At 2.50 pm German time, Heiko Kröger, Jens Kroker, Siegmund Mainka and Robert Prem, their coaches Bernd Zirkelbach and Christian Bittner and their many helpers were perfectly happy. Because the wind didn't want to come into its own on the final day of the Paralympic regatta off Weymouth, the result remained the same after ten races - the eleventh was cancelled.
Both 2.4mR helmsman Heiko Kröger and Jens Kroker's Sonar team from Berlin were in second place before the final and no longer had to defend their silver medals. "I'm over the moon," said Heiko Kröger, "I had hoped for this medal and believed in it, but you can never be sure."
After a mediocre season, the 46-year-old sailor from Jersbeck near Hamburg's recipe for success was as simple as it was successful: "We got to the heart of the matter in the last few weeks. We had a plan and implemented it consistently. I had fast sails, the boat was fast. We're going to celebrate wildly tonight!" The Brit Helena Lucas, who was the only woman in the 2.4mR fleet to sail to victory, is planning to do the same.
After gold at the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney and two fourth places, this is Heiko Kröger's second medal. It is even the third for Jens Kroker's team, as the Sonar team won silver in Sydney, came fourth in Athens and won gold in 2008 ahead of Qingdao. Now a silver medal has been added. This means that the Paralympic sailors in England have won the medals that Germany's Olympic fleet was ultimately denied after some outstanding performances.
Jens Kroker and his men also raised their arms to the sky above Weymouth in jubilation on Thursday afternoon. Skipper Kroker in particular had put all his energy into preparing for the regatta in the Olympic area over the past few months and had flown in countless weekends for training from Brazil, where he currently lives and works. "It was worth giving everything for this regatta once again," said Kroker, "this silver medal is my most important Paralympic medal ever. It is more valuable to me than the gold medal from 2008. Due to my residence in Rio de Janeiro, I have made an enormous physical, time and financial commitment and I am extremely happy that it has been rewarded in this way."
In the final hours until the series was cancelled, the Sonar sailors in particular were under high tension, as there were a handful of teams that still had a chance of silver and bronze. "The points differences were as close as ever," said Kroker, "it was close to a heart attack. Now we can hardly believe that we're getting the medal we've been longing for tonight. And we'll celebrate afterwards!"
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
