The German parade boat kayak foursome clearly missed the podium at the start of the World Cup season. The 2024 Olympic champion boat in Paris with Max Rendschmidt, Max Lemke, Jacob Schopf and Tom Liebscher-Lucz only finished fifth. The Hungarians confidently won the home World Cup ahead of the Australians. The German boat missed third place, which went to Lithuania, by just 0.05 seconds. The Portuguese placed very thinly in between on the 500 meter distance.
“Unfortunately, we left too much behind at the start, and being at the top of the world will punish that. We had the second best time in the second half of the race, which was better,” said head national coach Arndt Hanisch.
Olympic champion locked in toilet before race
For Liebscher-Lucz, who had missed out on the boat in the previous season, it was a needed start to the season anyway. He was locked in the toilet before Friday’s semifinal. Even a call shortly before the start brought no help. So the model athlete had to break the door open with his strong shoulder.
At the start of the season, the newly formed German women’s foursome with Paulina Paszek, Finja Hermanussen, Nele Reinwardt and Pauline Jagsch only came in eighth. Newcomer Caroline Heuser did better, surprising with third place in the kayak single over 1000 meters after a strong final sprint. “So if you put yourself through this torture at the end, it should be worth it,” said Heuser.