Et is one of the most memorable sports moments of this year: When the last ball of the Olympic tennis final in Tokyo is struck, Alexander Zverev sinks to his knees as the winner and puts his hands in front of his face. With this success, the Hamburg-based man writes sports history as the first German Olympic champion in men’s singles, reconciles with Germany and finally wins the ATP finals.
An unbelievable sporting year for Zverev, crowned “Sportsman of the Year” at the gala on Sunday evening. The 24-year-old took a seat in the audience in the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden and was finally able to receive the trophy for the winner. This makes Zverev the first tennis player since Wimbledon champion Michael Stich 30 years ago to be Germany’s “Sportsman of the Year”.
For the 75th time, the best of the year were chosen in Baden-Baden. The ZDF broadcast was about the successor to athlete Malaika Mihambo, ice hockey national striker Leon Draisaitl and FC Bayern. The successes at the Games in Tokyo shaped the choice: In addition to Zverev, Olympic champion Mihambo and the women’s four-man track bike, which is so impressive in Japan, also won the vote among sports journalists.
Then it was done: Malaika Mihambo secured Olympic gold in her last attempt
Source: AP / Martin Meissner
Mihambo created a hat trick: for the third time in a row, the long jumper won the election for “Sportswoman of the Year”. With 1,845 votes, she clearly prevailed over two other Olympic champions from Tokyo: wrestler Aline Rotter-Focken (942), who celebrated the big coup in the last fight of her career, and canoe slalom ace Ricarda Funk (686), who was in Japan for the first gold of the German team.
Mihambo had already advanced to the new star of German athletics with EM Gold 2018 and her World Cup title in 2019 and was voted Germany’s Sportswoman of the Year twice in a row. In Tokyo she made it extremely exciting.
Mihambo: Difficult road to gold
At the halfway point of the long jump final, Mihambo was still third on that August day. A top jump was needed to catapult yourself to the top – but it didn’t come. In the fourth attempt, the timing and rhythm were wrong, Mihambo ran through. In the fifth she stepped over. There was only one chance left, the last try. And she mastered this with strong nerves and with flying colors: Malaika Mihambo landed exactly at the seven-meter mark and, after finishing fourth in Rio, now celebrated Olympic gold in Tokyo.
Mihambo wins Olympic gold with the last jump
With her last attempt, Malaika Mihambo secured the gold medal in the long jump. The 2019 world champion left the competition behind in a real centimeter thriller and won the first German long jump Olympic victory in 21 years.
The preparation was anything but optimal. After an injury, Mihambo shortened her run-up to rest from 20 to 16 steps in 2020, but struggled with major problems until shortly before the Olympic Games to get back into the right rhythm over a good 40 meters. Self-doubt arose. In addition, she struggled for a while with the role of Germany’s great hope for gold.
Then everything discharged after the final sixth jump in Tokyo. “The scream, the tears – that was the relief, of course also the joy,” she said afterwards. “A feeling that I can hardly describe because this path was so hard and rocky.” She was now additionally rewarded with her third victory in the election for “Sportswoman of the Year”.
“This is our boy, for whom we feverish”
Similar to Mihambo, Zverev also decided the vote for itself. The man from Hamburg received 1739 votes and ended up clearly ahead of open water Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock (1198), who put an end to the long wait for German swimmers to win Olympic gold, and ski jumper Karl Geiger (729).
The Oberstdorf violinist won gold with the team and mixed as well as silver from the normal and bronze from the large hill at the World Championships in February. In addition, he had finished the Four Hills Tournament in second place. One day before the athletes’ gala, he proved that he can also be expected on the tour this year: Victory at the dress rehearsal in Engelberg (Switzerland).
While the first highlight of the season is approaching for Geiger, Zverev can take a deep breath. With his Olympic victory in Tokyo, his emotions there and his words after the triumph, he also won the recognition he had wished for. In January, he set his goal as being for German sports fans to stay up at night for him and get to know him better, as they once did for Becker. “That they know, this is our boy, for whom we are cheering, for him we get up at four in the morning and just watch the Grand Slam final”.
The moment after the victory: Alexander Zverev won gold in Tokyo
Source: dpa-infocom GmbH
He had rearranged his environment. Mischa Zverev has been his manager since the beginning of the year and focuses on marketing the brother not only internationally, but in Germany. The image of a now and then arrogant, aloof and self-centered athlete should improve. Zverev also worked on it in Tokyo. Again and again, the man from Hamburg, who has Russian roots and lives in Monte Carlo, said how much it had spurred him on to win the medal not just for himself but for Germany.
He is currently noticeably present: Zverev donated “A Heart for Children” at the gala, he gave presenter Günther Jauch a tennis racket at his review of the year, and on Saturday evening he was a guest at the ZDF’s “Current Sports Studio” .
Fast-paced women
Team of the year was the women’s four-wheel track cycling team, who not only celebrated Olympic gold in Tokyo, but also astounded them with three world records in 24 hours. With this triumph, Franziska Brauße, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kröger also ensured the first German Olympic victory in the women’s endurance track since Petra Rossner in Barcelona in 1992.
In the vote, the four-man track bike (1434 points) clearly won ahead of the dressage team (875) and the table tennis men (719).
Track bike foursome takes Olympic victory with fabulous time
The German women’s track cyclist raced to the Olympic victory in the team pursuit with a sensational appearance. The quartet Franziska Brauße, Lisa Brennauer, Lisa Klein and Mieke Kröger did not give the final opponent Great Britain the slightest chance.
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