Frankfurt (dpa) – A total of 425 German athletes are going to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next month after the German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB) concluded nominations on Tuesday.
The first athletes were confirmed to the team back in May for the August 5-21 event, including Kristina Vogel and Miriam Welte, who won the cycling team sprint gold at London 2012. A further 247 were named in Tuesday’s final round of nominations.
It is not yet confirmed who will represent Germany in men’s and women’s football, and men’s handball, with those squads being announced Thursday. The equestrian team will be confirmed Sunday after the World Equestrian Festival meeting in Aachan.
The German team has been set a target of 44 medals in Rio to match the number won in London when it returned home with 11 gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze.
«We already have the smell of the Copacabana in our nose,» DOSB chief Michael Vesper said. «We achieved a superb result of 44 medals last time and that is what we want to compare ourselves with.»
However, not everyone was happy with the nominations as reigning javelin world champion Katharina Molitor told the Rheinischen Post newspaper that she would consider legal action after being overlooked in favour of 2012 Olympic runner-up Christina Obergfoell.
German champion Christin Hussong and European Championship silver medallist were the first two picks for the javelin team with Obergfoell’s stronger form in 2016 giving her the edge over Molitor for the final place.
«For the (German athletic) association (DLV), it was a luxury problem, for the athlete it is tragic not to be at the Olympics,» DLV president Clemens Prokop said.
