Fast-paced, but three duos were faster: Kai Kruse (back) and his pilot Robert Förstemann
Source: dpa / Karl-Josef Hildenbrand
The anger runs deep after the track bike duo Kai Kruse and Robert Förstemann narrowly missed bronze at the Paralympics. It is less about the eight hundredths and more about general. Förstemann talks about what went wrong on the way to Tokyo.
RObert Förstemann appeared alone. His partner Kai Kruse was “not able to give an interview,” said the former Olympic third in track cycling. What had happened a few minutes earlier in the Velodrome was too bitter. And what the background is.
The visually impaired Kai Kruse and Förstemann missed the bronze medal in the 1000-meter sprint at the Paralympics by the tiny eight hundredths. “First of all, he has to cope with it mentally,” said Förstemann. “It will be hard work to get him back up.”
For that, Förstemann had all the more need to speak. And that was less due to the eight hundredths that were missing from bronze. Because he is certain that their dream of gold was not only lost in Japan, but much earlier. “We worked our asses off. But you feel left in the lurch, ”said the native of Thuringia, who has been the guide of Rostock’s Kruse since 2019. “Some things went wrong in advance that we have to address and work through openly. That was anything but professional. “
What exactly is he talking about? Above all the material and thus the technical progress. “Our tandem was four kilograms heavier than the winner’s,” he explains on site. “While they were already in the wind tunnel, we didn’t even have a bike to train. I hope that everyone is now shaken awake. “
Kruse and Förstemann don’t stop like this
The 35-year-old, who won the Olympic bronze medal in the team sprint in London in 2012, was satisfied with his own performance. “We have improved by 3.5 seconds in two years, that’s crazy. Physically I’m fit like never before, we all topped our watt values. ”So the result on this Saturday is all the more annoying.
Missing the medal so narrowly hurts more than missing four hundredths of a World Championship title in the 2014 team sprint. “We had at least one medal. It doesn’t get any worse than today, ”said Förstemann.
Quitting is therefore not an option. And finally, the next Paralympics will follow in three years. Förstemann definitely wants to continue and experience the 2024 Games in Paris. “Paralympics from a different perspective, without Corona, that would be a great end,” he said. “And as long as we don’t have the medal, we have an open bill.”
Tokyo as the starting signal for the way to Paris: Kai Kruse and Robert Förstemann will continue to pursue their dream
Source: dpa-infocom GmbH
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