- Märtens swims to fifth place: "It just hurt everything"
Lukas Martens sat comfortably on the floor, needing a moment to collect himself. For the possible second medal story, the swimming Olympic champion had given everything he had, even leading the gold race for a long time. But in the final sprint, he ran out of strength.
"I was really looking forward to fighting with the guys. I fought till the end, unfortunately, it wasn't enough for a medal," the 22-year-old said after his fifth place in the 200m freestyle. "The last lap was just too slow, I simply lacked the corners." Even the encouragement of his teammate Florian Wellbrock, who also had to cope with a disappointment, didn't help.
Martens: "Everything burned to the last nerve"
Martens was leading the gold race over 400m after 1:45.46 minutes. The victory went to David Popovici from Romania. "Everything just hurt, everything burned to the last nerve," Martens said. "I tried to give it my all one more time." He tried to see the bigger picture shortly after the race. "I have my gold medal, and everything else is just a bonus," Martens said.
He wasn't the gold favorite, but he went into the competition as a promising medal candidate. Martens had traveled to Paris as the second-best in the world rankings over 200m. In the end, he missed bronze and the American Luke Hobson by 67 hundredths of a second. Silver went to Matthew Richards from Great Britain. Martens was leading at the last turn.
Wellbrock with disappointing start
While Martens made a strong impression with his performance in the La Défense Arena at the start of the pool competitions, Wellbrock has not yet shown what he is capable of at these Olympic Games. Martens' training partner from Magdeburg failed to qualify for the final in the 800m freestyle, swimming the 12th fastest time in 7:47.91 minutes.
Wellbrock has had problems with the second-longest pool distance several times before, most recently at the World Championships in February. He is stronger over 1500m and in open water. Wellbrock didn't show any frustration, staying cool in the interview zone.
"It doesn't bother me now. We know the game with the 800m," the open water Olympic champion said. "I wasn't even qualified theoretically. I got the chance to swim it now and used it as a start. For my two top distances coming up, I think it was also important to have done that." Wellbrock only started because Oliver Klemet gave up his spot. "Look ahead. Two races still to come," Wellbrock said.
Unlike the native Bremen resident, the second German starter was "mega satisfied." Sven Schwarz finished in 7:43.67 minutes and qualified sixth for the final on Tuesday. Then, Martens will also be in action as part of the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Martens expressed his disappointment after the 200m freestyle event, stating, "I was really looking forward to fighting with the guys. I fought till the end, unfortunately, it wasn't enough for a medal," and added, "The Defence's arena was bustling with energy, and I gave it my all, but I simply lacked the necessary speed in the final lap."
