article by Nicola Pucci
If you think about rowing, in this specific case the 4 without lightweights, and you want to elect a champion who wrote its history, you cannot help but remember with emotion the oar exploits of Eskild EbbesenDanish from Silkeborg born in 1972, who was so good as having been able to medal in each of the Olympics in which he took part. To be precise, even fiveand if this isn’t a record, we’re close.
Effectively We began to see evidence that Ebbesen is gifted right from his debut on the international field, at the World Championships in Racice, Czech Republic, in 1993, when he competed with the Danish team, taking silver. behind Canada. What if the following year, in Indianapolis, he switched to rowing with the 4 without lightweights, so from that world championship edition of 1994, which saw him climb to the top step of the podium together with Victor Feddersen, Niels Henriksen and Thomas Poulsen, practically will never leave the top three in the order of arrival again, whether at the World Championships or the Olympics, for almost 20 years.
In 1995, it is true, he had to settle for silver at the world exhibition in Tamperedefeated by the Italian quartet made up of Carlo Gaddi, Leonardo Pettinari, Andrea Re and Ivano Zasio, but if the Finnish disappointment is then avenged achieving 5 gold medals in the following 6 editions, with the only exception of another second place in Lucerne in 2001 when he will have to surrender with his companions to Austria, in 1996, in Atlanta, Ebbesen had the opportunity to make his debut in the five-circle arenaentering the water as favorite at Lago Lanier with the same Victor Feddersen, Niels Henriksen and Thomas Poulsen with whom he won the world title two years earlier.
Already winners of the first heat ahead of Ireland and Australia, the 4th without Dane legitimizes its gold medal aspirations by overcoming the same boats in the semi-final, entering the final albeit without the seal of the best time, achieved in the second semi-final by the United States, who beat Canada by a whisker. But at the decisive moment, faithful to the motto “be number 1 right from the start, start fast, keep a high stroke rate and intensify towards the end“, if they actually deal with the boat that flies the flag with the maple leaf, and if they govern the race from the start, they finally prevail with a margin of 55 cents, giving Denmark an Olympic title that had been missing since the 1964 Tokyo Gameswith the hosts United States forced to settle for third place.
By virtue of the trio of consecutive successes at the World Cup in the four-year Olympic period leading up to the Sydney 2000 Games, the 4 without Dane is the undoubted favorite to grant an encore at the Olympics that open the New Millennium. We compete at Sydney International Regatta Centre, and Denmark, which replaced Henriksen and Poulsen with Soren Madsen and Thomas Ebert, has to contend with France and Australia, which in the last three editions of the World Cup have alternated on the second step of the podium. But if the two challengers have no difficulty in imposing themselves in their respective opening heats, the reigning champions finish sensationally last in the third series, well away from Italy, the United States and South Africa, being forced to go through the repechage, the winners of which advance to the semi-finals. France and Australia are equal in the first, occupying the first two places, 6’00″82 against 6’00″85, while Italy, with Salvatore Amitrano, Franco Sancassani, Catello Amarante and Carlo Gaddi, is once again faster than Danes, 6’00″82 against 6’01″67, entering the final with full sails. And here are the challenges”direct” are repeated, with France and Australia playing for the gold medal, which finally rewards the transalpines who prevail with a margin of 41 hundredths, and with Ebbesen’s Denmark who manages to get the better of Italy on the third attempt, at least grabbing the bronze for the trifle of 26 cents.
If the 1996 Atlanta Olympics had represented an opportunity for Ebbesen to redeem himself for a defeat at the World Championships, in the four-year period following the Sydney Games, the world championship, inversely, is the chance for the Danish champion to cushion the Australian disappointmentand in fact, in addition to the silver in Lucerne in 2001, the two gold medals in Seville in 2002 and in Milan in 2003 not only confirm the absolute level role of the 4 without lightweights from Denmark, but also propose it again as the boat to beat at the 2004 Athens Olympics. When Ebbesen, who is really no ordinary champion, He has the enormous honor of being the flag bearer of his country’s delegation.
Allo Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre Ebbesen has two new sailing companions compared to the Sydney quartet, Thor Kristensen and Stephan Molving, who together with the very confirmed Thomas Ebert enter the water in the second heat, where they find Italy who in Seville and Milan finished second and third respectively third place. Lorenzo Bertini and Bruno Mascarenhas, a Portuguese naturalized Italian, replaced Sancassano and Gaddi, and this time the 4 without the tricolor finishes behind Denmark, which directly enters the semi-finals, then managing to qualify through the Caudine forces of the repechage. Own in the semi-final Italy, playing with Australia and Canada, sets the best time, 5’55″02 against the 5’55″85 of the Danish boat, which in turn precedes Holland and Ireland. Ma in the final Ebbesen and his teammates competed independently, immediately distancing themselves from their rivals, to triumph in 6’01″39, with Australia settling for silver and Italy capable of containing the return of the Netherlands , winning bronze by just 5 cents.
Two golds and an Olympic bronze are already enough loot to place Ebbesen (and the 4th Danish lightweight) among the greats of rowing, but if Eskild’s world history ends here, with 6 gold and 3 silver, because the competition improves and Denmark pays the price, the Olympics still remain the favorite stage of the champion from Silkeborg. Which in 2008, in Beijing, is there, with the usual Ebert and the “new” Morten Jorgensen and Mads Pedersen, animated by proud intentions and with every intention of defending the title of Olympic champion with all his teeth.
No sooner said than done. To the Shunyi Olympic Rowing Canoeing Park the 4 without of Denmark is on time for the Gameswhere the challenge awaited by France, which won the World Cup in 2005 and was second in 2006 and 2007, by Great Britain, world champion in 2007, by China, surprising winner at the World Cup in 2006, and by the same Italy, bronze at the World Cup in 2005 and 2007 and fresh from the title at the revived European Championships in 2007. And that Denmark is damn serious is clear right from the start, winning and setting the best time both in the heat, 5’50″12, and in the semi-final, 6’05″75, entering the decisive act with the declared intent of going in search of a third Olympic gold. And the strategic plan studied by Ebbesen and his companions, starting at full speed to keep the lead of the race until the finish line, is once again successful, with Denmark dominating in the water and finishing with a wide margin, 5’47″76, Olympic recordahead of Poland who right in the home straight joined and overtook Canada, who had tried to keep up with Denmark’s pace for at least half the race and then had to settle for bronze.
Loaded with medals and fame, Ebbesen would have every reason to hang up his oar. And that’s what he does in the aftermath of the Olympic victory in Beijing, before thinking about it again in 2011 because a fifth Olympics, that of London 2012, and a possible fifth medal, are really tempting. And so, on July 28th, Eskild was punctually in the water alongside Kasper Winther Jorgensen, Morten Jorgensen and Jacob Barsoe, with whom he finished third in the first heat behind Switzerland and South Africa, qualifying for the semi-finals. Australia, the reigning world champion who relies on another great veteran with five Olympics and three medals under his belt, Anthony Edwards, and Great Britain, who makes use of the class of, among others, the brothers Richard and Peter Chambers, are among the most accredited rivals, as well as Italy, silver at the 2011 Blad World Championships, aim to confirm themselves on the podium. But if the Azzurri betray expectations by not going beyond the semi-final, Denmark, faster than South Africa and Australia, will advance to the final, where they will also have to battle with Great Britain, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
And as usual, Denmark starts off with their foot pressed on the accelerator, racing head-on for at least three-quarters of the distance to travel to the finish line. Unfortunately, Ebbesen and his teammates were unable to dig a path that would reassure them at the end of the match, and it is here that, while the Danes give in, Great Britain and South Africa exit, with His Majesty’s subjects thinking they have won and those of Nelson Mandela who instead, right on the edge, make the move that gives them the gold medal. Eskild, worn out by a thousand battles but courageous beyond his limits (he is still 40 years old), rejects the comeback of the Australian boat, and finally puts the bronze medal around his neck.
Five out of five, the Olympic participations like the metals brought back home. Tell me if it’s not worth a record and the election as hero of the waters. Simply, Eskild Ebbesen.
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2023-09-29 07:02:00
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