For Florian Wellbrock, it’s not enough for the gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle. In Budapest, the German had to admit defeat to American Bobby Finke and took silver. Isabel Gose is knocked off last in the 200m freestyle final.
Olympic champion Florian Wellbrock finally wants his first World Championship medal in the 800-meter freestyle. The 24-year-old easily reached the final on Tuesday. With the second longest pool race, the defending champion over 1500 meters and ten kilometers in open water swimming still has an unfinished business.
At the past world championships, Wellbrock was surprisingly eliminated in the lead-up. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, he narrowly missed out on precious metal in fourth place. These are its foreseeable biggest competitors.
Wellbrock has a very special relationship with the Ukrainian. The two top swimmers are friends and train together in Magdeburg. At Wellbrock’s invitation, Romantschuk joined the strong training group of national coach Bernd Berkhahn because of the war in his homeland.
“If a German team hadn’t invited me, I wouldn’t be here,” said Romantschuk in Budapest. The 25-year-old won bronze over 800 meters and silver over 1500 meters in Tokyo, landing one place ahead of Wellbrock. In the heats on Monday was Romanchuk the only swimmer who was faster than the German.
The silver winner from Tokyo on the track is one of the top favorites again this time. Paltrinieri is the defending champion and has had many exciting duels with Wellbrock. While the swimming style of the native of Bremen appears elegant and economical, Paltrinieri literally plows through the water. In the heat, the Italian took fourth place just behind his compatriot Gabriele Detti, who became world champion over 800 meters in Budapest in 2017.
Completely surprisingly, the American was crowned double Olympic champion last summer. Finke duped the competition and won gold over 800 and 1500 meters. The great strength of the 22-year-old is the final sprint. The tactical task of Wellbrock, Romantschuk and Paltrinieri will be to distance the Florida-born athlete before the last lane.
In addition to the three athletes mentioned, Wellbrock also has the Brazilian Guilherme Costa on the list, who won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle. While the 23-year-old made it to the final over twice the distance, Wellbrock’s Magdeburg team-mate Lukas Märtens was surprisingly eliminated. The silver winner over the 400-meter distance, who traveled to Hungary as the world’s best of the year, was at the end of his strength.
