TOKYO (DPA) – When the veterans of the Germany Eight lost their first disappointment about a failed Olympic gold project, batsman Hans Osik ordered a party in Tokyo Bay.
« We will make the most of our possibilities. The setting is Olympic Village and departure is planned for the day after. Let’s see if the Japanese send us home first,” Rostock said after a surprise defeat against new Olympic champions New Zealand.
Osik & Co had previously gotten the most out of their bodies on the 2000 m long regatta course, when the German boat took the lead under a thunderstorm and dark clouds shortly after the start. «We drove from the front to the border. The lights turned black for me in the second half,” Osike said, looking into the eyes of his teammates at the Tokyo Gate Bridge. “And I know that if it’s black for me, it’s over for others. We’re in a zone where we can no longer actively control ourselves. It all happens subconsciously. “
IOC chief watching
In the eyes of IOC boss Thomas Bach, New Zealand was unattainable to the German flagship. «We knew they placed their top guys in eighth place. You have reached the climax here and have given your best race”, said Johannes Weisenfeld. In the final sprint, the DRV boat had to save Silber from Great Britain and the USA, which he did brilliantly. “Then there’s just a twinkle in your eyes,” Osik explained.
With full awareness, the parade boat of the German Rowing Association then enjoyed the award ceremony. When helmsman Martin Sawyer hung the medals around his neck, many had tears in their eyes. Sawyer was already in the only Olympic victory since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2012 and was eighth last in the Marine Forest waterway. He controlled his emotions. “It’s too early to be nostalgic,” Berliner said. “It was my last race, but I’m not dead. My life goes on.”
National coach can “survive” with silver
This of course also applied to Ralph Holtmeyer, who experienced his last Olympic Games as national coach in Tokyo. The record looks moderate with only two silver medals, no gold for the DRV for the first time since its flop in Beijing. “I can live with it,” Holtmeier insisted. The 65-year-old pointed to the difficult conditions on Wednesday and Thursday that cost women’s double foursome and singles gold candidate Oliver Zeidler medals. “The fact that we only qualified for seven boats is not enough. Should have been nine or ten.”
The outgoing national coach particularly criticized the thinking in German rowing. «They want to send club boats to the Olympics. But who else does this? Centralize New Zealand and Great Britain and with us it should still run as it was 60 years ago,” said Lower Saxony. He expects this to be reconsidered, especially in coach training. “Society lives by the interaction of generations. We don’t have that. We absolutely love success, but not the way to get there.”
One-Rover Zeidler wins B-Final
So the eighth as well as the second in the lightweight double two remained Jonathan Rommelman and Jason Osborne. Above all, medals missed by Zeidler, who had failed in the semi-finals, were not on the DRV’s list. Zeidler anyway, who looked very upset after his win in the B final and cried in the finish area.
“It will take me time to recover from this,” said Zeidler, but declared to continue with his career: “I definitely want to continue. I do the same for my father for what he put into it.” Instead of Bayern, Greek Stefanos Natouskos rejoiced, who surprisingly won the gold medal with an Olympic best time.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210730-99-609858/7
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