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Christina Schwanitz has to watch the final
Photo:
BEN STANSALL / AFP
Former world champion Christina Schwanitz clearly missed the final in the shot put at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The 35-year-old only finished eighth in her group at 18.08 meters in qualifying at the start of the athletics competitions.
This means that Schwanitz is not in the final battle.
She remained well behind her season best of 19.11 meters.
After the dreary end of her long Olympic journey, Schwanitz looked like the loneliest person in the world.
"I'm sorry I can't say anything nice," she pressed out after her unexpected end: "I'm very upset, very disappointed."
It had become clear that the dream of an Olympic medal would remain at the fourth Summer Games, but she had still firmly planned for the final.
Schwanitz had suffered a herniated disc at the beginning of the year, had entered the season late, ended up in corona quarantine, the shape far from the best days.
Schwanitz: "It was the head"
"It's my last games and then I have to sneak out of the field like that," said the two-time European champion: "I imagined it very differently." It wasn't physical problems, "it was the head.
I failed the big coup, I wanted too much, "said Schwanitz, whose best distance from the 2015 World Cup triumph was 20.77 meters:" I called it up during training, but then cramped. "
Sara Gambetta, who qualified in twelfth place (18.57), is the only German in the final on Sunday (3.35 a.m. CEST).
Schwanitz's great career remains unfinished, at least at the Olympic level.
After finishing eleven (2008), ten (2012) and six as the big favorite in Rio in 2016, the disappointment quartet is complete.
How does it go on now?
Whether the home EM 2022 in Munich is an issue?
“Basically yes,” said Schwanitz, “but I have to sleep on it for a night first.
And drink a beer or two. "
krä / sid