It was the end of July 2021 when Patrick Hausding climbed the diving tower for the last time in a major competition. He will later refer to this moment as one of the greatest of his career. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, he competed with Lars Rüdiger in synchronized jumping from the 3-meter board.
Before that, he had the great honor of carrying the German flag at the opening ceremony alongside Laura Ludwig. “It was mentally very difficult. (…) I was expected to win a medal again. Especially as the flag bearer,” remembers Hausding.
Olympic medal at the end
Before the last round of the competition, the two Germans were in sixth place, almost 15 points behind the medal ranks. But with one With an incredibly strong jump, the duo managed to push themselves forward and take bronze. “A lot of stones fell from my heart,” says Hausding. It should be his last medal.
Because the 33-year-old will announce his retirement from competitive sports on Wednesday. The reasons are several. “On the one hand, the Olympic Games in Tokyo were another sporting highlight for me. Secondly, with Corona and the war in Ukraine, it is currently difficult for us athletes to maintain the competitive character. And thirdly, it was already a bit planned for me anyway. I’m not the youngest anymore and I’ve experienced a lot. And life goes on at some point,” he told rbb in advance.
Hausding was considered the flagship of German water jumpers. He was 15 times European champion and won three Olympic medals. He probably celebrated his greatest success in 2013 in Barcelona, where he became world champion in the 10 m synchronized jumping. But he himself can’t decide what the highlight of his career was: “There are a lot of things that have come together over time. I can’t really prioritize it.”
In addition to the World Championship title and the Olympic medals in Tokyo (2021), Rio de Janeiro (2016) and Beijing (2008), he also names his home European Championships in Berlin in 2014 as one of the biggest events. Back then, Hausding won three gold medals in the swimming and jumping hall in the Europasportpark.
The life after
Those days should be behind him now. “I can’t really put it into words yet, it’s still too fresh for that. I’ve done it for 25 years and my whole life has developed around the sport,” he says. He made many friends by jumping in the water and also met his current wife. He can’t really realize that his life and daily routine will now change fundamentally. “I definitely have respect for what’s to come. (…) But I’m still looking forward to it,” he says.
Hausding has a clear plan for life after. He is studying sports and English to become a teacher at Humboldt University and wants to complete his master’s degree there soon. Then a traineeship should follow. “And family planning is also on the agenda,” he says. In addition, he finally wants to see his sport from the other side and take a seat in the spectator stand. “Then I can continue to enjoy the sport without being active. I also want to cheer on my teammates,” he says.
He also wants to stay close to his sporting companions. “The time in training and the social exchange with coaches, athletes and friends” is what Hausding will miss the most after the end of his career.
“It’s been a life worth living so far”
As for other things, he’s glad to be able to put them behind him now. As a superstar in his sport, the demands on him were very high and he was often under a lot of pressure. “The older I got and the longer I was in the sport, the harder it got.” It took a lot from him to always live up to the expectations of the media and fans.
Hausding is also happy about the end of the physical strain. “What I won’t miss at all is all the pain that has built up over the years. (…) 25 years of diving leave traces,” he says. He has problems with his shoulders, back and especially his knees. “That’s the price that comes with competitive sport.”
It is therefore difficult to say whether he would go the way of the professional athlete again. “It’s difficult to master the balancing act between competitive sport and being away from home. You can make a lot of mistakes and I would start differently today. But otherwise it’s been a life worth living so far,” says the Berliner. After all, he was able to see a lot of the world and was able to get to know many other cultures and areas of life through diving. “And I’d go back for the thrill right away,” he says.
In the future there will probably be less of this in front of the school blackboard instead of on the diving board. But Patrick Hausding is happy and adapting well to the new situation. He found the perfect time for himself to start his new phase of life. “I have no bad thoughts that I could have missed something or could have jumped longer. I enjoyed a very nice evening of my career,” says the Olympic medal winner.
Broadcast: rbb24, May 4th, 2022, 6 p.m
Source: rbb