Oliver Zeidler seems to be in impressive form just in time for the highlight of the season. He makes it into the one-semi-finals at the World Rowing Championships with almost no effort. That encourages the fight for gold.
Oliver Zeidler looked relaxed, as if at the end of an easy training session. Even the quarter finals of the rowing world championships in Belgrade, which were actually the strongest, caused less trouble than expected for the defending champion.
Feeling sure of victory, the Munich player took it easy in the last few meters in order to save himself for the semi-finals on Friday. “After the tough draw, I knew I had to get serious today. I did well.”commented the two-time world champion (2019/2022) on his race strategy with a high initial pace, which gave a large lead early on.
Unimpressed by the increasing headwind, Zeidler controlled the race as he pleased. By the 1,000 meter mark he was already almost four seconds ahead, didn’t come under any more pressure in the second half of the course and relegated Australian Thomas Mackintosh and Japanese Ryuta Arakawa to second and third place.
This brought the 27-year-old a big step closer to direct qualification for the 2024 Olympic Games, which the first nine World Cup ones are certain of. “Now the big goal is to make it to the final, because that means I can buy my ticket for Paris. Then I can give my all again in the final race on Sunday.”said Zeidler, full of hope that his gold mission would be successfully completed.
Rowers also strong
The women’s singles semi-final also takes place with German participation. Although Alexandra Föster had to admit defeat to the favorite Emma Twigg from New Zealand, she was on target in third place. The 21-year-old rowing talent from Meschede, known for a strong final sprint, was even close to displacing the Lithuanian Viktorija Senkute from second place.
“Perhaps a little more would have been possible if you had known it was a final or semi-final”, said Foster. She goes into the fight for the Olympic starting place with increased self-confidence: “Three of the twelve starters in the semi-finals are still unlucky. I don’t want to be one of them.”
On the other hand, the fourth day of the World Championship went less well for other DRV boats. The fight for as many of the 14 Paris tickets as possible becomes the expected feat. With the women’s double scull and the coxless double scull, five teams already missed direct qualification early. On the other hand, the duos from the light and heavy double sculls can continue to hope after reaching the semi-finals.