The Medals Hunt started before the Olympic Opening
On Friday, the Olympic Games will officially be opened, a big party on the Seine is supposed to enchant Paris and all participants. But for some female and male athletes, the competition has already started. This is also the case for the German women's football team.
Horst Hrubesch looked up at the shining morning sun in Marseille and smiled. "The weather is fantastic," said the women's football team trainer of Germany, who already felt great excitement for the medal hunt at the Olympic Games, noticeable pleased. At the same time, he emphasized: "We didn't come here just to be here."
The DFB women, however, have little time to get used to the temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius, as most of the athletes and athletes are heading towards the Olympic epicenter in Paris for the grand opening ceremony on Friday. But for the German women's football team, it's already serious on Thursday (19:00/ZDF, Eurosport and on ntv.de-Live ticker): In the first group game against the fourth-placed team from Australia at Stade Velodrome.
"There's a certain tension," Hrubesch admitted on Monday in an interview with ZDF, and many "early starters" at the Olympics are likely feeling the same way. The German handball team also enters the tournament on Thursday at 16:00, facing South Korea.
Markus Gaugisch, the handball team trainer, sees an advantage in this. The early start, he said at the departure press conference in Karlsruhe on Monday afternoon, "doesn't matter to me at all. Maybe that's even a good thing, because then we're already a little bit in it before the whole big chaos starts."
Footballers are first in line
But the DHB women are already late to the party. After all, the (unofficial) starting shot for the third Olympic Games in Paris after 1900 and 1924 falls on Wednesday - more than 48 hours before the pompous opening ceremony with 160 boats on the Seine.
Football World Cup champions Argentina, with star forward Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), open the competitions at 15:00 in the match against Morocco. Simultaneously, the game between Spain and Uzbekistan begins. Not long after, the first matches in 7er rugby start. A highlight of the first day: In the evening (21:00), France's football hopes with Bayern's million-dollar acquisition Michael Olise play their opening match against the USA in Marseille.
On Thursday, the archers enter early, but it's serious for the DHB and DFB women. "Of course, our goal is to play for medals," Hrubesch said, who won silver with the DFB men in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and described the Olympics as "overwhelming." His "girls," among whom only Alexandra Popp was present for the gold medal win in Rio, can prove their worth earlier than many others.
The DFB-Women's football team, under the guidance of trainer Horst Hrubesch, is preparing for their first group game against Australia on Thursday, despite the early start of the Olympic Games in Paris. Rugby players will also commence their competitions earlier than the footballers, with their first matches starting not long after the football fixtures. Despite starting before the grand opening ceremony, Hrubesch and his team are determined to compete for medals, aiming to prove their worth earlier than many other athletes at the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris.
