Four years ago, Toni Wilhelm was the national sailing team's most successful athlete at the Olympic Games in Weymouth. At the end of his gala performance, however, he had to settle for fourth place with a heavy heart because the final did not go according to plan. This experience also motivated Toni Wilhelm to compete for a third time at the Olympic Games and fight for another medal. He will not only benefit from his experience himself. "He is a valuable asset for the whole team," says DSV head coach David Howlett. His assessment of the surfer in the sailing team: "Toni is an exemplary athlete and extremely fit. He has to internalise the fact that he has already beaten every surfer in the Olympic regatta and can beat them again. For me, Toni is a medal candidate."
Toni Wilhelm was the first of all the German sailors in the Audi Sailing Team Germany to move into the flat in the Olympic Village, which he shares with Philipp Buhl, on 25 July. "It's getting so slow here," reported Wilhelm. "When I arrived on 25 July, it was still chaos and nothing really worked. It was a bit disappointing at first, but now things are slowly moving in the right direction. The atmosphere is great, it's starting to get really full here - a really cool Olympic village!" According to Wilhelm, the rooms are kept very simple, but nothing is missing. "And with Buhli in the room, nothing can go wrong anyway ..."
Wilhelm is extremely focussed in her third Olympic attempt after 2004 and 2012. "I've trained fully over the past four days, then had two rest days yesterday and today. The training went great, the material is set so far." However, there are still a few jury requests to work through. Wilhelm - and he's not the only surfer - wants to "change things on the equipment" that are allowed according to the class rules, but not in the games with the equipment provided. "These have quite a strong influence on the performance and are also different from board to board, which can't really be the case." The man from the Black Forest and his French coach Pierre Loquet are hoping for a favourable response from the jury.
Chasing medals at the third attempt: Toni Wilhelm is the most experienced athlete in the German national sailing team. After narrowly missing out on a medal in 2012, Wilhelm wants to give it another go in Guanabara Bay.
Apart from completing this technical homework, Wilhelm says: "I'm really excited about the games and I'm really looking forward to getting started soon." The 33-year-old native of Lörrach is back in top form after breaking his hand in 2015. A sports scientist, Wilhelm lives in Lausanne and competes for the Württemberg Yacht Club. His driving forces are passion, ambition and high expectations of himself. He says: "I consider it a privilege to be able to practise the most beautiful sport in the world." In the style of his role models Dirk Nowitzki and Roger Federer, Wilhelm also describes his willpower as his strongest weapon. Although the German, who is popular in the international surfing camp, lacks training partners on an equal footing at home, he has closed this gap with international surfers. A breeze more courage than in Weymouth should inspire his medal hunt.
