After the best short program of an Olympic figure skating winter that had been depressing for him so far, Paul Fentz was infinitely relieved. “The pressure is gone, I’m incredibly happy,” said the Berliner, looking proudly at the interim results at the European Championships in Tallinn.
An eleventh place before the freestyle decision on Friday (5.00 p.m. / Eurosport 2) encourages the four-time German champion that what has been a disastrous season for him will end well. Because the previous way to Beijing was paved with problems for the 29-year-old.
In September Fentz missed the qualification for the Olympic individual competition, as a result of which all funding was canceled in October. The trained retail salesman had to register as unemployed. The trip to the national championships in Neuss in December was “at Mama’s expense”, as he himself admitted.
“At the moment I don’t have time for extensive therapy”
Only then did things start to improve again. Sporty, because the participation of a German team in the Olympic team competition is now certain, the participation of an individual runner is essential for this. And Fentz’s very personal injury cocktail of hip problems, pubic bone irritation and adductor strain is not cured, but is now manageable.
“At the moment I don’t have time for extensive therapy, it doesn’t go away completely on its own. But I can be treated in such a way that I don’t have any great pain for the time being,” said the European eighth of 2020 in the capital of Estonia.
The fact that, unlike his teammates in the German Ice Skating Union, he has not yet been formally nominated for the German Olympic team does not worry Fentz, because he was assured internally that basically everything has been clarified. Also because his trainer Romy Oesterreich made sure that he stayed in the anti-doping program after being kicked out of the squad and that he continued to be tested on a regular basis.
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