For many months, Paul Kohlhoff fought for his return to life and to Olympic sailing away from the Olympic spotlight. It was a difficult time, during which his family and sailing friends stood by him and asked for his privacy to be respected. It was a time when Paul Kohlhoff initially had to fear for his life and could not be sure for months whether he would ever be able to sail at Olympic level again. He himself believed that he would. That also gave him the chance to make a comeback.
The darkest months of Paul Kohlhoff's life began in December 2017 during a training camp in Palma de Mallorca with extremely severe headaches. When they persisted the next day, he had himself examined in a hospital in Palma de Mallorca. The devastating diagnosis for the 22-year-old athlete: A brain haemorrhage! However, due to its location, it initially seemed inoperable. However, when a secondary haemorrhage occurred a few days later, there was no other option. A Spanish doctor dared to perform the rare and dangerous operation in Palma de Mallorca. "He saved my life," says Paul Kohlhoff, who then underwent months of rehabilitation and had to exercise patience time and again.
Until mid-January 2018, the Kiel-based athlete, who had already been pulled out of his second Nacra17 Olympic campaign with Alica Stuhlemmer by the serious illness, was not fit for transport. Only then was the 1.87 metre tall sports soldier able to return home. The helmsman, who counts Jupp Heynckes and Dirk Nowitzki among his role models, completed his rehab in Hamburg. Now Paul Kohlhoff is back in life and also back to sailing. He has just completed a ten-day sailing training programme on Lake Garda with Alica Stuhlemmer. The sparring partners were Kohlhoff's former foresailor Carolina Werner and her new helmsman Johannes Polgar.
"I'm still slightly restricted, I had to take a lot of medication over a long period of time," says the helmsman from the Kiel Yacht Club, "but I'm confident that we'll be back at full strength for the highlights of the year. I'm way ahead of most doctors' forecasts." Alongside his family and friends, the dream of finally being able to sail again was the most important motivation for Paul Kohlhoff during his recovery. "You see things from a completely different perspective now. Of course I still want to win, but the enjoyment and pleasure of the sport have become incredibly greater. My motivation couldn't be stronger."
But Kohlhoff also makes one thing clear: "I hope that my illness will not be used as an excuse or as a trigger for pity in the coming period. I'm doing wonderfully and we will fight our way back." Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer's declared goal is a second Olympic start after 13th place at the 2016 Olympic Games. In 2020, they want to sail for an Olympic medal in the Nacra17. They have now set a new course for this as a team.
In mid-March, Paul Kohlhoff and Alica Stuhlemmer ventured back onto the water off Mallorca for the first time. However, in 18 knots of onshore wind, the mast of their Nacra17 broke on the very first day, putting an immediate end to their initial training camp. In the middle of her A-levels, it was then Alica Stuhlemmer who brought the boat back from Spain alone and brought it to Kiel, where the duo successfully completed further sailing tests in their home waters and then the Lake Garda training camp. "My euphoria for foiling has not diminished," Kohlhoff said afterwards, smiling and cheerful. The North German duo want to attack again at the most important regattas this year. The motto for the next two years or so: "For Germany to Tokyo".
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
