There is a spirit of optimism among Germany's Olympic sailors. Yesterday, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) officially nominated the ten sailors initially proposed by the German Sailing Association (DSV). Today, the athletes and their coaches and support staff presented themselves to the public at the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club. Given the number of Berlin sailors on the team for Rio, it was no surprise that the host for this media day chose Berlin's largest sailing club and its beautiful clubhouse and grounds on Wannsee: seven of the ten athletes come from the capital and learnt to sail here.
At the Olympic Games, they now want to end the twelve-year medal drought of German sailors at the Olympic Games. Since 2004, the 49er brothers Hannes and Jan-Peter Peckolt have had two medalless Games and one bronze medal in 2008. After the disappointment four years ago, when five top ten finishes signalled strong performances and an upward trend, but the hoped-for precious metal was narrowly missed, Audi Sailing Team Germany now wants to finally reverse the trend in Guanabara Bay in August.
"We are a strong team, we have several candidates with absolute medal chances and also some who are sitting right behind the top favourites in the lurking position," said Philipp Buhl, spokesman for the athletes, on Wednesday. The 26-year-old vice world champion is one of the biggest hopefuls in his Olympic debut, but will also be up against the largest number of international medal candidates in the battle for precious metal in the Laser.
Six German crews were officially presented after their official nomination at the VSaW: Alongside Buhl, Lörrach-born RS:X surfer Toni Wilhelm will be competing in Rio. He narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in the final four years ago in the British Olympic area of Weymouth and now wants to fight for a medal for the third time under the sugar loaf. The two strong German skiff crews Erik Heil/Thomas Plößel (Norddeutscher Regatta Verein) and the World Championship bronze medallists Victoria Jurczok/Anika Lorenz from Berlin are also among the hopefuls. For 470 helmsman Ferdinand Gerz (Munich) it will be his second Olympic start, while his co-skipper Oliver Szymanski from Berlin is looking forward to his debut. Like Jurczok/Lorenz, the 470 sailors Annika Bochmann and Marlene Steinherr will also be competing for the Seglerhaus am Wannsee club. Whether another young Nacra 17 crew will be nominated depends on the performance of the two rival contenders at the World Cup off Weymouth from 8 June.
"As a German team, we can end the medal drought. And Thomas and I can help with that," said 49er helmsman Erik Heil. Buhl's coach Thomas Piesker believes in the "Amelie Lux principle" and calls the DSV sailors' winning enjoyment of their sport an important success factor. With his assessment, the Berliner recalled the acclaimed silver medal that made Amelie Lux famous overnight as the "Kieler Surffloh" at the 2000 Olympic Games, because she was as thrillingly happy about second place as others were about an Olympic victory. Piesker said at Wannsee: "Our team has great Amelie Lux potential without the pressure of being top favourites. They can win for the joy of it. And we can prepare ourselves for a few surprises." Germany's most successful Olympic sailor also believes in the team's hunger for success. Jochen Schümann says: "I believe this team can win medals. Two would not be a miracle, but in sailing you also need the luck of the brave. You can dream of three."
