The German hockey men have reached the semifinals at the Olympic Games. The team of national coach Kais al Saadi won in the quarter-finals against Olympic champion Argentina after a convincing performance with 3: 1 (1: 0) and reaches for Olympic precious metal in Tokyo. Defender Lukas Windfeder with a double pack (19th and 48th) and Timm Alexander Herzbruch (40th) each met after penalty corners. The goal against eight minutes before the end brought the German victory no longer in danger.
This is the fifth time in a row that the DHB selection is in the round of the last four at the Olympic Games. In 2008 and 2012 they won the Olympic Games, in 2004 and 2016 Germany won the bronze medal. In the semi-finals on Tuesday, the German team will face the winner of the match between world number one Australia and European champions Netherlands.
Captain Tobias Hauke and Co. showed a highly concentrated and efficient performance in the hard-fought remake of the Rio semi-finals, which Germany had clearly lost five years ago (2: 5). With temperatures of over 30 degrees in the Oi Hockey Stadium, the DHB team hardly allowed anything at the back and hit the front at the penalty corners. The Al-Saadi protégés were also unable to harm the South Americans’ body-hugging style of play.
After a changeable group phase with three wins and two defeats, the German hockey men seem to be in top form just in time for the knockout phase. After the successes in 1972, 1992, 2008 and 2012, the team in Tokyo dreams of fifth men’s gold in field hockey. The German hockey women have also been on the road to success in Tokyo so far. After finishing second in the preliminary round, they will also face Argentina in their quarter-finals on Monday.
More news from Tokyo
Swim: Exceptional swimmer Caeleb Dressel won his fourth gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The 24-year-old hit the 50 meter freestyle final on Sunday after 21.07 seconds, setting an Olympic record. Second was the Frenchman Florent Manaudou, bronze went to the Brazilian Bruno Fratus.
Dressel had previously won gold over double the distance and 100 meters butterfly. In the butterfly race, he set a world record in 49.45 seconds. He also won the USA’s 4 x 100 meter freestyle relay. He now has six Olympic gold medals in total. In 2016, Dressel won gold with two seasons in Rio de Janeiro.
Athletics: Long jump world champion Malaika Mihambo has moved into the final. The 27-year-old from Heidelberg achieved the season’s best of 6.98 m in the last attempt in qualifying in Tokyo on Sunday morning, clearly surpassing the 6.75 required for direct entry into the final. As the overall second best behind the Serbian Ivana Spanovic (7.00) and ahead of London Olympic champion Brittney Reese from the USA, Germany’s sportswoman of the year made it into the decision of the top twelve on Tuesday (3.50 a.m. CEST).
At 39 degrees heat in the Olympic Stadium, Mihambo had previously shown two weak jumps with 6.64 and 6.56 m. The German runner-up Maryse Luzolo (Königstein) retired with 6.54 m. In her 2019 World Cup triumph in Doha, Mihambo had already reached 6.98 m in the first round of qualification and then won the title with a grandiose 7.30 m. In the Olympic season, Mihambo found it difficult to get going, had problems with the run-up and only cracked the seven-meter mark (7.02) in Stockholm at the beginning of July – albeit with a strong tailwind. Her regular season high was 6.92. SID cl cp
European champion Gesa Felicitas Krause has made it to the final of the Tokyo Olympics without any problems 3000 meters obstacle moved in. Two days before her 29th birthday, Krause came in second in her preliminary run and thus surely reached the decision on Wednesday (1 p.m. CEST). At 38 degrees in the morning, Krause finished in 9: 19.62 minutes behind former vice world champion Courtney Frerichs from the USA (9: 19.34) and ahead of Kenya’s world champion Beatrice Chepkoech (9: 19.62) a strong impression. The two-time World Cup third Krause came in sixth at the 2016 Olympics in Rio with a German record (9: 18.41). In the meantime she has set the national record to 9: 03.30 minutes.
The former German champion Elena Burkard (LG Nordschwarzwald) was eliminated in Tokyo as sixth of her preliminary run (9: 30.64) and the German runner-up Lea Meyer (Lönigen) as seventh (9: 33.00). The fastest of the heats was Winfred Yavi from Bahrain (9: 10.80). Her compatriot Ruth Jebet, who won gold in Rio in 2016, is suspended for doping.