The WORLDS 2014 are over!!!

They haven’t been like I planed it and how I dreamed about it the weeks before. A very disappointing 9th place in the K1 1000m final and a tired 8th place in the K1 500m…. But even to this there was a result which gave me some personal satisfaction. A 2nd place in the great K1 5000m race behind the Champ of this discipline, Ken Wallace. Congrats man, you won three out of four races at the worlds now… The pity of it all, it seems to be that it was also the last one. Not easy to accept that this race will not be in the Worlds programme anymore. Even when a lot of spectators and officials of the ICF explain to you, that it is one of the best races. All athletes, not only these ones who race the 5000m would appreciate it, if there are planed changes in disciplines, to get more influence to discuss with all the “decision-makers” about it and before this, to get at least informations what are the exact motives for this changes. Sometimes it is not easy to understand what are the future plans if you always get claps on your shoulder about this great discipline (not even the 5000m) and a “sorry” for this decision, “it wasn’t my idea”.

Nevertheless now it’s time for holidays after our national champs next week. With a couple of weeks distance to this competition it’s time to analyse the last season(s) in detail, before new training for 2015 and 2016 will start in October. I still have a couple of ideas what have been my mistakes after the world cups. One could be, that I lost a little bit my motivation, got ill before the Europeans and had problems to get back into training with fun. Starting to ask yourself what are you doing, if it’s worth is not the way to get to full power, but I promise, that also this year I gave everything in training like all the years before, maybe the passion was not the same. Even if you look to our whole team, it haven’t been the Champs for quiet a lot of us – definitely there are exceptions. My biggest respect and congratulations to them (e.g. Sebastian Brendel, Ronald Rauhe, Tom Liebscher and some of more).
It’s time to change something in the whole team, that we’ll get back to be one team and focus on what is important. Everyone in our federation has to think about what are his goals and how he wants to get there. It’s time to discuss and develop some innovations – not everything is bad, but a little change have to be there that everybody gets the feeling that we want find a way out of our problems!! For me I can say, that I’m happy to got 9th and 8th and not 4th twice. Now that’s the chance to reflect critically and in detail to get to the right conclusions and start the next two years in a “better” way!
I can promise everybody that I love this sport and that I’m burning for it. There is still one big dream which I have like a lot of my mates! It is worth to fight for it and see what my “older” body is able to do against this young, high motivated, strong new generation. Like Ken Wallace said, meeting all your friends from different countries, compete with them, be happy and disappointed – alone and with them together - share time beside the sport is one of the privileges we have. They are the reason and worth to keep on going!!!

Last but not least I want to thank all my sponsors, coaches, my club, my family and everybody else who supports me to do that what I like to do!

Now time for fun and Surfski in Portugal!!

See you all!!!