Olympia: National sailors on course for Marseille - one year to go until the start
Tatjana Pokorny
· 28.07.2023
The Olympic test event a year before the Olympic Games is already a few weeks behind us. With two silver medals from iQFoil world champion Sebastian Kördel and the 470 mixed Malte and Anastasiya Winkel (all Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and fourth place from Olympic bronze medallists Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer (Kieler Yacht-Club), the national sailing team performed similarly well as the sixth-best nation at the last Olympic regatta in Enoshima (1x silver, 2x bronze).
We want to and can win medals next year" (Nadine Stegenwalner)
DSV Sports Director Nadine Stegenwalner summarised the test accordingly: "We were able to show at the Olympic test regatta that we want to and can win medals next year. Our athletes and their coaches were able to gain very good insights into the conditions on site, which will be useful next year."
However, in the majority of the ten Olympic disciplines, it is still unclear whether the same athletes will be competing for the Olympic medals next year as they did at the test event. Currently, windsurfing world champion Basti Kördel and the foiling Nacra 17 aces Paul Kohlhoff/Alica Stuhlemmer are unrivalled nationally and in a league of their own in their Olympic disciplines.
Germany's Olympic windsurfers have to fight
Top kiter Leonie Meyer also has no rivals in Germany. The young mother and doctor from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein is fighting her way ever closer to the world's best. The situation is different for her male team-mates, where two friends and rivals have to fight for just one Olympic ticket. At the test event, Flo Gruber from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein narrowly beat Jannis Maus from the Cuxkiters. The duel between the two will once again provide excitement on the Marseille course.
The German windsurfers in the new Olympic discipline iQFoil, on the other hand, have to worry about whether they can even qualify for the Games. This was not the case for the test regatta. Alisa Engelmann, Lena Erdil, Theresa Marie Steinlein and Helena Wanser could do better at the upcoming highlight of the year, the Sailing World Championships for all Olympic disciplines in The Hague in August. For them, as for all the active members of the German Sailing Team, the main aim in the Dutch World Championship area off Scheveningen is to secure as many national starting places as possible for the Olympic Games.
For us in Ilca 7, the World Championships in The Hague are everything: the highlight of the year, the squad criterion, the national qualifier and the start of the national elimination" (Philipp Buhl)
This is also one of the multiple goals of Laser world champion Philipp Buhl. Germany's most successful Ilca-7 helmsman had missed out on qualifying for the test regatta and had to leave the opportunity to gain experience to his conqueror Nik Aaron Willim. Philipp Buhl does not see his chances in the national Olympic qualifiers diminished by this. The 33-year-old is looking forward to the August summit in the Netherlands: "For us in the Ilca 7, the upcoming World Championships in The Hague are everything: the highlight of the year, squad criterium, national qualifiers and the start of the national qualifiers."
According to Buhl, his entire Olympic campaign was and is timed to maximise his performance in the decisive events. "Maybe I put it a little too far back," he muses, referring to the elimination for the test event that he lost to Nik Willim. But his run should start now. Buhl is deliberately setting himself high goals in the final year before his third Olympic start: "A podium finish at the World Championships would be cool. Maybe I can compete for the win. I'm hoping for a good start to the Olympic qualifiers and that we can secure a place on the national starting grid."
The skiff medallists of the 2021 Olympic Games have left a gap
The best German Ilca 7 helmsmen will continue their national elimination in the battle for just one ticket after the World Championships in Holland at the end of January 2024 at their World Championships in Adelaide, Australia, and finish them at the Spanish classic Trofeo Princesa Sofía. Other disciplines in the German Sailing Team have to master other elimination regattas - three in all cases. And the decision will almost always be made in the spring of 2024 in the bay of Palma de Mallorca.
The national qualification will also be a major challenge for the Ilca 6 women's coxswains in their struggle to break through to the top of the world rankings. The same goes for the German skiff sailors, who are still working hard to close the gap after the departure of key players such as the two-time bronze medallists Erik Heil/Thomas Plößel and the silver medallists Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke.
The national elimination in the 470 mixed could turn into a thriller
One of the most exciting national Olympic qualifiers is expected in the new German showpiece discipline 470 Mixed. Three world-class teams and other hot candidate pairs from the German Sailing Team's world-class training group will be competing for just one Olympic ticket. The world champions Luise Wanser/Philipp Autenrieth (NRV/Bayerischer Yacht-Club), the runners-up in the European Championship and Kiel Week winners Simon Diesch/Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and the Winkels, silver medallists in the Olympic test regatta, are considered co-favourites.
From the second week in August, 48 men and women from the DSV fleet will be competing in the ten disciplines at the important World Championships in The Hague. They will be pushing hard to secure the maximum number of national starting places for the 2024 Olympics for German sailing. According to the strength of the Olympic fields in Marseille 2024, the following World Championship placings in the individual disciplines are good enough for a place in the Nations Championship - minus any French teams that may be better placed but are already seeded for the Olympics as hosts:
IQFoil Windsurfing Men (Top 11), iQFoil Windsurfing Women (Top 11), Kite Men (Top 8), Kite Women (Top 8), Ilca 7 Men (Top 16), Ilca 6 Women (Top 16), 49er Men (Top 10), 49er FX Women (Top 10), 470 Mixed (Top 8) and Nacra 17 Mixed (Top 9).
The acquired national starting place does not secure the individual Olympic ticket
Important to know: Securing a national starting place for a crew does not go hand in hand with individual qualification. In the past, it has often happened that one crew has secured the national starting place, but another crew has later won the national elimination and occupied the place.
If one or more disciplines fail to secure a place at the World Championships, there will be further opportunities for European candidates at the 2024 Continental Championships and at a last-chance regatta in the Olympic year. In the Ilca 7 men's and Ilca 6 women's events, an additional seven national starting places will be awarded at the 2024 World Championships.
