It sounds too strange to be true and yet it's true: Germany's first medal winner at the Olympic Games in Tokyo is called Corona - with a middle name.
Lena "Corona" Hentschel (20) won bronze at the Olympic Games on Sunday morning together with partner Tina Punzel (25) in the synchronized competition from the 3-meter board.
"That is the icing on the cake," said Hentschel happily, who broke up her tents at home in Berlin two years ago for her Olympic dream and moved her center of life to Punzel in Dresden.
Bronze at Olympia 2021: Lena's middle name Corona is based on an old family history
The fact that it bears the same name as the virus that is keeping Tokyo and the world in suspense is based on an old family history.
Hentschel's great-great-grandfather was passionate about literature and music and a big fan of the singer and actress Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter (born 1751), a muse of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
At his request, all women in the Hentschel family have since carried “Corona” in their name.
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Germany's bronze medalists Tina Punzel (l) and Lena Corona Hentschel show their medals.
© Michael Kappeler / dpa
"Lena is proud of her name, which goes back to this old family tradition," said the press spokesman for her home club, Berlin TSC, of tz.
Kerstin Taubert, regional trainer at Dresdner SC, also confirmed: “As crazy as it sounds, her middle name is Corona.
Here and there, of course, there was a joke or a whimper about it.
But Lena is above it. "
As in Beijing, water divers win the first German precious metal
As in Beijing eleven years ago, the water divers won the first German precious metal, also because the Italians Elena Bertocchi and Chiara Pellacani botched the last jump. “I saw it splash,” reported Punzel, “Lena said they didn't take third place. So I said, then he has to be with us. ”It was like that. Only the favored Chinese women Wang Han / Shi Tingmao (326.40 points) and Melissa Citrini Beaulieu / Jennifer Abel from Canada (300.78) were better than the German women (284.97). A fortune cookie from her physiotherapist, which the bronze duo ate in the room beforehand, may have helped. The news was prophecy: “You will have good news today.
Punzel was looking forward to "a glass of champagne".
Because she will jump from the tower again tomorrow with Christina Wassen, it won't be "a huge party, but we can organize a small one".
For Lena Hentschel, who joined the Berlin TSC at the age of five, the competitions have already ended.
"I can go nuts now," said the beaming heroine.
National coach Lutz Buschkow (63) is hoping for a boost: “The first medal takes a bit of the burden from the entire German team and the divers.” Also from flag bearer Patrick Hausding, who wants to win his third Olympic medal after silver in 2008 and bronze in 2016.
(Mathias Müller) * tz.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
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List of rubric lists: © Michael Kappeler / dpa
