The German team missed its target Olympic victory and took the silver medal in Tokyo. In the final on the Sea Forest Waterway, the German showboat had to concede defeat to the New Zealand team, which was about a second faster, but took the second medal in Japan for the German Rowing Society (DRV). The bronze went to Great Britain.
“We sacrificed everything. Our faces are still a bit blank. But we definitely won the silver. Usek said. Next man Turpin Johanssen admitted that he was “a bit disappointed at first”.
In Rio, the crew surrounding batsman Hanes Usek was beaten up by the British at the Games five years ago. Recently, the DRV won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Games in London. Even before the start of the race in Tokyo, rower Jacob Schneider said in an interview with SPIEGEL: “We would be silly if we said we were satisfied with a medal. We are satisfied only when it turns out that it is gold, and everything else will have a bitter aftertaste.”
After 500 metres, Germany’s eighth was still on top of the field, a top-level three-team final developed as a result. Germany entered the final 500m in third and attacked again. But it is no longer enough to jump to first place.
National coach Uwe Bender’s team, who recently won three World Cup gold medals in a row, had a disappointing start to the Olympic year with fourth place at the European Championships in the spring, but improved markedly at the following World Cup. Last Friday, the eighth reached the finals with a convincing performance.
Two Rowing Society Silvers
For DRV, the Summer Games finish with two silver medals, before more positions on the podium begin. Eighth, Germany’s leading since Olympic gold in Rome in 1960, confidently entered the race with Johannes Weisenfeld, Lauritz Vollert, Olaf Rogensack, Turbine Johanssen, Jacob Schneider, Malti Jaczyk, Richard Schmidt, Usic and helmsman Martin Sauer, managing the first matches since Beijing 2008 without Germany rowing gold but did not prevent it.
World champion and number one favorite Oliver Zeidler was surprisingly eliminated in the semi-finals, but said goodbye to matches in Japan on Friday with a victory in Final B. The women’s double paddle crossed the podium after a thrilling final jump. Jonathan Rommelman/Jason Osborne took the silver in an easy double sprint.
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