IZU (DPA) – Maximilian Levy held Emma Heinze in his arms for a long time and gently stroked her blond hair. And the veteran, who took an emotional farewell to track cycling, had clearly chosen the right words.
After the dream of a broken medal at the Olympic Games in sprint, a small smile floated across the face of the disappointed world champion. At least for the moment.
«Disappointment is great. It was so close again. I wanted to win a medal, no matter what. Fourth place is just ungrateful,” Heinz told the German Press Agency after the end of the Olympic track cycling competitions in Izu and pushed back: “I just can’t go. So he was denied the sprint crown from Rio Olympic champion Christina Vogel.
“Olympia is different”
Hinge traveled to Japan as a gold hope and a three-time world champion. There he felt a lot of pressure, as he himself admitted: “I have already noticed that everyone is looking at me and driving against me. You can look at it as a compliment.” The bottom line was that she initially got a silver medal in the team sprint. “I used to put it on my bedside table every day and felt so proud. Olympia is different,” said the 23-year-old.
Vogel’s encouraging words were: “Emma is an incredibly young and talented girl. She can come back to Paris in three years and do it differently.” Against eventual winner Kelsey Mitchell of Canada, Hinze lost in three races, out of breath in the shorter final against Lee Wai-sez of Hong Kong. Was.
Team colleague Frederick disappointed
Team colleague Lee Sophie Frederick, who was two years younger than five, was also disappointed. “The pain is so deep that I can’t see anything good in it. I would have liked a medal. Sometimes you set your goals too high,” said Frederick. Frederick said, “Sometimes blow your face giving” was a new experience, too, given his bitter Kerin-aus. National coach Detlef Uebel insisted: “The future belongs to the girls.”
So the German track bike aces went empty handed on the last day and fell short of expectations on the final account, with a gold for the women’s four and a silver in the team sprint. That’s out of the question for Levi, who finished sixth in his last Olympic final in Kerin. Levi’s racing strategy was destroyed by an attack from now seven-time Olympic champion Jason Kenney (Great Britain). “It was good and important for me that I still play these games. I really wanted to leave after Rio,” said the four-time Olympic participant, who had one silver and two bronze medals in her career.
Levi’s farewell ensures moist eyes
By the semifinals, Levi had almost improvised to run, even though he had already complained of being tired. “I can cycle, but then I can’t come down the stairs to the toilet,” joked the former world champion before the long trip to Germany: “An economy flight all day. And then we got seven hours in Frankfurt Promised to stay.”
The farewell of the old master also moistened Hinge’s eyes. “I’ve been emotional the whole time. I can’t even imagine how it would feel to run your last race,” said the runner. Levy would disappear as a “leading man,” as the Hildesheim woman put it But the old star is not out of the world. Levy Jr. will take over as national coach. That’s what record world champion Christina Vogel said as a ZDF expert, which Levy didn’t like: “It’s all in the news, but maybe Christina should. I should talk about it first. I’ve heard he’s said some things that make people weirdly uncomfortable.”
National coach Detlef Uebel also did not go down well with Vogel, who sought a tactical trainer for the German team. “I don’t think Christina has been able to do it justice. She wasn’t necessarily even the most shrewdly transformative racing driver. It’s a lot about physical and mental strength,” said DPA’s Uibel.
Paraplegic Vogel did not refer the criticism to Uibel, but asked for an additional assistant coach. “I wanted him to be a little more objective and calm in public discussions,” Uibel said.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210808-99-763847/8
