Olympic champion Oliver Zeidler narrowly missed his next gold medal at the Rower World Cup in Shanghai.
Germany’s athlete of 2024 had to be satisfied with silver in the one final on Sunday (28.09.25). The 29-year-old lost his title to Stefanos Ntouskos, Olympic champion of Tokyo after a long break. Zeidler was at the finish behind the Greek 0.42 seconds.
“This silver medal shines with a golden edge and is a good start to the Olympics for me. It is now a good motivation because I have not won. I’m back next year”, ” announced Zeidler.
Comeback after a long break
Before the World Cup, Zeidler had rather minor his chances of defending the title. For him, the title fights in China were the comeback on the international stage after a long break. After his Olympic victory in Paris in the previous year, Zeidler had focused on his studies and therefore waived the European Championship and the World Cup races this season.
His silver was the second medal for the German Rowing Association (DRV) in the title fights in China after bronze for the women’s double four.
The podium, on the other hand, missed Alexandra Föster. The 23-year-old finished fifth in the final. At the finish line, Föster was 14 seconds behind the Irish world champion Fiona Murtagh, who prevailed in front of the British Lauren Henry and Frida Sanggaard Nielsen (Denmark).
Para boat fetches first gold
The first gold medal for the DRV had previously had a para-boat: Kathrin Marchand (Leverkusen) and Valentin Luz (Frankfurt) won in the Mixed Doppelweier in the PR3 class, set up a world’s best and at the same time won the first World Cup medal in this boat class since 2017.