Eduard Trippel recently managed to impress actress Stephanie Stumph. Trippel was used as a decoy for the television show “Understand Fun”. With a “triple test” he was supposed to make the already sporty actress even fitter for new action elements in the otherwise rather leisurely ZDF crime series “Der Alte”. There the 39-year-old plays a key role as detective Annabell Lorenz, in “Understand Fun” Trippel played himself as a decoy – and also used his two Olympic medals in the individual and with the Tokyo team to underline his status . Stumph was suitably delighted.
These could be the last Olympic merits that the 27-year-old can show. Because he will not be there at least for the Paris Games. And whether he could make it to Los Angeles 2028 was something that Trippel’s home trainer Andreas Esper expressed skepticism about, given the Rüsselsheim native’s recent series of injuries. First, Trippel tore the medial ligament in his left knee during a training match. Then came an injury to the syndesmosis ligament. Finally, the damaged knee became inflamed, Trippel had to undergo two operations and a bursa was removed. “In total, he had to sit out for almost a year,” Esper sums up.
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Nevertheless, the 2021 Olympic silver medalist in the middleweight class up to 90 kilograms did not give up. He invested all his strength to make up for his training and points deficit in the world rankings and was hopeful when he took a strong second place at the most recent Grand Slam in Astana in mid-May. But at the current World Championships in Abu Dhabi, “the draw was not particularly fortunate,” as Esper complained. In the first round, Trippel met the current European champion Eljan Hajiyev from Azerbaijan, who has already taken two second places at the Grand Slams in Paris and Tbilisi this season, as well as a third place in Astana.
“A relatively opaque system”
Trippel kept the duel with the 22-year-old open, but half a minute before the end of the fight he received a waza-ari, which was equivalent to a knockout. Due to the “medium score”, Trippel had not only lost the fight and thus all chances of a World Championship, but also forfeited his participation in the Olympics. The particular gravity of the tragedy only became apparent the following day, when the International Judo Federation (IJF) published the list of participants for Paris after the World Championship fights had ended. According to the regulations, 17 fighters in each of the 14 weight classes – seven each for men and women – qualify directly. In addition, there are one hundred quota places, which are awarded according to continental criteria. Host France receives 14 places – and finally twenty wildcards are awarded until the maximum quota of 372 judo fighters for Paris is reached.
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“It’s a relatively opaque system,” says Esper himself, who has considered all eventualities. Ultimately, Trippel came in 28th on the “Road to Paris” – and the last quota place in the class up to 90 kilograms was given to number 27. The elimination couldn’t have been closer. However, how tough the system is is also shown by the fact that even the new world champion Goki Tajima (Japan) and Trippel’s conqueror Hajiyev did not get a place on the Olympic table – because each country can only enter one fighter per class, and there are better ones in both nations.
Trippel initially turned off his cell phone in Abu Dhabi, and there was no sign of any replenishment on his Instagram channel, which he usually fills with funny films. He seemed to have completely lost his fun. “He will now go down to the Olympics,” announced Esper – by which he means the sporting activities. The fighters and trainers have not yet discussed whether he will tackle another Olympic cycle afterwards. “He is now 27, the best age for competition is between 26 and 30,” said Esper. So it would work. The question is whether Trippel’s body can still keep up. Alternatively, he could start his service with the Hessian police, where he completed his training in the sports support program and was named “Police Athlete of the Year” in 2021, but has so far been exempt from active duty.
Detective Inspector Annabell Lorenz, alias actress Stephanie Stumph, quickly realized during “Understand Fun” that she was being taken for a ride. The joke fizzled out without any impact.
