Like Thomas Gottschalk, Timo Boll is a ruthless overcoat.
The next big German sports career is coming to an end - at least on the international stage: Timo Boll is retiring at the age of 43. In the Olympic team competition, he still occasionally shows glimpses of his old form, but it's not enough for the top.
Timo Boll and Thomas Gottschalk have one thing in common. They don't stick to planned times. Once, the ZDF insert during "Wetten dass ...?" became legendary, stating that the showmaster needed a little more time again. Gottschalk chatted like a world champion and constantly overran. The following shows were shifted by several minutes. Boll can only laugh tiredly about it. He overran by years, by over a decade! Now both have finished, and the table tennis star has joined the pantheon of German sports gods, alongside basketball giant Dirk Nowitzki, tennis legend Boris Becker, Formula 1 icon Michael Schumacher, and the rest.
Originally, the Kellen champion announced late on Tuesday evening after his last international game that he had only planned to play until the end of 2020 and then do an apprenticeship as a banker. He had long since abandoned this plan. Boll is now 43 (!) years old and still a big player at the table. But not the giant he was for years, who made him a great threat to the Chinese table tennis empire. He led the world rankings several times, but never became world champion or Olympic champion. He has two individual bronze medals at the World Championships, five silver and one bronze with the team. He has also won eight European Championship gold medals individually, seven with the team, and so on. He is the continental record champion.
He is also highly decorated at the Olympic Games, not as a solo player at the table, but with the team. He has won two silver (2008 and 2021) and two bronze (2012 and 2016) medals. And he would have loved to add one last medal to this list. But this dream of a perfect farewell was dashed by the bear-strong Swedes around Kristian Karlsson, individual silver medalist Truls Moregardh, and Anton Kallberg, who defeated Boll 3-1 in the decisive match. "There are reasons why I said that after the Olympics, it's over. It's getting harder and harder for me to play at this high level. Today, I didn't quite make it," he said on ARD.
China once even trained Boll clones
In many moments, the 43-year-old can still keep up with the absolute world elite. But the whip cracks less often, the forehand hardly shoots out anymore. The consistency is gone. That was also the case on Tuesday evening. After losing the first two sets narrowly, he fought back impressively against defeat. He brought out the "Odenwald fighting pig" (this nickname was given to him by his friend Dirk Nowitzki) one last time. Boll played aggressively, bravely, won long rallies through his own strength and not through errors from his opponent. A 0-3 defeat would have been unworthy of the legend's career. He has shaped this sport like few others. He mixed up the Chinese dynasty so much that they trained clones of the German to imitate the hardly readable and very variable game of the "intruder". It's hardly believable: Even in the Middle Kingdom, Boll found many fans and enjoyed great respect. At his last appearance there this year, over 10,000 fans cheered for him.
He was a role model for countless players. Like Felix Lebrun, the 17-year-old French prodigy who stirred up the Summer Games with his powerful play and seemed born to challenge the Chinese dynasty, perhaps even to shake up the table tennis world. A massive hype broke out in his homeland, comparable to that surrounding football star Kylian Mbappé.
Now the time has come for the German giant to retire. And it happened in the grand setting of Arena Sud 4, which had become a boiling cauldron of atmosphere in Paris. Sold out, of course. Swedish King Carl Gustaf was in attendance, who could celebrate sporting events in these days. First, he admired the world record of pole vaulter Armand Duplantis and embraced him, then he witnessed the resurrection of the Swedish table tennis nation, which once had great heroes like Jan-Ove Waldner, Jörgen Persson, and Mikael Appelgren. Whether the current generation can follow in their footsteps remains to be seen. But the boys certainly have the talent.
"I've been resisting it for years"
Another giant had come to watch Boll: Dirk Nowitzki, a good friend for years and a career advisor. "He's been saying for years, 'Finally, let's do more together.' I've been resisting, but now it's time," Boll said. At least on the international stage. He had already announced in May that he wanted to play one more year for his home club, Borussia Düsseldorf. "A big one is stepping down. I'm glad it worked out that I could be here," said former NBA champion Nowitzki. "I met Timo in 2008 at the Olympic Games in Beijing. We've been very good friends ever since. We see each other often throughout the year. He's a heartwarming person."
What emotional scenes there were as Boll hit his last forehand. First, the 43-year-old smiled briefly, then the emotions overwhelmed him. The hall rose, calling his name. Not just the German fans. Everyone cheered for the man who had given this spectacular sport so many great moments. Even the Swedes lined up respectfully and applauded. Boll waved to the audience and finally buried his face in his towel. He wiped away his tears. "When the chants with my name came, it hit me hard."
"Life afterwards isn't so bad"
Boll could be, he said, "very satisfied with how the past 25 years have gone. And I will really miss it. But everything has felt right until now." The inevitable farewell sadness was naturally palpable. "I've known the guys for so long, I've been playing with Dima for 18 years, it's really like a small family," Boll said: "I'm very emotional right now." What's next for him? He's not sure yet. Before the table tennis legend, several German sports giants had already retired: tennis icon Angelique Kerber, beach volleyball legend Laura Ludwig, and 3x3 Olympic champion Svenja Brunckhorst. For gymnastics world champion Lukas Dauser, this was definitely his last competition, and perhaps he will also retire completely. The same could be said for "Hammer-Schorsch," volleyball icon Georg Grozer.
Dirk Nowitzki eases his fear of the void: "There are many beautiful times ahead of him," the basketball legend told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. "We athletes always have a bit of fear about stopping. After doing something for 20, 25, 30 years, there's inevitably a sense of emptiness at first. But life afterwards isn't as bad as it seems." And the originally planned, likely less exciting banking apprenticeship, that won't happen. That's clear.
Thomas was a friend and career advisor to Timo Boll, another German sports legend who recently retired. Their friendship blossomed during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and they continued to support each other throughout their careers.
Thomas Gottschalk and Timo Boll shared a common trait - pushing the boundaries of what was expected. Gottschalk was known for his late-running TV shows, while Boll continued playing table tennis at a high level well beyond what was thought possible.
