Christian Reitz would have liked to “bite the table top every now and then”. Things didn’t go well for the 2016 Olympic champion in the national qualification for the summer games in Paris. In the fight for the two tickets available to the German Shooting Association in the rapid fire pistol discipline, the 36-year-old was in third place after four of six competitions. But at the penultimate trade fair with the two competitors in the Wiesbaden performance center on Monday, Reitz achieved 591 rings and thus the decisive result in the end.
A day later, after 360 shots each, Reitz was exactly on par with his competitor Oliver Geis with 2,337 rings from his four strongest performances, but had the higher individual result. Florian Peter, the youngest in the trio, was even able to make a time error in one round on the final day because he dominated the three-way battle with 2,361 rings.
This did not surprise national coach Detlef Glenz. Peter, the 24-year-old from Obertshausen, is characterized by the lightness and carefree nature of youth, which also made Reitz so successful in his early years. That keeps the head, which is so important in this concentration sport for perfectionists, free from the pressure that becomes more noticeable with every medal and every title.
Lenses replaced
In the finals, Peter, who Glenz had already identified as a “diamond in the rough” when he was a student, had previously lost his nerve. But since the sports soldier regularly trains “with physical stress” and knows how to block negative thoughts, he can also survive in tense situations.
In 2023 in Doha, Peter won his first World Cup. For Glenz he is number one in the squad. For Reitz, the ever-present, who won his first bronze Olympic medal in Beijing in 2008 and had previously set a world record, things haven’t gone so well in the last two years. “He will still be shooting in 2028 and can win medals,” says Glenz. But it doesn’t get any easier even in this sport, where mental aspects are important. “You have to make a greater effort to maintain your level,” explains the expert. In addition, there are “more frequent failures” and entire series suddenly stop working.
Reitz found a reason for the crisis during the qualification phase. Through the glasses that he had initially installed in the frame, his vision in the hall was slightly blurred on the sides. He has now replaced them. “If that was really it, I’m really stupid,” Reitz scolded himself. He should have known better sooner.
Now the SV Kriftel athlete sees his path more clearly. Between the World Cup in Baku at the beginning of May and the one in Munich are the European Championships in Osijek, to which the Bad Camberger Geis will also be taking part. “I’m excited to see who wants to beat us as a team,” says Glenz. Reitz wants to take some time over the next few months to hone his technique. He may also insert units with the air pistol. Because if the specialists do not manage to secure a second quota place in Rio this month, Reitz could dare to make a double start like in Tokyo in 2021. At that time he took fifth place each time.
Michael Reinsch Published/Updated: A comment from Alexander Davydov Published/Updated: Recommendations: 62 Florian Richter Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2
This time he would have more time to adapt from one weapon to the other, and the facility in Châteauroux also offers plenty of opportunity for training. The shooters hold their competitions in the city with a population of 43,000, 250 kilometers from Paris and away from the hustle and bustle. Glenz believes it won’t feel much different than a World Cup. This is not the only reason why the coach sees no advantage for Reitz in the fact that he has already been to the games four times. “At least one of the two,” predicts Glenz, “will make it to the final this time too.”
