- Bronze: a huge disappointment for the team sprint trio.
Emma Hinze briefly winked at the audience, while Lea Sophie Friedrich's smile seemed forced. However, genuine joy was hard to come by for the successful German team in the teamsprint, who had to settle for bronze. The big dream of Olympic gold had been dashed at the gates of Paris. For years, Hinze and her teammates had dominated the track cycling world, setting record after record, but at the crucial moment in the Velodrome of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, they had to play second fiddle.
In the second round, Hinze, Friedrich, and Pauline Grabosch even set a world record with a time of 45.377 seconds, but it lasted only a few minutes. New Zealand and Great Britain topped the time and advanced to the final, which the British team won in a new world record time of 45.186 seconds. Hinze looked shocked at the scoreboard, Grabosch dejectedly slumped onto her handlebars. They did, however, manage to beat the Netherlands in the small final.
"I hope they take this with them into the next disciplines," said Kristina Vogel on ZDF. "They've won a medal, maybe not the one they wanted, but it shouldn't be downplayed." Vogel, a London Olympics gold medalist, is working as a TV expert in Paris.
It was supposed to be gold. Three years ago at the Tokyo Olympics, Hinze and Friedrich, who were still competing with two riders each, lost to China in the final.
"We know we've always won the World Championships," Hinze had clearly stated the goal - without success. Germany will have to wait for its second gold medal in the women's teamsprint since 2012. Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte sensationally won gold in London.
This time, the German trio was the clear favorite. They had dominated the competition year after year. However, it became clear that it wouldn't be an easy task as late as the end of June, when their biggest rivals set a new world record at the China Track League in Luoyang, almost four tenths of a second faster than the German trio's winning time at the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow.
And in the qualification, Great Britain suddenly set another world record with a time of 45.472 seconds. The German team was already three tenths of a second behind in third place. Their significant improvement in the second round was not enough to reach the final.
At least Hinze and Friedrich still have a chance to win the first gold medal in the upcoming individual events, Keirin and Sprint. Friedrich should have good memories of the Saint-Quentin velodrome, where she won the Keirin title two years ago.
The German men's team is also far from the top times and is likely to be eliminated in the next round with their seventh place.
The German men's team is also far from the top times and is likely to be eliminated in the next round with their seventh place.
Despite their dominance in the track cycling world, the German team struggled to secure Olympic gold in the teamsprint, settling for the bronze medal in Paris. This was a stark contrast to their previous successes, such as Hinze and Vogel's gold medal win in the London Olympics.
In an unexpected turn of events, New Zealand and Great Britain managed to top the German team's time in the final, despite Hinze and Grabosch setting a world record in the second round earlier.
