Kieler Woche: DOSB nominates Olympic team, Bernaz wins, Buhl second after final thriller
Tatjana Pokorny
· 26.06.2024
The 130th Kieler Woche had to do without most of the top international sailors in the Olympic year. Just under five weeks before the first Olympic starting shots are fired in the Bay of Marseille, almost the entire world elite stayed away from the classic event in the north of Germany. The exception was 2020 world champion Philipp Buhl and his training partners Jean-Baptiste Bernaz and Hermann Tomasgaard. The international top trio deliberately used Kieler Woche as their last regatta test, while the current class kings, reigning Olympic and world champion Matt Wearn (Australia) and Michael Beckett (Great Britain), decided to forgo further competition practice.
You might also want to train something that not everyone should see" (Philipp Buhl)
"A race practice is a race practice. It was good for us to be here. Of course, it helps to have practice in Marseille, but at some point you've got that. A final competition was the better choice for us," said Philipp Buhl. With a wink, he added: "You might want to train something again that not everyone should see." The internationally high-calibre French-Norwegian-German group of three was also successful in the Ilca 7, dominating the field almost single-handedly and ultimately occupying the podium in the order Bernaz, Buhl, Tomasgaard. Would he take this result for the Olympics if he could? Philipp Buhl didn't think twice and said: "I think so."
Buhl's Ilca trio dominates Kiel Week
Jean-Baptiste Bernaz snatched the Kieler Woche victory after a thrilling medal race with constantly changing positions and influential referee decisions with seventh place in the final. At times, Philipp Buhl was even listed as the overall winner in the medal race, but in the end a total of 51 points was enough for the likeable Frenchman to win his first Kieler Woche title 20 years after his first Kieler Woche start.
Many of the Grande Nation's Olympic medal hopes rest on Bernaz's shoulders at home. "It was good to compete again in a different arena, in a series as famous as Kiel Week. However, the tension in the final lasted right to the end," said Jean-Baptiste Bernaz before his fifth Olympic appearance. The 36-year-old is well aware of his role as the Olympic hopeful of the Olympic hosts. After eighth place at his Olympic debut in Qingdao, China, tenth place in Weymouth, Great Britain, fifth place in Rio de Janeiro and sixth place at the Games in Japan, the 1.90 metre tall Frenchman is still fighting for his first Olympic medal.
The Olympic Games are the competition of your life" (Philipp Buhl)
While third sparring partner Hermann Tomasgaard, 30, has already won bronze at the 2021 Olympic regatta in Enoshima, Philipp Buhl is also aiming for his first medal under the five rings in his third Olympic attempt. After 14th place in Rio de Janeiro and fifth place in Enoshima, he wants more in Marseille. The 34-year-old from Allgäu said in Kiel: "The Olympic Games are the competition of your life. I underperformed my first time, but I did better at my second Games." What he wants from his third summit attempt can also be read on his homepage: "His big dream: a medal at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028."
The 1.87 metre tall helmsman, who competes for the Alpsee-Immenstadt sailing club and the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, now knows what it takes to make such a difficult leap onto the Olympic podium: "The absolute will to win is the prerequisite. Then you have to be able to call on all the skills you've learnt in the Olympic week, but you must also not overdo it when it comes to delivering the freestyle. I will try to concentrate on delivering what I have learnt."
DOSB nominates eleven DSV athletes for the Olympics
Philipp Buhl is the best-known member of the German sailing, windsurfing and kitesurfing team for Marseille. The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) officially nominated a total of eleven athletes from the German Sailing Team just in time for the Kiel Week half-time on 26 June. Alongside Philipp Buhl, the Nacra 17 sailors Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer (Kieler Yacht-Club) are the Olympic bronze medallists from Enoshima who, like Buhl, bring Olympic experience to the team. Paul Kohlhoff celebrated his 29th birthday on the "Olympic Day" of Kiel Week.
All other Marseille starters nominated under the DSV umbrella are heading for their Olympic debut: In iQFoil windsurfing, it is 2022 World Champion and 2021 Vice World Champion Sebastian Kördel and the youngest member of the team, Theresa Steinlein (both from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), who want to attack in the Bay of Marseille. Simon Diesch and Anna Markfort (Württembergischer Yacht-Club/Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee; Joersfelder Segel-Club) want to fight for a medal in the 470 Mixed, also a new Olympic event, after a hard-fought elimination won at the European Championships in Cannes. In the 49er FX, Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille (Mühlenberger Segel-Club) have earned their Olympic ticket after their recent rapid rise into the world elite. Leonie Meyer (NRV) and Jannis Maus (Cuxkiters) want to make their mark on the kiters' Olympic premiere.
Whether the eleven athletes officially confirmed by the DOSB in eight out of ten Olympic disciplines will become 14 athletes who will then compete together with the team in all ten Olympic sailing competitions remains to be seen until the beginning of July. Ilca-6 helmswoman Julia Büsselberg (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee) and the 49er sailors Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger (Bayerischer Yacht-Club) have won the national starting places, but missed out on the individual qualification. The DSV is fighting for its athletes and has submitted so-called individual case applications to the DOSB. The DOSB will decide on these cases at the beginning of next month.
Are three Olympic medals possible again?
DOSB President Thomas Weikert, who visited Kiel Week for the first time on Wednesday, said at the Kiel-Schilksee Olympic Centre: "We have a great team. Many team sports have qualified - more than ever before. That's good for the atmosphere in the team." When asked about the chances for the sailing Olympians, Weikert said: "We won three medals in sailing last time. I don't want to put anyone under pressure, but maybe that's the goal." The DOSB President went on to say about the hoped-for performance of Team D as a whole: "I'm hoping that we'll do a bit better than at the last Olympic Games. We were ninth in the rankings at the Summer Games."
Three years ago in Enoshima, Japan, the DSV's best athletes made a major contribution to Team D's medal collection with three medals: Tina Lutz and Susann Beucke won silver in the 49er FX, Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel (NRV) took their second bronze medal in a row in the 49er. Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer were delighted with third place. The Nacra 17 sailors from the Kiel Yacht Club are the only ones in the current squad for Marseille who have already won Olympic medals.
DSV President Mona Küppers is optimistic about the Olympic Games and the deployment of the national sailors: "We have a good preparation period behind us. We have good conditions down there. All of our sailors know the area. We have a relatively young team that is in good shape. And then we'll wait and see ... " Mona Küppers expressed special thanks to the clubs where the Olympians learnt their trade.
