Wellbrock missed historic swimming gold on the last lane
Status: 4:52 a.m.
Florian Wellbrock won bronze, the first Olympic swimming medal for the German men in 21 years
What: REUTERS
Florian Wellbrock uses his second chance in Tokyo and swims to bronze. For a long time, however, it looked as if he could crown himself the first German Olympic champion since Albatross Michael Groß. He still has one more chance of gold.
NAfter 350 meters, Florian Wellbrock takes the lead. He holds her, swims on, on and on. Lane by lane. 1500 meters, his favorite discipline, his greatest chance for gold at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Another 100 meters, the 23-year-old continues to lead the field, but he could not shake off the Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk and the American Robert Finke.
50 meters to go. The last train to the hoped-for gold? No. What happened again over the 800 meters in the Aquatics Center in Tokyo happens: the competitors pull past in the end. It was usually Wellbrock who had the best last run. Not in Tokyo.
While the 800 meters ended with the ungrateful fourth place, he is now securing bronze in a gripping swim thriller over 1500 meters and has won the first men’s medal in 21 years. Robert Finke wins again (14: 39.65 minutes), Romanchuk (14: 40.66) takes silver just centimeters ahead of Wellbrock (14: 40.91). “A little annoying that I couldn’t hold it back, but the other two did a great job,” said Wellbrock. “I definitely don’t want to complain about an Olympic bronze medal. I can be very satisfied. “
Wellbrock still has a gold chance
After Sarah Köhler ended the 13-year long Olympic dry spell for German swimmers with bronze on Wednesday, Wellbrock just missed the big coup. Since Britta Steffen’s double gold triumph in Beijing in 2008, the 23-year-old native of Bremen would be the first German swimmer to play the national anthem at the Olympic Games. Even more: since the Olympic victory of “Albatros” Michael Groß in 1988 in Seoul over 200 meters butterfly no man swam for Germany to the Olympic victory.
Robert Finke (right) had passed by, Romanchuk (center) not yet
What: REUTERS
Before Tokyo, Wellbrock was considered the top athlete who could change this. At the 2019 World Championships, he had a big trump card and was the first swimmer ever to win both gold in the pool (1500 meters) and in the open water (10 kilometers). After Tokyo, he drove with the burden of expectations, but also with the experiences from the Rio 2016 games.
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In his pre-run start over 1500 meters freestyle, he was far behind his best performance. “I collapsed a little under the pressure there,” he says. The Olympic Games were still a size too big for him, the then 18-year-old. He hadn’t even swum at the European Youth Championships before, and then the mega-event in Rio. But the experience was groundbreaking. “Experiencing Rio,” says Wellbrock, “was extremely important to me.”
Now he is climbing out of the Tokyo Olympic basin with a bronze medal. It would have been more possible, but: It is also his first Olympic medal and the end of the wait for precious metal among the German men. Wellbrock also has another chance for a medal: Next week it will be in the open water in Tokyo Bay. Together with his Magdeburg team-mate Rob Muffels, he wants to be at the forefront early Thursday morning local time (Wednesday, August 4th, at 11.30 p.m. CET).
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