Paralympics: "The boys want it just like us"

Just six months ago, things were going less well for Heiko Kröger in his 2.4mR and Jens Kroker's Sonar team. The Paralympics winners from 2000 (Kröger) and 2008 (Kroker/Prem/Mainka) were no longer sailing in the top group of their respective disciplines as they once did. There were many who no longer believed the two teams were capable of winning another medal. And now this: both teams are in second place two days before the end of the Paralympic regatta in the Olympic area between Weymouth and Portland. Both can win a medal. For the helmsmen in the single-handed keelboat class 2.4mR, two races are on the programme on Wednesday and one more on Thursday. The Sonars are scheduled to sail three races on Wednesday and one final race on Thursday.

"The spark has been lit," says coach Bernd Zirkelbach from Sailing Team Germany, who has been coaching Heiko Kröger since 1996 with an interruption of two years, "I promised that I would do something for this success. Not everyone believed that." Now the chance has come. "Our measures have taken full effect," says a delighted Zirkelbach, as does Sonar coach Christian Bittner, a former competitive sailor from the Yacht Club Berlin-Grünau.

The performance explosion of the two GER teams has been achieved thanks to many helpers and very focussed work. "We were able to activate sailors such as Dieter Below, Lucas Zellmer and Robert Stanjek to support us as sparring partners with their experience," explains Zirkelbach, "our two boats now have the right speed and sail performance." According to Zirkelbach, the latter is also thanks to the intensive collaboration with sailmaker Faber & Münkner. In addition to the sailors and the two coaches, the core team of German Paralympic sailors also includes Thomas Dehler, who has a BFD (Federal Volunteer Service) position in Sailing Team Germany.

Both Heiko Kröger and the Sonar team have significantly increased their training programme ahead of the Paralympics. "We did three times as much as usual, and it wasn't always met with approval," says Zirkelbach, "but our sailors trust us and have invested a lot. For example, Jens Kroker, who lives and works in Brazil, flew back to Berlin many, many weekends for training."

Zirkelbach describes the state of mind of the four German Paralympic sailors shortly before the final as "highly motivated and relaxed": Heiko Kröger, Jens Kroker, Robert Prem and Siegmund Mainka have switched to attack mode. "They want the medal just as much as we do," says Zirkelbach. The fact that in the 2.4mR Helena Lucas from Great Britain is already far ahead of Heiko Kröger in the battle for gold is partly due to Lucas' strong performance and partly due to the prevailing light winds. "In strong winds, we might have been able to pull our jokers out of our sleeves even more easily." Zirkelbach, who twelve years ago was the most successful coach at the Games, winning two medals at the same time with Kröger's gold and Kroker's silver, says shortly before the exciting final of the 2012 Paralympics regatta: "If we could maintain the current result, we would be very, very happy. We want to win two medals here and will do everything we can to achieve this." Will it be the medals that Germany's Olympic sailors so painfully narrowly missed out on?