Athletics – Darmstadt – Shepherd to the Olympics: “Nothing to do with ideal value” – sport

Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – The Olympic Games in Tokyo will have nothing of their original spirit due to the restrictive pandemic measures, according to heptathlete Carolin Schäfer. “Those in Tokyo will not have much to do with the ideal value of the Games,” said the 29-year-old World Cup second in 2017 and Olympic fifth in 2016 at a press conference of the German Sports Lottery on Wednesday. “But we are athletes, we have been preparing for it for years and are still hot for the summer games.”

The multi-fighter from LG Eintracht Frankfurt has already been vaccinated thanks to her employment with the Hessian police. “It was as if someone had injected me with gold. That gives me a lot of security,” said Schäfer, who had switched to the training group of decathlon world champion Niklas Kaul in Mainz before the Corona crisis and is trained by his parents. “The training philosophy is completely different. I had to turn 180 degrees,” she said.

In Mainz, quality over quantity is now going on in training, with a focus on improving speed, although there is no lack of fun: “It’s a cool team.” At the Tokyo Games, winning a medal is the goal. “I still don’t have an Olympic medal in my portfolio,” said Schäfer, who won bronze at the European Championships in 2018.

The all-around meeting on 29./30. May in Götzis, Austria, will be her first competition this year. “It is a determination of the position, even after the long training in winter in the hall,” said Schäfer. Since she has the Olympic ticket in her pocket, she only wants to “do well” in the first heptathlon after many months.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210414-99-200328 / 2

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