The Olympic Games have ended in disappointment for the lightweight double sculls of Raphaël Ahumada and Jan Schäuble. It was probably their last race together.
After finishing in 4th place, Jan Schäuble faced the journalists with slightly watery eyes, but kept his composure: "I don't know where else we could have got something out of it," he said in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency. Ahumada, meanwhile, decided not to go into the mixed zone.
The 4th place was all the more bitter as the Swiss lightweight duo had made it onto the podium at every regatta since finishing 4th at the 2022 World Championships, twice becoming European champions and second at the World Championships. Association director Christian Stofer was pragmatic: "They just weren't good enough today, they never really got into the race."
You could say that Roman Röösli also needed three attempts to win the Olympic medal. The problem, however, is that there will be no more lightweight races at the Olympic Games in future. A podium finish for Ahumada/Schäuble would have closed the circle from a Swiss perspective in that the brothers Michael and Mario Gyr won the gold medal in Atlanta in 1996, where the lightweight double sculls were on the Olympic program for the first time.
Schäuble: "The cherry on the cake was missing, but it was still a good trip. The support was incredible, as was the team dynamic we had. The many hours at SRV (now Swiss Rowing) will remain unforgettable and are worth their weight in gold." That was one of the main reasons why he took on all the hardships.
The words of Schäuble, who will take exams at the ETH on Monday and Wednesday before returning to Paris, sound like a farewell. Although the 24-year-old from Nidwalden left his future open, he also said: "It could be that this is it for me, as I'm not in a good physical position to switch to the open category." The only option for him would therefore be to switch to coastal rowing, which will be an Olympic event for the first time in 2028 with the beach sprints. Swiss Rowing is trying to recruit talent for the new Olympic discipline and then build something up.
