On the meadows and slopes of "The Nothe" fortress, the German fans got into the mood on Monday before the surfers compete for medals on Tuesday. Waving German flags and lots of applause accompanied Simon Grotelüschen from Lübeck on his successful farewell gala and victory in the medal race in the sailing arena between Weymouth and the Portland peninsula.
Simon Grötelüschen takes this experience home with him as his favourite memory from the Olympic Games: "What a huge crowd! I saw my father, my whole family, my girlfriend and all the fans - it was great support. It was very important to me today to improve once again."
More than 5,000 spectators watched as Australian Tom Slingsby secured his well-deserved gold medal by taking on Cypriot Pavlos Kontides. Slingsby, who is known as a very fair sportsman, later said: "I would have opened my guard if he had lost silver as a result."
Things went according to plan for Slingsby this time. The five-time Laser world champion had already started the Olympic regatta in China four years ago as the top favourite and had to return to Down Under bitterly beaten in 22nd place. But he didn't give up. "I've worked even harder over the last four years. I've had to wait twelve years for this success. If I hadn't won gold this time, I would probably have given up the Olympic sport."
He didn't have to do that. This time, the likeable Australian was able to fully utilise his exceptional performance. There isn't a laser sailor in the world who wouldn't begrudge the man Philipp Buhl once called the "Laser God" his gold medal. Second-placed Pavlos Kontides also made sporting history on Monday, winning silver to give his country its first medal at the Olympic Games. The Swede Rasmus Myrgren took bronze after a nail-biting finish. At the finish line, he was initially delighted to have won the duel for the precious metal against Tonci Stipanovic. But then the coach broke the bad news: there was a technical protest against the Scandinavian from the measurers. It was only cleared two hours later. Myrgren came out of the jury room with his arms raised.
In the Laser Radial, China's Lijia Xu had previously made short work of her opponents. The friendly helmswoman from Shanghai achieved a start-to-finish victory despite a penalty and did not let the constantly attacking Marit Bouwmester throw her off her stride. In the first flash interview with the BBC, Lijia Xu said: "I really enjoyed doing all this. I did my best for Weymouth, for the audience and for my country."
The Dutchwoman Bouwmester had to settle for silver under the eyes of her friend Ben Ainslie, who was also on the shore as a fan. Evi van Acker from Belgium celebrated bronze at the finish, which she had to fight hard for against the attacking young Irishwoman Annalise Murphy. Franziska Goltz from Schwerin had already finished her Olympic debut in 26th place before the medal race of the top ten coxswains.
There was no happy ending for Tobi Schadewaldt and Hannes Baumann in the last two races of the 49er. While the Australians and the New Zealanders secured their gold and silver medals early with a huge points lead and only have to compete in the medal race on Wednesday, the Kiel team narrowly missed the cut for the final of the top ten crews. In eleventh place, it was just not enough for the Germans to reach the final. Tobi Schadewaldt said: "That was just short of our own target. I'm sad about that. We really fought hard today."
Nevertheless, the 49er sailors were positive. Tobi Schadewaldt said: "The Olympics was and is a fantastic experience, even if it was an incredibly tough regatta for us." Schadewaldt commented on the almost unearthly lead of the Australian leaders: "They are sailing in a different world and have a completely different speed potential. Of course, they can't do magic. But the rest of the fleet is puzzled as to how they do it."
Like Simon Grotelüschen, the crew from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and the Yachtclub Berlin-Grünau are taking some time out after the Olympic Games to think about continuing their Olympic careers. Schadewaldt said: "We're taking a break for now, but we still get on well." Hannes Baumann continued: "We haven't passed our peak yet."
The "Fan of the Day" award goes to the "Flying Dutchman" Dorian van Rijsselberge, who joined the fans on the fortress grounds of "The Nothe" one day before his own final in a bright orange long-haired wig to scream Laser woman Marit Bouwmester to victory. It wasn't quite enough. But van Rijsselberge has his sights set on his own Olympic victory on Tuesday. Mathematically, gold can no longer be disputed. According to the regulations, he only has to compete in the race.
However, the battle for silver and bronze will also captivate the German fans. Because one of the main protagonists is Toni Wilhelm from Dogern. The man from the Black Forest could still oust Great Britain's Nick Dempsey (35 points) from silver, but would also be "super happy" with bronze and will therefore be keeping a close eye on the only man who can still oust him from bronze: Przemyslaw Miarcynski starts the final with 52 points - six points more than Wilhelm (46 points). That means three places in the double medal race.
Moana Delle also faces an interesting challenge: in fourth place overall, she starts just one point behind second and third place. As in the RS:X men's race, the women's leader Marina Alabau has also pulled away from the field. In the women's race, however, the women in pursuit still have a mathematical chance of catching the Spaniard.
This is how the placings and points are distributed before the final: 1st Marina Alabau (24 points), Lee-El Korsitz (Israel, 38 points), 3rd Tuuli Petaja (Finland, 38 points), 4th Moana Delle (39 points). Up to and including seventh-placed Brit Bryony Shaw, three more surfers still have a chance of winning a medal. There is not much room for tactical games. And that's good for Moana Delle, who "just wants to race nicely".
Michael Vesper gave the sailors some good news during a visit on Monday. The Chef de Mission of the German Olympic team witnessed the two medal races on the water, was "delighted about the great success for the young athlete Simon Grotelüschen" and then gave sailing as a whole an excellent report: "I'm not worried about sailing. It is not endangered by the Olympics. Four years ago it was and now here it is showing its full appeal."
If you want to cheer on the German surfers on Tuesday, you are in good hands on the ARD and ZDF live streams (zdfsport.de and sportschau.de). ZDF reporter Nils Kaben will be commentating on the action. ZDF will also be showing clips from the race on television.
