Olympia: The "big test" - Philipp Buhl's third Olympic appearance is underway
Tatjana Pokorny
· 01.08.2024
Germany's first and only world champion in the Ilca 7 (ex-laser, 2020) is chasing his Olympic dream for the third time from today. He will be competing with 42 other Olympians from just as many countries for precious metal. On paper, around seven to eight top athletes are in contention for the medals. The German helmsman, who competes for the Alpsee-Immenstadt Sailing Club and the North German Regatta Club in Hamburg, counts himself among them. The top favourites are the reigning Olympic and world champion Matt Wearn and the Brit Michael Beckett. Buhl's sparring partners Jean-Baptiste Bernaz and Hermann Tomasgaard are also aiming for a medal.
Are all good things finally coming in threes for the German Ilca endurance dynamo in his third Olympic attempt? The mature athlete and active spokesman for the national sailing team can expect a sea of crossed fingers at home in Germany. He has earned their sympathy not only with his successes, but also as a committed athlete and fair player. Here is a glimpse into Philipp Buhl's thoughts and his answers to the most important questions shortly before the start:
At the top of your wish list for the Olympics?
It's no secret: a medal would be nice. But it remains to be seen whether it will materialise. Of course I have the desire and the goal. But seven or eight people have a real chance of winning a medal. I count myself among them. I can only do one thing now: try to focus and utilise as many of my trained skills as possible. Then I have the best chance.
After difficult and complicated wind conditions at the start: What do you think of the Olympic area?
Marseille is a pretty difficult place due to the topography and the mountains around it. Compared to Rio, it's more hills, but they still have enough influence on what happens on the race course. Wind deflections and wind curves over a regatta course like this make everything a little more difficult. You have to take that into account a little. But we have spent a lot of time here. I think we know how to deal with it in most cases and most situations.
But, of course, the competition also knows how to deal with this. This means that if it's clear where you have to go, everyone knows where you have to go. Then there will be a fight for pole position again. So that doesn't make it any easier, it's more of a prerequisite. In any case, it's a slightly different kind of sailing in special wind directions, because it's a bit more to one side. The fleet will be pretty tightly packed. Every metre counts.
Overall, events also depend on the wind direction. The Bay of Marseille is a complex area with a wide range of requirements, sometimes with very, very shifty and light winds. Alternatively, there is the Mistral direction, which is not so frequent in summer, but still comes from time to time. When it does, it's very strong and actually quite clear. It's all about fitness and fast sailing.
Are you coping well with the heat in Marseille, where temperatures are always above 30 degrees during these Olympic weeks?
Especially at the last Olympic Games in Enoshima and also at the World Championships in Mexico back then, where I have now been twice, we were travelling in much worse conditions. So we're already a bit familiar with it. Dealing with the heat is relatively routine and not that dramatic. We have our cooling waistcoats on to keep our core body temperature under control for as long as we can.
And once we're on the water, it's not quite so dramatic. The water is relatively cool. And the temperatures are around 30 to 35 degrees. That's still manageable. If you get some fresh water on your face and arms from time to time, it's all within limits. Then you can make it through a race like this. In this case, you put a little bit of ice on the back of your neck and you'll be fine. So it's not that super special. Of course it's a bit warmer than in Kiel, but not extremely hot.
You've been a committed Ilca sailor for most of your life - why are you so fond of this boat class?
In my opinion, the Ilca class is the purist class among the Olympic sailing disciplines. The boat is relatively simple. There are relatively few, just the basic adjustment options for sails and everything that goes with it. We all get a new boat here. They are all identical and specially checked again to make sure they are the same. In the end - and this is actually the main idea - it's all about focussing on the athlete and the athlete's performance. The athlete's performance decides who is on the podium and who wins. Not any material advantage or anything else.
I've spent two thirds of my life trying to get better in this boat class and perfect the game of competitive sailing. It's a long process" (Philipp Buhl)
We are relatively slow, probably by far the slowest, but the racing is all the closer. We are the most popular Olympic class worldwide. Also because the boat is the cheapest in terms of price. This creates a wide range and a high performance density among the top sailors worldwide who sail in this class. That is the special attraction, the challenge for the competition and the fight for every metre.
How would you describe your preparations for the Olympic summit attempt?
At the end of the day, it's a big life project for every Olympic athlete if you want to be successful at the Olympic Games. It's the biggest event there is for an athlete. To be successful there, you have to prevail against athletes from all over the world. In my case, I've been sailing this boat class since I was a small child. Back then Laser and a few more years with a smaller sail, now Ilca, for 23 years in total.
For many, many years, learning and struggling to improve has been the top priority in my life. Other things took a back seat. Like my studies, which I cancelled. Sometimes I lost a girlfriend because I was simply travelling too much. The family put a lot of things on the back burner. Friends often have to wait. I swapped my home, the Allgäu, for Kiel, at least temporarily. These are all sacrifices that have always made sense and have always been fun, because it's a great privilege for me to be able to do a sport like this and meet people like this.
Being able to experience this Olympic vibe here is something special. And as an athlete, you always quickly come to the conclusion that taking part and winning this medal are the most important things in life. But when you have a bit of experience, which I now have, and you take a step back from time to time and zoom out a bit, then you realise that it's just a great opportunity, a great privilege, but not the be-all and end-all.
In the end, there are only three medals. I would like to have one. But if it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world" (Philipp Buhl)
Maybe this week I'll manage to keep this attitude in my head throughout my competition and see it as a great opportunity to show my performance here. And if this attitude relaxes me a bit, if there's no pressure that this is the most important thing in my life right now, which makes me more tense than relaxed, like in Rio, then it would be really good. I hope I can manage to be a bit more relaxed and see this as an opportunity.
Are you out there on the courses striving for the perfect race? Does that even exist in complex sailing?
A perfect race is probably difficult to achieve. But if you look at the perfect race in relation to your opponents, then it's already perfect if you cross the finish line first. Because in the end, we don't count the time. We count the points. As long as you finish first, you've achieved the best you can. So you can see the perfect race from several perspectives. We are always fighting against each other, always in relation to the competition.
Who were and are your supporters along the way?
The people who stood behind me to make it all possible were first and foremost my parents. First and foremost my dad, who really did a lot of research and still does the weather forecast for me today. My mum drove me to regattas all over Europe by car for many years when I was at school. The family commitment is there. My sisters probably had to suffer a bit. So I thank them too.
Then of course my partner, some sponsors and supporters who have given me a lot along the way. They are great people who have supported me. Of course I'm grateful to my coach and my national and international training partners, without them it wouldn't be possible. And so many others that I can't even mention. Also the federation. It's well known that I'm not always happy and 100 per cent behind everything they do, but essentially we're doing pretty well as German sailors compared to some other competitors, who simply find themselves in completely different situations to us. We're already getting a lot of things done to us. I'm always very critical and perfectionist, but on the whole we're already playing in the higher league in the German Sailing Association.
You say you're looking forward to your competition like a test. What do you mean by that?
We are always sailing against the competition and our own performance is also dependent on how good the competition is and how much the competition can realise in competition. It's like this: We are all studying for a big test. All our lives. At least four years from game to game. In this case, three years. In the end, the winner is the one who writes the best paper. It's not about whether someone gets the highest overall score. You just have to write the best work.
It depends on how well prepared one of your competitors is. Perhaps one of your competitors is better prepared than you, but simply has a blackout on one day. Or he doesn't remember the things he has learnt so well during the week. They might then be worse than you. So you can win even if you only get 60 per cent of the answers right. Sometimes you simply have extremely strong competition and need 95 per cent of the correct answers to write the best paper. Perhaps this will help you to understand the requirements.
For all of us, it's all about how well you do during the week. Now the learning is finished. It's about putting the books to one side and putting into practice what I know as much as possible and not trying to do something special at the last minute and forgetting the essentials.
Whether Philipp Buhl succeeds in this endeavour will become clear today. His first Olympic race has been running this Thursday since shortly after 1pm.
