SThere is no age that Olympic heroes achieve no imitation effect: “The children’s groups are full,” enthuses judo trainer Andreas Esper about the lively fighting on Rüsselsheimer mats. The director of JC Rüsselsheim (JCR) does not want to speak of a judo boom like it once did in tennis: “We are far from that.” But the sports teacher is quite satisfied with the increased popularity: “Even some who stopped are got back in. ”So the Olympic success of his best fighter did bring about a certain profit after all.
Eduard Trippel, a 24-year-old home grown man from Rüsselsheim, won the silver medal in the class up to 90 kilograms in Tokyo in the summer. This great success in Nippon Budokan, the most important judo temple in the world, earned him his fifteen minutes of fame in the native industrial city on the Main, loosely based on Andy Warhol. Probably even a little more: reception at the mayor with an entry in the golden book of the 66,000-inhabitant city included.
But should he actually have dreamed of the dream that his life could now fundamentally change, then within a few weeks Trippel will be back on the ground with the German facts. “I’m learning,” he says on the phone about his current main occupation. Studying at the Hessian Police College had suffered because of the many training units before the Olympic Games. He has to catch up on the material and write up exams. And that much is certain, Trippel will not be able to live from his Olympic judo fame in the future.
Big hype after returning from Tokyo: Eduard Trippel (left) with coach Andreas Esper and his Olympic medals in individual and team
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Image: dpa
“We had already hoped that there would be a little more going on in terms of sponsorship,” admits Esper, who not only acts as Trippels exercise bike, but also takes care of the JCR Bundesliga team. And generally everything that has to do with judo in Rüsselsheim. “It should come to tears,” he complains in the course of the conversation, the deeper he delves into the problem of marketing his fringe sport. “It’s about the smallest amounts, we are haggling for a hundred euros,” says Esper, shaking his head – and then after a pause, resignedly, adding: “I can’t do that anymore.”
Judo at Olympia
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On the mat
Image: Frank Röth
The support of a boy from Rüsselsheim who has conquered the world of sports from Rüsselsheim should, according to Esper, fit in with the local entrepreneurial world. Actually. But even the global brand Opel, based in Rüsselsheim, did not show any appreciation after the Olympic Games. Not even for the team. The coach finds it “very regrettable” that his squad no longer even get minibuses from the vehicle pool for the away trips in the Judo Bundesliga starting this Saturday: “It’s frustrating.”
Bundesliga opener in Heidelberg
Now is a trip to the Bundesliga tournament in Heidelberg, where the first day of the fight for the Rüsselsheimers against TSG Backnang, VfL Sindelfingen and the 1. JT Heidelberg / Mannheim is on Saturday from 1 p.m., for Esper and his fellow campaigners also on their own initiative to deny, but it is the lack of appreciation that drills – and deeply.
The Bundesliga season is already exhausting for the judoka involved, because the four days of the preliminary round with two to three matches each are scheduled on the next four consecutive Saturdays. A difficult task, especially for fighters who have to gain weight for use in their class.
The main attraction of the club will probably not have to torment itself. After winning silver at the Olympics, Eduard Trippel is currently not drawn to the Bundesliga mat. Because his studies are going on, he is no longer in the best shape; But he wants to support his team.
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