Svenja Weger has made it extremely exciting for herself and all fans and observers: because Kiel Week didn't quite go to plan for the Laser Radial helmswoman with 15th place in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, it was all or nothing for the 26-year-old at the European Championships this week: whether she would qualify for the 2020 Olympics in 2021 now depended on her European Championship placing and a number of other factors such as the performance of international opponents and the constellations among each other. In the end, Svenja Weger achieved her goal with eighth place at the European Championships. The 2014 European champion confidently held her own in the top ten of the 107 dinghy field. The sailor from Potsdamer Yacht-Club thus also secured the position required to qualify for the Olympics among the top ten nations in the addition and final ranking of the selected qualifying regattas. DSV Sports Director Nadine Stegenwalner was delighted with her success: "She has earned it with perseverance and focussed work. We are all very happy for Svenja. It's the decisive step towards the big goal of the Olympics. After we were without a Laser Radial sailor at the 2016 Olympics, it's a good feeling to have her back in the team."
"I'm happy today and have to digest it now," said Weger in the afternoon in the European Championship harbour, when the first congratulations had already arrived. The Olympic ticket means a lot to the psychology student from Kiel: "It's the reward for eight years of hard work. I clearly failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2016. The fact that it's working out now is fulfilment." Svenja Weger knew before the start of the European Championships "that I had to work really hard". The conditions were not easy with cold autumn temperatures and complex weather scenarios. What's more, it was also an important regatta for many of her competitors with a view to qualifying for the Olympics. Svenja Weger withstood the pressure well - and is now looking forward to her Olympic premiere. She has a lot to gain from the Olympic area: "The big long waves suit me. I'm looking forward to the area." Her team-mate Philipp Buhl, who has already qualified for his second Olympic Games, wishes her a well-deserved boost for the Olympics: "I'm really happy for Svenja! And I hope that it gives her a big dose of self-confidence. In the end, self-confidence is the most important thing."
Buhl himself had already messed up his European Championship freestyle in the preliminary round with two early starts at the end of a regatta year that was cut short by only three major regattas. The strict decisions of the race committee were sometimes a matter of centimetres and didn't always affect everyone, but the world champion from the Allgäu was affected twice. As a result, Buhl suddenly found himself in 62nd place at the end of the qualifying round, which only just saved him from being relegated to the silver fleet. The 30-year-old made amends in the main round, moving up to 32nd place by the final day with only one scratch. In the last two races, the Laser helmsman finally made the maximum possible improvement with a win on the day and seventh place, catapulting himself into seventh place. "That did me good," he said afterwards. And he was able to smile again. For the German Sailing Team's top performer, the extraordinary coronavirus year remains a "golden" year, with the World Championship title won before the outbreak of the crisis and the sixth Kieler Woche success in September. Missing out on the European Championship podium doesn't change that.
The women's title in Poland was once again won by the athletic Olympic champion Marit Bouwmeester (Netherlands) ahead of Anne-Marie Rindom (Denmark) and Agata Barwińska (Poland). In the men's event, the British presented themselves in impressive form even without the retired double world champion Nick Thompson and stormed the podium single-handedly: Elliot Hanson, who has been nominated for the Olympic Games, secured European Championship gold ahead of his compatriots Michael Beckett and Lorenzo Brandon Chiavarini.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
