German attacked Olympic maker for plaster
Right in the heart of Paris, the race walk event is taking place. Many landmarks and many spectators line the route. However, German Christopher Linke is only mildly pleased by this, as the cobblestones are causing him to despair.
Exhausted and disappointed, Christopher Linke struggled to find the words. "It was a very, very tough race. And now, of course, the disappointment is huge," said the race walker who had set high hopes for himself over the 20 kilometers but ended up finishing 19th.
Linke fought, gritted his teeth, tried everything - but gradually, his legs grew heavier. And Linke had to let go, already 14 seconds behind the leader after 15 kilometers. The dream of another top finish, after all the fourth and fifth places at World Championships and Olympic Games, was quickly shattered, and his final deficit to new Olympic champion Brian Daniel Pintado from Ecuador was 1:40 minutes. "I had hoped for much more. I had trained for much more and was actually in much better shape," said Linke.
"Couldn't even look at the Eiffel Tower"
And so, the frustration had to come out. The atmosphere on the course was indeed "gigantic," the "scenery" with the Eiffel Tower, the Seine Bridge Iena, and the Trocadero "very beautiful," but the road? "It's just not suitable. I couldn't even look at the Eiffel Tower because I had to keep looking at the ground to avoid stepping into some hole or dip," said Linke. And "whoever thought that you could make a turn in a cobblestone street while race walking, I believe they've never walked in their life." He had stumbled several times.
The challenging weather conditions added to his struggles. The race was delayed by half an hour after a thunderstorm had passed over Paris. The humidity was extremely high. Around the middle of the race, the sun came out and the temperatures rose, which Linke also found challenging. "Now I'm going to jump into an ice bath, and then we'll see," said Linke, quoting the legendary phrase of former football national player Per Mertesacker from the 2014 World Cup.
"Extreme Exclusion"
Race walking lives in the shadow of stadium athletics. "The exclusion I experience as a race walker is extreme," said the 35-year-old to the Tagesspiegel. "There's not a single day when you're not honked at or laughed at," Linke recounted about his training, which he does in public, mostly by the Templiner See in Brandenburg.
Next Wednesday, Linke has his next chance, as he will start in the inaugural Olympic mixed marathon relay together with Saskia Feige. "I had hoped that I wouldn't have to do the mixed relay if I'm very successful here. Then I would have gladly let my reserve go," said Linke. "But now I have to make up for something."
Despite the magnificent scenery with the Eiffel Tower and other landmarks, Christopher Linke found the cobblestone route of the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris challenging,commenting, "Whoever thought that you could make a turn in a cobblestone street while race walking, I believe they've never walked in their life." Despite his high hopes and excellent training, Linke finished 19th, expressing his disappointment, "I had hoped for much more. I had trained for much more and was actually in much better shape."
