Sebastian Kördel has never experienced a day like this. After the iQFoil world champion had, as expected, claimed three commanding victories within an hour and a half the previous day, the 32-year-old was brutally thwarted on Tuesday. In both Tuesday races, he got stuck in the doldrums and seaweed right at the start and abandoned the heats.
"Like many others, I got stuck," said the 2024 Olympic hopeful, who is now in sixth place ahead of the final rounds. He continued: "Today was like snowboarding without snow, like high diving without water or a Formula 1 race without petrol. But if there is the forecast wind tomorrow, everything is still possible. Then I can still bring it home."
Sebastian Kördel still has a chance of winning
In the Olympic iQ format, the winner of the main round qualifies directly for the final, while the runner-up and third-placed players go straight through to the semi-finals. Fabian Wolf, second in the main round, goes straight through to the semi-finals. He finished eighth once and fifth once today. Ahead of him is only Lithuania's Juozas Bernotas, who celebrated two victories today and goes into the final day as the leader. In tomorrow's Medal Races, Sebastian Kördel will therefore first have to compete with his rivals in fourth to tenth place in the quarter-finals in order to reach the semi-finals.
Alisa Engelmann and Lena Haverland were hit by the doldrums and seaweed in the women's event. The six starters took to the water three times today, with Theresa Steinlein defending her second place behind Denmark's Laerke Buhl-Hansen and even notching up a win.
Just how difficult the conditions were can be seen from the data: Only around half of the 20 men's starters crossed the finish line, and only four and three women's starters respectively. The Medal Races will follow on Wednesday and then the Olympic part of Kiel Week will be over.
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Tobias Frauen
Editor
