Saturday 24th July 2021
With a brilliant performance in the final
Germany eight “burns a thing off”
Flagship on gold course: The Germany eight moves into the Olympic final in Tokyo with a brilliant performance, despite the enormous midday heat of Japan. Before that there is a lot of excitement: The heats will be brought forward because storms are threatening in the next few days.
Richard Schmidt grinned broadly. “I’m glad that I don’t have to do this stupid hope race now,” said the rowing veteran of the Germany eight and blinked at the relentlessly burning Japanese midday sun: “I’ve never had to drive one. And I had that here too Do not feel like.”
With a grandiose feat of strength, the crew of the German flagship around London Olympic champion Schmidt had saved themselves a detour to the longed-for gold in Tokyo: victory in the hammer-hard run in front of the unexpectedly strong Americans, so that the direct ticket for the grand finale on Friday secured – this was it only for the two first round winners.
National coach Uwe Bender was therefore completely satisfied. “You have to be in very good shape to burn something like this,” he said after his boys stayed cool in the scorching heat on the Sea Forest Waterway despite the brutal early pace of the USA and won confidently by a second and a half.
Will the Olympic coronation succeed?
Because the heats were brought forward by two days in view of the impending stormy conditions on Monday, the German rowers now have plenty of time to prepare for the attack on the first Olympic gold since 2012. The big rival Great Britain, on the other hand, only came third in the second race and will therefore have to sit down in the repechage on Wednesday.
“They are so physically strong that they can even grow. I still have the British on the slip for the final,” said batsman Hannes Ocik. In order for him to have the Olympic crown after three last World Championship titles, he demands: “We have to keep a cool head, not let the hustle and bustle influence us, keep working and concentrate on the one race that is still ahead of us . “
The other German boats were also on the road to success. One day after her major slump in the run-up, Leonie Menzel and Annekatrin Thiele confidently reached the semi-finals in the double scull on Sunday. “Today I’m feeling much better again. Yesterday the stove was simply out,” said Menzel, who had to be driven away in a wheelchair on Friday after finishing second in the repechage. In the lightweight double sculls, Jonathan Rommelmann and Jason Osborne also made it to the semi-finals on Tuesday as the preliminary winners without any problems. Stephan Krüger and Marc Weber also reached the semi-finals on Sunday with a pair.
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