Olympics: Philipp Buhl ahead of his European Championship comeback - "I still have a lot to give"

Philipp Buhl is a world champion, European champion and three-time Olympian. Since his first bronze medal in 2013, the Ilca-7 helmsman has brought a lot of glamour and unforgettable moments to German Olympic sailing and to himself with a total of four world championship medals. Only at the Olympic Games was he unable to win the medal he had long deserved in three attempts. After his third attempt in Marseille, he found himself at a crossroads: should he head for new shores or give it his all once again?

Philipp Buhl: first time-out, then clarity

After 14th place in Rio de Janeiro, 5th place in the Japanese Olympic sailing event in Enoshima and 13th place in Marseille, the exceptional athlete deliberately took a longer break. The 35-year-old perennial favourite has put everything to the test: the place of Olympic sailing in his life and his own future in the sport.

The top performer and Ilca 7 leader risked his place in the squad by taking time out. He had to answer many questions from the outside. He was looking for a clear picture of himself and his future path and needed the time to find decisive answers for himself. "This break was extremely important for me. I had to take this time to get clarity on what to do next," says Buhl.

At the end of this phase, the decision had to be made. If he can fulfil the conditions, he wants to try for the Olympics again. During his process, he also spoke to a sports mentor who, as a former competitive athlete herself, had experience of his situation. Philipp Buhl's realisation: "I'm the one who's been at it the longest. Another campaign makes sense if I consistently try to perfect it and really get everything out of it."

New trust from inside and outside

That is exactly what he wants to do now, he is certain: "I still have a lot to give." The fact that he made a convincing return to the sport at the end of June after around ten months away from competition with fourth place at Kieler Woche and was able to leave high-calibre competitors such as two-time Olympic silver medallist Pavlos Kontides behind him straight away was more than just an encouraging return.

"I was able to continue my good performance at Kiel Week even with little training. That gave me good self-confidence to say that I'm aiming for a top eight result at the European Championships (red: 11 to 16 August off Marstrand). That would make me happy at the moment, because the World Championships in Marstrand will be very well staffed," says the helmsman, who competes for the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein and the local Alpsee-Immenstadt sailing club.

After two decades of competitive sailing, he knows that sponsorship also plays an important role in his new Olympic campaign. Long-standing loyal partners have already signalled their trust. However, because Philipp Buhl did not take part in the World Championships in China, a strong European Championship result is also important for his future squad membership. This is what the German sports promotion system wants. That is what he is aiming for.

Matt Wearn is a benchmark for Philipp Buhl

Buhl's plan: "It only makes sense to get it right in all areas, to push it to the top of my capabilities once again. That's the first mission for this year." This endeavour is also the reason why neither a SailGP entry nor other sailing summits are currently appealing to him. Aside from his inspiring Moth commitment at a very high level, Philipp Buhl is focussing on the Ilca 7, but the new Olympic campaign will look different than before.

I don't want to do it again. I want to do it differently. I want to do it better." Philipp Buhl

There are, says the thoroughbred athlete and Ilca perfectionist, many things that he has done right in the past, but: "The things that I haven't done well have to change." Germany's best Ilca sailor knows why it was the Australian Matt Wearn, who grew up in the strong wind area of Perth with the powerful "Fremantle Doctor", who won two Olympic victories in a row and also won World Championship gold twice in the cycle.

The first Wearn gold in particular was achieved in an impressive manner. The Australian had started the Olympic series in the Enoshima area with broken material and 17th and 28th places - and sailed to gold. Together with his extremely experienced Australian coach Michael Blackburn - himself an Olympic medallist and two-time Laser world champion - Wearn then turned the corner: up to the highest place on the Ilca 7 Olympic podium.

Philipp Buhl's World Championship glory days Down Under

Under intense pressure, Wearn made the most of the mentally difficult situation and later said that he would not have been able to do so without Blackburn. But it was also the good answers that the man from Down Under knew how to give to all the conditions on the water that catapulted him to his two Olympic gold medals. The only time Wearn didn't have these answers ready was when Philipp Buhl beat him for gold in his own Australian territory in 2020 in a duel between the Ilca giants.

That hurt the Australian more than he showed. The German "gold robber", on the other hand, experienced great moments in Australia's Philip Bay off Melbourne. The world championship crown means a lot to Philipp Buhl. He was the first German laser sailor to win it. It was and is the most important reward for all his hard work and the most important proof for Buhl: he can do it. At the Olympics, however, the perennial favourite has so far not been able to call up his masterly performance in this form.

Philipp Buhl says: "Throughout my career I've also been very good in less windy conditions, but I've won most of my titles in my favourite conditions. If I compare that with Wearn, who won in Tokyo after breaking his equipment, won both World Championships in the last cycle and then another Olympic gold in conditions that I think suit him the least, then that speaks for itself."

They have a system, a recipe with which they approach things." Philipp Buhl

That's exactly where the Allgäu native wants to be. At the European Championships this summer, the strong German Ilca 7 group will be on site with two coaches. The familiar and calm conductor Alex Schlonski and the Norwegian Hermann Tomasgaard, Olympic bronze medallist and long-time sparring partner of Philipp Buhl, will be in action for the best of the German Sailing Team at the European Championships in Marstrand, Sweden, from 11 to 16 August.

The German training group is getting stronger

Philipp Buhl is competing with more than just the relevant result target. He wants to go for it again and is as hungry for success as he was in his prime. Having just completed an intensive training camp with the up-and-coming German Ilca 7 training group under the direction of coach Alex Schlonski in the upcoming European Championships in Marstrand, Buhl and the others are heading back to Kiel for further training on the water.

A week before the start of the European Championships, they will return to Marstrand, where they have been working hard, spending four or five hours a day on the water and turning over every stone on land. There was no shortage of fun, as pictures of the group getting on well with each other from the Swedish training camp show.

Rising star Ole Schweckendiek from the Kieler Yacht-Club was there, even if he has to miss the Senior European Championships. The 20-year-old junior squad sailor wants to make the most of his last chance of success at the Ilca U21 World Championships at the end of August in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, almost at the same time as the European Championships and close his junior chapter with maximum success.

"A really cool squad"

Also taking part in the European Championship training programme were: Nico Naujok (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee), Julian Hoffmann (Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee/Segelclub Alpsee Immenstadt), Philip Walkenbach (Seglerverein Potsdamer Adler) and Justin Barth (Berliner Yacht-Club), who also made it into the top ten at the Kieler Woche after Philipp Buhl.

Philipp Buhl, who has openly supported many of his team-mates in word and deed from a young age and is now also benefiting from the increasing strength of the younger team members as their training level rises, says of the increasingly successful GER training group: "It's a really cool group with lots of fun, motivation and talent. Everyone has their own strengths. If we add all these strengths together, we'll go a long way."

Philipp Buhl now wants to test whether the Ilca king can once again tame all his princes of the throne on the LA2028 course and assert himself at the top level with all his skill and kindness. Few take their fans so intensively and openly through the sailing heavens and hells of a competitive athlete. Philipp Buhl's "Do it one more time" campaign could become one of the most exciting stories of the national sailing team on the course to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic Games.

Philipp Buhl: same goal, different paths

In Philipp Buhl's comeback in the Ilca 7, much has not changed compared to his legendary 2017 Olympic clip, which the Welshly Arms song "Lgendary" summed up so well for him back then. His passion for Olympic sailing in the Ilca 7 is still the same, even if he wants to take a different approach on the LA2028 course: