Such – Denise Schindler had a stone in her room before her first competition. A reminder of the fall of the para-cyclist the week before. And: a motivation for the race on Wednesday. She was under pressure and was not responsive the whole day. In terms of sport, all the tension in the 3000 meter pursuit was released in 3: 55.120 minutes – personal best. The American Clara Brown had distanced her by more than six seconds in the duel for bronze. With a big smile on his face and a loud scream, Schindler not only cheered her personal triumph, but also the first German medal at the Paralympics in Tokyo.
Difficult year and a half before the games
Very emotional, with a few tears of joy under her eyes and a little sweat on her face, the 35-year-old spoke in an interview with ARD about all the difficulties before the Paralympics. The fall in the previous week was one of the more harmless things. “It was mentally very difficult for me, the last year and a half I had a lot of problems, including inflammation of the stump,” she said, speaking of doubts about getting that far again.
As a two-year-old, Schindler slipped under a tram on an icy path in her hometown of Chemnitz, whereupon her right lower leg had to be amputated. She has been a competitive cyclist since 2010 and became world champion on the road in 2011. There she also won silver at the 2012 Paralympics in London and bronze in Rio 2016, where she also won silver in the individual time trial. Her commitment and her will to fight in the races have given her the nickname “killer bee”.
The dream of a time under four minutes
But her drive for her first Paralympic medal on the track was a dream. The dream of a time under four minutes that always whipped her. The big stone on the street brought her down last week. But Denise Schindler got up again and can now place a bronze medal next to this stone.