The men didn’t do well on the normal hill at all. On the large hill, Karl Geiger, who is the leader in the World Cup, cheated his way to bronze with his second jump, and he also just finished third in the team.
Biathlon: “The women delivered”
The biathletes had set their sights on four medals – two individual and two relay medals each. Denise Herrmann surprisingly won the individual over the 15 kilometers and can now also call herself Olympic champion. In the relay it was enough for bronze. “The women have delivered”stated the sports director for biathlon, Bernd Eisenbichler.
On the other hand, more was expected from the men: “We’re a bit disappointed. But most of all, I feel sorry for the athletes. They deserve it, they’ve worked hard.”, according to Eisenbichler. The running form was right. What was missing was “always that one shot”, he puts the performance of the DSV hunters into perspective, who have had the worst record since Vancouver 2010. Especially in the season you have “more than just a finger on a medal” had, said Erik Lesser. A fatal miss by final runner Philipp Nawrath washed up the quartet to fourth place.
Nordic combined: medals despite corona bad luck
Things went better for the Nordic Combined. Eric Frenzel and Terence Weber dropped out because of positive corona tests for the individual competition on the normal hill. But Vinzenz Geiger jumped into the breach with an incredible finish on the cross-country ski run and took gold.
There was no medal from the large hill, but it was enough to win silver in the team relay – again with Eric Frenzel, by the way.
Cross-country skiing: gold sensation and silver coup
Gold and silver – that is also the record of German cross-country skiers. In contrast to the Nordic combined, this was not to be expected at all. The gold medal in the team sprint, which Katharina Hennig and Victoria Carl won, was an unparalleled sensation from a German point of view. “Sensational”also thought Steinle.
Also strong was the silver medal won by Katherine Sauerbrey, Katharina Hennig, Victoria Carl and Sofie Krehl in the 4 x 5 km relay. The cross-country skiers around national coach Peter Schlickenrieder exceeded all expectations in a sport that had been dominated by the Scandinavians and Russians in recent years.
Alpine skiing: It would have been almost nothing without Dreßen
Ski crosser Daniela Maier also secured a bronze medal. Up until the last day of the competition, the alpine team looked as if it would end up empty-handed. Only the team event brought countable and the “redemption” with alpine director Wolfgang Maier. Lena Dürr missed a medal in the slalom by a hair’s breadth. The same thing happened to Kira Weidle on the downhill.
The men were further away – Linus Straßer came closest to a medal with seventh place in the slalom. In the speed disciplines there was nothing to gain without the injured Thomas Dreßen. Romed Baumann, Andreas Sander, Josef Ferstl and Dominik Schwaiger were not able to close this gap. Maier’s analysis: “If the German alpine aces want to cheer more often again, they either have to “become even better technically (…) or we have to – in quotation marks – express the pig in the racer even better”.
Ice skating union in crisis mode – concerns for the DEB and the snowboarders
So while BSD and DSV delivered, there should be one or the other crisis talk in the associations that remained without a medal in Beijing. The snowboarders with Ramona Hofmeister, Stefan Baumeister or Martin Nörl as well as the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB) quite chances of winning a medal. However, the target was more or less clearly missed.
The active members of the German Skating Union (DEU) remained without an Olympic medal for the first time in 16 years. Whether it’s speed skating, short track or figure skating: the world’s best is miles away. Where four years ago Aljona Savchenco/Bruno Massot won gold in pair skating, the athletes in Beijing experienced a disaster – also due to the corona pandemic.
The performance principle and the consequences
Not doing so well always has consequences for the funding within the DOSB. Because the promotion of top-class sports has an integrated “potential analysis system”, but essentially works according to the performance principle. Anyone who performs well, i.e. wins Olympic medals, can hope for more money in the future. If you can’t do that, you may have to make do with fewer resources.
The BSD has already benefited from subsidies that are not available in other countries. Others now see their skins floating away. This does not bode well for the internationally uncompetitive speed skaters and short trackers. The same goes for the figure skaters.
Freestylers are left behind
The freestylers, who already (and rightly so) complain about a lack of training opportunities and have so far hardly been able to score with attractive TV times, must be prepared to eke out a shadowy existence behind the more popular premium sports for even longer and to be further left behind.
German ice hockey could most likely recover from the missed quarterfinals. In this telegenic sport, which is popular in this country, sponsors are more willing to compensate for the lack of funding with cash injections.
Schimmelpfennig: “Will take a close look”
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) will take a close look and analyze after the games, which is also necessary with regard to the upcoming games in four years. For the moment, Dirk Schimmelpfennig is also comforted by looking at the medal table.