Lukas Märtens was part of a gripping German duel at the World Wall World Cup over 800 meters – and he lost it. The Olympic champion won bronze, Sven Schwarz won silver in front of him.
The victory went to the Tunisian Ahmed Jaouadi, who had settled after about half of the race and could not be obtained from the German duo.
Black and Märtens with “great race”
Märtens had tackled the race as the fastest, then fell back a bit, but came closer to the second -placed black on the last track. The previous world year best was able to keep his teammates at a distance and struck in 7: 39.96 minutes, Märtens was 0.23 seconds slower. Jaouadi conjured up the third best time in swimming history over this distance in the pelvis in Shanghai in 7: 36.88.
“Two people on the podium – that was a long time ago, we can be very proud of it”said Schwarz. The 23-year-old made it to the podium for the first time at a World Cup. “I was behind the big boys when I was younger – now I’m one myself. I’m mega happy to have secured second place. Look what has been coming over the years.” Märtens also stated: “It was a great race, from Sven and from me.”
Märtens after 400-meter triumph “even more liberated”
The Paris Olympic champion had won his first World Cup gold medal over 400 meters. “I am very proud, very happy, and there is also a lot of pressure. That was the one title that I was still missing and about whom everyone talked about before”said Märtens afterwards. And he said with a view of his further starts over 800 meters freestyle, 200 meters back and the 4×200 meter seasons that he could “Go even more freely” than before.