Olympia 2022: Eric Frenzel after Olympic record with team silver in medical treatment – “I didn’t spit any blood”

“It’s mainly hypothermia, the circulation is stable again. The strain was certainly a bit high due to the massive initial pace after the long quarantine, but health damage is not to be expected. He’s doing much better again,” said Pecher.

Frenzel collapsed on the third section and, after winning the silver medal, even missed the podium at the award ceremony. But later he gave interviews again and could also laugh.

“His lungs are clear, the heart sounds are also clear. He was able to walk into the dressing room on his own, he has changed. We will rest him for the next few days. He will definitely come to my practice next week for laboratory samples Then we’ll see how he will compete in the next World Cups,” said Pecher.

While Julian Schmid, Manuel Faißt and Vinzenz Geiger climbed onto the podium, their thoughts were also with their teammate, who was under medical supervision.

Frenzel: “I didn’t spit any blood”

After minutes of anxious waiting, Frenzel himself gave the all-clear in an interview with “ARD”. “I’m fine. But I still have to watch Vinzenz’s run, I didn’t notice anything about that,” he explained.

The fact that a red spot could be seen next to him at the finish from a bird’s-eye view of a spidercam was only part of a marking – a chunk of snow in the red of the marking color, which is used to color the finish lines, among other things.

“I didn’t spit up any blood and I didn’t have any open wounds,” he denied, correspondingly dramatizing media reports, “but I felt very bad on the track. I haven’t had such a tough race in a long time. Luckily I had such a good team on side that we won silver. I’m grateful to the guys. I felt really bad at the finish line. They took me to the locker room because it was warmer there. I had to regain my strength and clear my thoughts first.”

Frenzel sets an Olympic record

Frenzel equaled the record set by Austrian Felix Gottwald with his seventh Olympic medal. At four different winter games on the podium, only the Austrian Mario Stecher had stood in front of Frenzel.

“It was a tough run, I had to work really hard to finish,” he underscored the difficult conditions. “I’m overjoyed that the three of them eliminated what I messed up at the end,” he thanked his teammates.

He still has to process what is happening in the race. “I’m still struggling with myself because I didn’t convey it the way I hoped,” said Frenzel.

Tino Edelmann on Frenzel’s nomination

Expert Tino Edelmann felt Eurosport with his former teammate. “It hits me hard. I sincerely hope it’s nothing worse. No Olympic medal is worth that,” he said shortly after the end of the race.

“One can ask the question whether that was the right decision,” Edelmann said of Frenzel’s nomination for the team – to the detriment of Johannes Rydzek.

However, the previous medical tests were all positive. “It’s a gamble, no question. And unfortunately it didn’t work out in the fight for gold,” said Edelmann, “but silver was secured – he showed the longest jump among the Germans. And it’s Eric Frenzel.”

Frenzel needs to recover

Teammate Faißt had on Eurosportmicrophone gave a first status report on Frenzel’s situation. “He’s still struggling a bit at the moment. You could see he gave everything and sacrificed himself for the team,” said Faißt. Final runner Geiger was also worried about Frenzel at first. “I crossed the finish line and then heard: Eric is still in the tunnel,” he added Eurosport.

“Eric has exhausted himself completely,” said national coach Hermann Weinbuch, who explained after the race that the tenth Olympic Games of his career were also the last: “Corona will have done the rest.”

The line-up of the veteran was not a mistake. “In the end, after the test we did, I thought Eric was stronger,” he said in defense of his decision Eurosport. Frenzel saw it that way too. “All the checks beforehand were good,” emphasized the Saxon.

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