Gold for Oliver Zeidler, the Olympic ticket for the eight: The German flagship boats provided the longed-for success at the end of the World Rowing Championships.
Zeidler won the final in Belgrade with an impressive performance and secured the world title for the third time. The Germany eight missed a medal, but qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris by finishing fifth.
Zeidler dominates from the start
Zeidler dominated the race from the start and sent off Simon van Dorp (Netherlands) and Thomas Mackintosh (New Zealand) came second and third and, as in the title fights last year, gave the German Rowing Association (DRV) its only medal in the 14 Olympic classes – only three DRV boats made it to the finals.
By reaching the final, Zeidler had already secured his ticket to the Olympics. Thanks to a courageous performance, the eighth reached the minimum goal of Paris. The flagship around batsman Mattes Schönherr, which had been greatly rejuvenated after Olympic silver in Tokyo and had not made it to the final last year, avoided the tricky post-qualification next year with fifth place after an up-and-down season. Defending champions Great Britain secured victory ahead of the Netherlands and the USA.
Six DRV boats qualified for the Olympics
In addition, Alexandra Föster and the men’s double scull each qualified for Paris as second in their B finals. With six qualified boats, the DRV fulfilled its own requirement. The two quad sculls had previously booked their Olympic tickets. The last chance for the remaining boats in Paris will be in May 2024.