Olympia: Bergmann/Wille let themselves and the fans dream - Kördel counters outstandingly
Tatjana Pokorny
· 31.07.2024
- The fun of racing at Olympic level
- Can the SailGP winners win Olympic gold?
- Into the final with a chance of an Olympic medal
- "A Million Dreams": Singing against stage fright
- Olympic premiere with obstacles
- Kördel with comeback, collision and protest success
- The Olympic reflection on the essentials
The fourth day of the Olympic regatta in Marseille was a success for the national sailing team. Three out of four teams were able to shine. Only for the 49er sailors Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger did this Wednesday not end according to plan. The crew from the Bavarian Yacht Club missed out on a place in the medal final of the men's skiff on Thursday in twelfth place, 15 points behind tenth place.
The fun of racing at Olympic level
"We had a very good flow for the first two days. The last two days weren't so good. The week didn't end as well as it started. The potential was there, we had a lot of opportunities, but we couldn't quite capitalise on them," said helmsman Jakob Meggendorfer immediately after the races, giving his initial assessment of the Olympics. But he also had this to say about the last-minute nomination for the Olympics: "Racing at Olympic level was a lot of fun." The crew will remain in Marseille for the time being. "We want to support Marla and Hanna in the final tomorrow," said Andreas Spranger.
The 49er Bavarians, who live and train in Kiel, shared their Olympic exit after the main round with high-calibre competitors: three-time Dutch world champions Bart Lambriex/Floris Van De Werken (11th) and the reigning French world champions Erwan Fischer/Clement Pequin (13th) also surprisingly missed the cut. These are two veritable proofs of how difficult it was to deal with the unstable and unpredictable winds, especially in the past two days with south-southeasterly winds.
Can the SailGP winners win Olympic gold?
The top three also stumbled from time to time, but did not fall: Spanish SailGP winners Diego Botin and Florian Trittel go into the double-rated 49er final on 1 August as leaders with 68 points and a five-point lead over Robert Dickson/Sean Waddilove (Ireland). On 73 points, the Irish are three points ahead of Isaac McHardie/William McKenzie (76 points) from New Zealand, who maintained their chances of equalling the performances of their gold and silver-winning predecessors Peter Burling and Blair Tuke.
I think it will be the closest medal race in the history of Olympic 49er sailing" (Diego Botin)
Will the former Spanish training partners of Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel, who missed out on the medals in fourth place at the Games in Japan, be able to lay their hands on the precious metal this time? Erik Heil believes so. The helmsman of the Germany SailGP team, who now competes with Botin and his Spaniards in the SailGP on speeding F50 catamarans, believes Diego Botin and Flo Trittel are well positioned for the final battle of the skiff sailors: "These two can be tricky."
However, German eyes will mainly be on the medal race of the ten 49er FX finalists on Thursday. In the illustrious top ten circle of female skiff sailors, the youngest are making themselves and their fans in Germany dream beautifully: Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille from Mühlenberger Segel-Club are sailing towards the most important race of their careers in the bay of Marseille.
Into the final with a chance of an Olympic medal
The young female sailors have not only reached the final of their Olympic premiere in fifth place after the main round with aplomb. Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille, with 84 points on their Olympic account and ten points behind bronze, are even in with a chance of winning a medal in the skiff sailors' showdown. Theoretically, they could even win gold, 17 points behind the leaders Sarah Steyaert/Charline Picon from France.
We can be proud to be at the top tonight" (Charline Picon)
However, Odile Van Aanholt/Annette Duetz (68 points) from the Netherlands, who are just one point behind the French, are also aiming for Olympic victory. And also the Swedes Vilma Bobeck/Rebecca Netzler (74 points). The Norwegians Helene Naess/Marie Rønningen (76 points) are also in the game. Everything is set for a furious 49er FX final thriller, for which Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille have only one goal. Hanna Wille put it in a nutshell: "We'll just win the medal race!" The foresailor reminded us once again with infectious joy: "We have nothing to lose, but everything to gain. We are going full attack."
"We fought hard again today and are just happy that we were able to keep everything together until the end" (Hanna Wille)
The sensational starting position of her team leaves her speechless, says the 23-year-old, who learnt to sail at the Mühlenberger Segel-Club on the capricious Elbe river in Hamburg, just like her helmswoman Marla Bergmann. The two skiff sailors have been friends since they were children, went to school together and are now facing the biggest race of their sailing careers side by side. Hanna Wille says: "This is so much more than we ever expected. We are very, very proud to have found our place so far ahead."
"A Million Dreams": Singing against stage fright
Hanna Wille also tells a refreshing story about the morning of the decisive final day of the main round: "We were pretty nervous then. We always sing 'A Million Dreams' from The Greatest Showman. Whenever we got nervous, we started singing it." Marla Bergmann and Hanna Wille christened their new Olympic boat "Merci" shortly before the Games. They are heading into the grand final with an aggressive attitude, but also with a lot of gratitude. These two sailors from the German Sailing Team have already honoured the promise that Marla Bergmann made before the Olympic premiere: "The underdog role is not bad for us. We will give everything to be among the front runners at the Games."
The youngest member of the German national sailing team was hardly inferior to the women from Hamburg on Wednesday in the bay of Marseille. The 22-year-old windsurfer Theresa Steinlein from Wörthsee catapulted herself into sixth place on the fourth day of the Olympic regatta. The iQFoil athlete from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein has five races left on Thursday to put herself in the best possible position for the final on 2 August.
Before that, Theresa Steinlein was part of a historic Olympic premiere on 31 July: a windsurfing marathon was started at the Olympic Games for the first time. This somewhat over-ambitious attempt would probably have been better left alone by the Olympic race organisers that day. It ended after 90 minutes when the time limit was reached in light winds and the race was cancelled. Prior to this, the windsurfers had pumped their souls out of their bodies, tormenting the boards, which could no longer be placed on the foils, through the water. This was not a good advert for the sport of surfing and sailing in the light and once again unstable winds that were forecast.
Olympic premiere with obstacles
After the physical endurance test, which was followed by a volley of short races, Theresa Steinlein had words of criticism but also praise for the marathon, which was intended as a fan spectacle against a magnificent backdrop, starved in the doldrums and made the TV broadcasters despair:
"We were only behind the island twice. That was really frustrating because people who were 20 minutes behind you suddenly arrived again and were in line with you. But the marathon is actually a pretty cool idea. If we'd have foiled through, it would have been really good! I was in a really good position. That's why the cancellation was all the more annoying. But I tried to make up for it with the slaloms." The former sailor, who only switched to windsurfing four years ago, managed to do just that on Wednesday afternoon, finishing 5th, 5th, 13th and 12th with an outstanding performance in terms of fitness.
Sebastian Kördel created a lot of excitement in the afternoon and evening in the bay of Marseille and also in the jury rooms in the Olympic harbour. The 2022 windsurfing world champion and 2023 runner-up had started his Olympic premiere on Monday as co-favourite after the total cancellation of all windsurfing races on Sunday. Instead of being at the front, however, the windsurfing giant faltered badly. He surfed seven weak races in a row, sometimes conceding high double-digit results. The black streak of the NRV athlete, who is co-favourite at the Olympics, initially seemed to continue on Wednesday with an early start disqualification.
Kördel with comeback, collision and protest success
Then, however, the somewhat more stable winds brought about a dramatic turnaround that hardly anyone could believe in. In the eighth race on Wednesday, Sebastian Kördel was in a promising position for the first time at this Olympic regatta in second place on the way to the finish. The finish was already close when he had a painful collision with Dutchman Luuc Van Opzeeland.
Kördel describes the momentous situation while holding the ice pack with his right hand to cool his demolished left forearm: "He came out of the jibe a little higher, I was downwind but still in front, he had more height. That means he came down on me from behind at speed. Then I shouted 'space' to show him that I was there, that I was overlapping. I think that startled him somehow. That's when he luffed, lost the front wing, spun over to the front and I got the pole on my arm."
Kördel then let it rip twice in a row, as if after a wake-up call, even with a sore arm - he took the first two race wins for the German Sailing Team at this Olympic regatta. After the brilliant comeback, the 1.91 metre tall windsurfer was initially ranked 17th. As a result of the collision, Kördel and the Dutchman later protested against each other: Kördel against Van Opzeeland. And Van Opzeeland against Kördel.
The Olympic reflection on the essentials
The jury ruled in favour of the German windsurfer - and gave him back second place. This allowed Sebastian Kördel to move up to 13th place in the classification later on Wednesday evening. The day, which began with an early start disqualification, turned into a gala for Kördel, who is expected to have five race opportunities on Thursday to make up seven points on tenth place and qualify for the final rounds of the new Olympic iQFoil windsurfers.
Kördel wants to take his recipe for success from this eventful fourth day of the regatta into the remaining races. He wants to tackle the races ahead of him step by step and says: "Today I simply focussed on the old things that I'm good at: Starting at the pin and being fast. I was also a bit lucky that we had good wind and I didn't have to pump so much. Finally there was a normal wind, ten to 14 knots, not any holes." All the German and international Olympic sailors are hoping for the same on Thursday, when Philipp Buhl (Ilca 7) and Julia Büsselberg (Ilca 6) will start the Olympic regatta for the first time.
