. The 23-year-old from Mainz was promising in the medal race after four disciplines, in which he achieved personal bests in the long jump (7.36 meters) and in the high jump (2.11 meters).
Athletics III: High jumper Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch has reached the final. The 30-year-old survived the qualification with 1.95 meters in the second attempt. It was a season’s best for young meat. A total of 14 athletes overcame the 1.95 meter mark. Imke Onnen only managed 1.86 meters and was eliminated. “I noticed that I unfortunately did not arrive here 100 percent fit,” said Onnen, who noticed her second Corona vaccination with back pain and nerve problems. The complaints increased on the plane to Tokyo. Jungfleisch, on the other hand, was satisfied. “It was a really big goal to get to the final, I’m overjoyed,” she said. “I’m already going home with a grinning face”. The final will take place on Saturday (12.35 p.m. / CEST). Five years ago, when the Spaniard Ruth Beitia won the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Jungfleisch finished seventh.
Athletics IV: The German sprint quartet with final runner Gina Lückenkemper has reached the final – and now wants to win a medal. In 42.00 seconds, the second place in the European Championship, together with Rebekka Haase, Alexandra Burghardt and Tatjana Pinto, relegated Switzerland (42.05 seconds) and China (42.82) to second and third place. “In any case, we want to be at the front, we want a medal,” announced Pinto. “We give a thousand percent for that.” The 24-year-old Lückenkemper, who starts for SSC Berlin and trains in the USA, was no longer able to meet the Olympic norm after a muscle injury, but traveled as a substitute runner to the training camp in Miyazki before the Tokyo Games. Due to the injury-related loss of Lisa Mayer and Lisa Nippgen, who had to return home prematurely, she moved into the relay formation. “The sport is fast moving, I had to experience that before the Olympics. I am mega satisfied now,” said Lückenkemper, who finished fourth in the 2016 sprint relay in Rio. “We now have the chance of a medal. One for all, all for one,” she said before the final on Friday (3:30 pm / CEST).
Wrestling: Freestyle wrestler Gennadij Cudinovic failed in the quarterfinals. The 27-year-old from Heusweiler lost 5-6 to Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur from Mongolia in an exciting fight. Previously, he had surprisingly prevailed against the second-placed Kazakhs Yusup Batirmursajew. Cudinovic now has to hope that Munkhtur will reach the final in the weight class up to 125 kilograms. Then he could run again tomorrow in the hope round and would still have the chance for bronze.
Skateboard, park: Skateboarder Tyler Edtmayer, who was impaired by a broken arm, failed to qualify in the park competition. The 20-year-old from Lenggries could not do his usual program in the Urban Sports Park, but still achieved 61.78 points and 15th place. Only the best eight made it to the final. There the Australian Keegan Palmer prevailed with 95.83 points and became the first Olympic champion in the park. Silver went to the Brazilian Pedro Barros, bronze went to the American Cory Juneau.
“A big stone fell from my heart. It was an extremely tough week, especially mentally, with a lot of pain, sweat and tears. I’m more than satisfied with the points, really super cool,” said Edtmayer. “There is so much adrenaline involved in the competition that I didn’t even notice my arm.” Nevertheless, he is operated on in Germany immediately after his return: “To straighten my wrist again. It is crooked at the moment.” Edtmayer broke his arm in training last week.
Water jumping: Elena Wassen has reached the final from the tower. The 20-year-old received 303.70 points for her five jumps from ten meters and thus finished eleventh in the semi-finals. The twelve best jumpers qualified for the medal decision in the afternoon (local time, 8.00 a.m. / CEST). Elena Wassen’s sister Christina Wassen, who was two years older than her, was eliminated in the semifinals. The Berliner came in 18th with 237.30 points. As in the pre-match the day before, two Chinese women were right at the front – but this time in reverse order. Quan Hongchan won with 415.65 points ahead of Chen Yuxi and the American Delaney Schnell. 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 celebrated her Olympic premiere in Tokyo.
Corona: The number of corona infections around the Olympic Games has risen again. The organizers reported 31 new cases on Thursday. This is a daily high since recording began on July 1st. An athlete is also affected. Names are not mentioned in the daily communications. The number of positive tests related to the games rose to 358. The maximum value was reached on Wednesday with 29 infections. According to information from OK spokesman Masa Takaya, another member of the Greek synchronized swimming team tested positive. This affects six team members, five swimmers and one supervisor. They were taken to a quarantine hotel.
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