Olympic sailing: Liberation with bronze

Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel are the Olympic heroes of Sailing Team Germany. The two Berliners were able to hold on to their medal in the spectacular final of the 49er sailors on Thursday. Although they had to let the Australian 2012 Olympic champions, Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen, pass them in the race and in the overall standings, the medal meant that the crew, which competes for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein, gave German sailing its first Olympic medal since 2008 and a conciliatory result.

"Standing on the podium next to two Olympic champions is great," said helmsman Erik Heil, who joked that he would have preferred to say "between two Olympic champions". After the first short TV interviews, foreskipper Thomas Plößel was initially asked to undergo a doping test. The Germans celebrated their medal with an overjoyed backflip shortly after crossing the finish line. "We did it five times so that everyone could see it," said Heil, laughing with relief.

The final race was hard to beat in terms of excitement, as the Berliners did not quite achieve what they had so firmly set out to do. "We definitely don't want to drag our arse at the start," said Thomas Plößel. It turned out differently. "We underestimated the current. It was stronger than we thought. And then we were suddenly in this sh... situation." The opening scenes gave the German fans watching the race on the ZDF live stream a fright, as the British, who were in fourth place before the final, sailed into fifth place at times with a good pull forwards. However, when the British capsized, the medal decision was made in favour of Heil and Plößel. "We even tried to catch up with the Australians. It looked pretty good at first, but then we almost got stuck in a wind hole."

Eight years after the brothers Jan-Peter and Hannes Peckolt won bronze in the 49er, a German skiff team has once again won a medal at the Olympic Games. "We also have the strongest training group in the world to thank for this. Without Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme, this would not have been possible," said Erik Heil. Schmidt/Boehme have been part of coach Thomas Rein's training group for five years. The youngsters and 2015 European champions had put Heil/Plößel under considerable pressure in the national Olympic qualifiers, putting the veterans under pressure again. Schmidt and Boehme were only narrowly defeated.

In the hours after the medal success, Heil/Plößel did not make a clear commitment to another Olympic campaign, but Heil said: "We have such a strong team that it would certainly be fun. Philipp Buhl would have won the Olympics three times in a different area and will go on to win many more great titles. He's already a legend. He has simply never been able to make peace with Rio's territory and that's the only reason for his frustrating result. Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner are a strong team. It's nice if we can contribute to a positive outcome for the whole team at these Games with our medal."

On the Flamengo beach, Heil's mother Barbara Plößel, sister Britta, Plößel's girlfriend Andrea, youth coach Michael Kosta ("I'm so proud of the boys!") from the Tegel Sailing Club and many other friends and fans joined in the excitement and celebrated their team with a small sea of German flags and never-ending cheers. The New Zealand America's Cup stars Peter Burling and Blair Tuke had secured the Olympic victory in the 49er ahead of time. Silver went to the Australians Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen.

DSV head coach David Howlett said: "Erik and Thomas have done a great job. They performed well in the battle with two Olympic champions and are great role models for the German Olympic sailors on course for the future. They have set the standard for the coming years." Howlett's overall assessment after the bronze happy ending was positively hopeful: "The team now has the certainty that it can succeed in winning a medal. That is the most important message. We must now focus on continuing the modernisation course we have initiated. Then, in four years' time, the experience gained by the majority of the new Olympians in Rio will be very, very useful."