After securing three places in the Olympic sailing disciplines Laser, Laser Radial and 49er early on last year, the German 470 sailors have now also laid the foundations for their Olympic start next year. 16th place at the 470 World Championship in the former and upcoming Japanese Olympic area off Enoshima was enough for Berliners Frederike Loewe and Anna Markfort. The duo from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club would have liked to have finished even higher up in the rankings, but at the end of the world title fights, which are so important for the Olympics, the joy of reaching the milestone prevailed. "We are super happy. It's a huge relief that we've managed to qualify for the nations," said coxswain Loewe. "It will definitely encourage us on our way that we were the team that got the place, but the national qualification doesn't start until next year and there's still a lot to do before then." Team-mates Nadine Böhm and Ann-Christin Goliaß from the German Touring Yacht Club, who sailed to 21st place at the World Championship, shared the joy. Helmswoman Böhm said: "We are delighted that we managed to qualify Germany for the Games as a team. Now we can really step on the gas."
Parallel to the great joy in the camp of the German 470 women, the German Sailing Team also had to cope with a severe setback: The German 470 men were unable to clear the Nations Qualification hurdle. Although Simon Diesch and Philipp Autenrieth got better and better towards the end of the series and showed their top ten potential with 10th, 10th and 7th place on the last day of the main round, they narrowly missed out after a weak start. In 5th place among the nations that had not yet qualified for the Olympics before the World Championships, it was just not enough to secure the country's starting place for the 2020 Olympics, because in contrast to the women (6), only four Olympic spots were awarded to the men at this World Championships. So while 16th place helped the sailors of the German Sailing Team to happiness, the same place did not help the men. The disappointment was huge. Not only for Simon Diesch and Philipp Autenrieth, but also for Malte Winkel and Matti Cipra (Schweriner Yacht-Club/Plauer Wassersportverein), who were unable to realise their current performance potential and found themselves in the silver fleet after the qualification round, just like the otherwise stronger Austrians David Bargehr and Lukas Mähr.
Helmsman Malte Winkel commented on the reasons for his crew's unexpectedly poor performance: "I think many factors played a role. On the one hand, all the teams have of course prepared particularly well for this event and this area. That's why it was clear from the start that it was going to be an open battle. Unfortunately, we in particular were not able to turn our current performance into a good result. We still have to analyse the specific points that were responsible for this. Simon and Philipp were the only ones in the Goldfleet. In the end, it was a rather close affair for them. I think they had also hoped for a better start. They got off to a very good start at the back of the event, but the points gaps from the previous days were simply too big. It's really difficult to make a prediction about the fight for the last ticket next year. On the one hand, there is still an intensive winter preparation in between, and on the other hand, Genoa can show itself from many different sides. We clearly have a chance of winning the national spot, but it won't be easy."
The bottom line is that the German 470 men still have two chances to make it to the Olympic Games. The last remaining national place for a European team will be awarded in the spring at the World Cup regatta off Genoa. This could even turn into a German-Austrian duel. Another possibility could arise from the occasional return of a nation's starting place on another continent. The German 470 sailors have sailed the first right for their country with the World Championship result of Diesch/Autenrieth. Official confirmation of the Olympic qualification of the other nations at this World Championship was still pending on Thursday afternoon.
Here for the interim results of the 470 World Championships. The decisions in the battle for titles and medals in both the women's and men's races will not be made until Friday - without German participation in the two medal races.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
