Olympic sailing: Kördel shines - and gets injured, skiff sailors advance at World Championships

Sebastian Kördel is back in full swing. Just over a month after the shock of 28th place at the World Championships, the 2022 iQFoil World Champion and 2023 Vice World Champion is in impressive form. Although the 33-year-old windsurfer from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein also opened the iQFoil Games in Cadiz with an early start and 11th place, he then went on a fantastic run of six race wins in a row before a heavy crash on 7 March brought him to a halt. But even his non-participation in the ninth race in total didn't change the fact that the German windsurfing giant was leading the iQFoil Games rankings two days before the final.

Fall after a brilliant series

Now, at the end of his dream series, Kördel is fighting to finish the series in the best possible way. He explained why this is the case himself on Thursday: "Unfortunately, in the fifth race in the leading position during the barrel manoeuvre into the downwind, I laid down so stupidly that I thought my thigh was broken. I practically flew into the fork at full speed with the outside of my thigh just below the neck of my thigh. I had to abandon the race."

The consequences are painful, as Kördel said late in the afternoon: "I can stand on my leg, but I can only put weight on the muscle if I'm in a lot of pain. I don't know if I'll even be able to get on the water tomorrow. At the moment I'm trying to get as much ice on it as possible. Let's see what happens. If necessary, just painkillers, depending on what the Nada allows." The National Anti-Doping Agency (Nada) stipulates exactly what athletes are allowed to use for injuries - and what they are not allowed to use.

Can Kördel finish the iQFoil Games before Cadiz?

The good news for Kördel was his top performance up until the crash: "My speed is good. And the early start on the first day is very questionable. On the video you can only see the tip of a board and not my sail number. I'm pretty sure that Spain 95 was above and in front of me at zero. It's probably the tip of his board. I just come out with more speed and then I can be seen. The video of the pin doesn't exist because the video wasn't started in my heat, it was stopped. So I was thrown out on suspicion. Annoying, but that's the way it is. Today went really well. I was definitely the fastest on the cross and on the reach."

Both the German iQFoil windsurfers and the German women's windsurfers have already secured their place in the nations for the Olympic regatta in the Bay of Marseille this summer. However, the top athletes in both disciplines still have to fulfil the DOSB standard and collect enough points to qualify individually for the Olympics. This can currently be done at the iQFoil Games in Cadiz and at the Spanish classic Trofeo Pricesa Sofía at the beginning of April.

This is what it's all about for the Olympic iQFoil windsurfers

The DOSB standard is fulfilled if the athletes are ranked among the top ten nations after their three specified qualifying regattas and have collected at least nine points. If several teams have achieved this goal, the team with the best points balance will receive the final nomination. Among the iQFoil windsurfers, Theresa Marie Steinlein seems to be well on the way to achieving this goal. The NRV club mate of Sebastian Kördel is in outstanding form at the iQFoil Games in Cadiz and was in third place after nine races and two race wins.

Click here for the results of the iQFoil Games.

Alongside Germany's up-and-coming best iQFoil windsurfer Theresa Steinlein, her sister Sophie Steinlein is stepping on the gas at the Skiff World Championship off Lanzarote and was in 17th place after eight races with her foresailor Jill Paland. Inga Marie Hofmann/Catherine Bartelheimer (Düsseldorfer Yacht-Club/Segelclub Inning am Ammersee) and Marla Bergmann/Hanna Wille (Mühlenberger Segel-Club) were able to advance even further at the halfway point of the World Championship. The two best duos from the German Sailing Team so far were in 12th and 13th place three days before the World Championship final on 10 March.

German skiff sailors on the advance

The most powerful 49er men's team also climbed up to 12th place at the World Championships on 7 March. Jakob Meggendorfer and Andreas Spranger have already achieved one race win and a total of four top five results in nine races and are fighting for a place in the final. However, both the 49er men and the 49er FX women will not be able to sail for the Olympic regatta at this World Championship.

From a German perspective, the only place missing in these two of the ten Olympic sailing disciplines can only be achieved with a top performance at the Last Chance Regatta in Hyères at the end of April. However, the World Championship is one of three qualifying regattas for the best of the German Sailing Team, where the skiff sailors will be looking to fulfil the Olympic standard and achieve the best internal performance. However, successes in the national battle for an Olympic ticket in the 49er and 49er FX will only be worth something if the national starting place can still be secured.

Click here for the results of the World Championship for 49er and 49 erFX off Lanzarote.

How it all began - a preview of the Skiff World Championships, where the qualifying races have now reached the halfway point: