Not much was missing, but in the end it was too much. The two young German Nacra 17 crews were unable to secure the ticket they had hoped for to the Olympic Games in August off Rio de Janeiro at the elimination final off Hyères. The Audi Sailing Team Germany is now expected to start in Rio de Janeiro's Guanabara Bay in just six of the ten Olympic disciplines. Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner as well as Jan Hauke Erichsen and Lea Spitzmann will initially be left with nothing but disappointment after their rollercoaster ride through the elimination round - and hope for 2020.
For a long time, it had looked as if Paul Kohlhoff and Carolina Werner would be the youngest crew to earn a place in the high-calibre international Rio fleet for the Olympic premiere of the new mixed catamaran class. In 2015, they impressed with fifth place at the World Championships and fourth place at the Olympic test regatta in Rio de Janeiro in competition with the greats of the sport, earning themselves the nickname "German Wonder Kids". The two likeable young athletes from the Kiel Yacht Club were named Germany's "Newcomers of the Year 2015" and were the talk of the town. Their rise has been so rapid that missing out on an Olympic ticket is now hard to bear for the athletes themselves, as well as those around them and their fans. Just as the three-part elimination series for the Olympic Games was about to begin, the 20-year-old helmsman and his 22-year-old fore-sailor were thrown off course.
"We had some material breakage, which was of course also our own fault. Caro was ill a lot. And we simply weren't good in this last elimination regatta at the World Cup," Kohlhoff summarises the course of the three-part elimination series (European Championship Barcelona, World Championship Clearwater, World Cup Hyères) soberly. Now this crew, which for many symbolised a new desire for sailing performance in German Olympic sailing, is facing the ruins of its dreams for the moment.
"At the moment, we don't even know what will happen next. We didn't have a plan B. We only had plan A." And that was to take part in the Olympics. The two ambitious sailors from Kiel do not want their young age to be the reason for missing out on an Olympic ticket. "We have the ambition to be as good or even better than our elders." This worked to some extent in the first Olympic attempt, but despite the internal victory over Jan Hauke Erichsen and Lea Spitzmann (15:13 for Kohlhoff/Werner), it was not enough to fulfil the Olympic entry requirements of the German Olympic Sports Confederation: Neither Kohlhoff/Werner, who had previously secured the German Nacra national starting place for the Olympic Games, nor Erichsen/Spitzmann, who got better towards the end of the elimination, were able to place among the top ten nations at the end of the three qualifying regattas - as required by the DOSB. This last hurdle was a few centimetres too high.
The Kiel team have not lost confidence in their own performance potential with their Olympic dream shattered. "We would still give ourselves a chance of winning a medal, an outsider's chance at the Olympic Games, if we were sent after all," said Kohlhoff after the biggest defeat of his young career. For German sailing, the task now is to pick up the talent. For now, Kohlhoff and Werner are heading for Kiel. "We want to go home first and take our time to think about what comes next for us."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
