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The Germany eight at the home European Championships in Munich
Photo: Sven Hoppe / dpa
Disappointment at the home European Championship: The Germany eight surprisingly missed the hoped-for medal at the European Championships in Munich.
The newly formed flagship of the German Rowing Association (DRV), which had six places one year after the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo, only finished fourth on the regatta course in Oberschleißheim on Saturday.
The clearly superior British won gold ahead of the Netherlands and Italy.
The DRV parade boat was without a European Championship medal for the second time in a row, and it also took fourth place in 2021.
Before the season, there had been the biggest upheaval in years in the eights, only Torben Johannesen, Laurits Follert and Olaf Roggensack are still there from the Olympic team from Tokyo.
"We didn't start at the front and were therefore in a more defensive role straight away," said national coach Uwe Bender: "The team fought on the track to get back on track, but that was lacking at the back."
Only five boats were registered for the competition north of Munich.
In the lane distribution race on Thursday, batsman Johannesen's crew took second place behind Great Britain.
Johannesen is replacing the injured Mattes Schönherr at bat at the European Championships in Munich.
The women's quadruple sculls had previously finished sixth in their European Championship final when Great Britain won.
On Sunday, world and European champion Oliver Zeidler is one of the top contenders for the title.
ara/sid/dpa
