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Actually it was already over for Ramon Klenz, the dream of his first participation in the Olympic Games burst. But now he gets one last chance. Because his situation is special. Particularly annoying. And painful too. It's Sunday evening, 5.15 p.m .: As the day before, he's standing in front of the starting block in the swimming and diving hall in the Europa Sport Park. 200 meters of butterflies lie in front of him. Left and right no other swimmer to push him, no one to push him. Just Klenz, the pool and the clock. And some other German swimmers on the edge who only wish him one thing: That he can do it.
But from the beginning.
In Berlin this weekend, the German swimmers were looking for the last Tokyo tickets.
If you want to, you had the final chance to undercut an Olympic standard.
"You have to take off your hat to the athletes, how they motivate themselves and pull themselves together with very thin runs and without spectators," said national coach Bernd Berkhahn.
The 22-year-old Klenz also wanted to take the chance on his parade route 200 meters butterfly.
Olympia - that is a tradition in his family.
Wet for the Olympics: Ramon Klenz from SG Neukölln before his race on Saturday
Credit: AFP / RONNY HARTMANN
Klenz's grandparents Eva and Jochen Herbst jumped into the pool at the Olympic Games, as did his mother Sabine and Uncle Stefan.
Father Karl-Heinz Klenz did not make it to the games, but also swam at top level.
"Mom and Stefan both took part in the Olympics for the first time when they were 22," said Klenz recently in the DSV association magazine "Swim & More", "I see that as a good omen."
"I can feel it very much on my neck"
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But his preparation went less well.
Like every other athlete, Klenz not only had to struggle with the difficult conditions in the pandemic, but also had to take a corona break in training in January.
And then that: two days before his start in Berlin, he had a car accident through no fault of his own - with consequences.
Klenz contracted a whiplash injury.
"I can feel it very closely," he told the DSV portal "Road To Tokyo".
But he still wanted to start on Saturday despite the pain.
Giving up was out of the question.
After all, until recently he was the German record holder for the 200 meter butterfly.
As a 19-year-old he had improved the 32-year-old record of swimming legend Michael Groß in 1: 55.76 minutes.
In April, however, the Leipziger caught him
David Thomasberger cleared the record in a strong 1: 55.04 minutes.
The national standard time for Tokyo: 1: 56.30 minutes.
Klenz missed 34 hundredths on Saturday
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To make matters worse, Klenz was already swimming against time on Saturday.
Due to the strongly reduced field of participants due to the corona, the athletes started against only a few competitors or - like Klenz - alone.
In the end, it hit after 1: 56.64 minutes - a good time, but it was not enough by just 34 hundredths.
"Afterwards some actually had tears in their eyes that he just missed the norm," said long-distance ace and vice world champion Sarah Köhler.
“I found this atmosphere and this solidarity really cool.” Alone, Klenz is not part of the Olympic team.
Power-sapping route: Ramon Klenz is a specialist in the 200 meter butterfly
Source: REUTERS
But the association decided on Sunday in Berlin to give him one last chance on the same day.
Because of the special circumstances, as it is called.
Was another night enough to recover from the accident?
Is it even possible to deliver a top performance so spontaneously and unexpectedly?
Klenz wanted to try.
Right after the finals.
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The 22-year-old comes into the hall at 5:14 p.m.
It is the last race of this event.
Cheers from other swimmers and supervisors echo through the otherwise empty arena.
The starting shot is fired.
54.87 seconds after 100 meters - five hundredths of a second faster than the day before.
But that is not enough, Klenz has to improve at the back.
Feasible for him, he has the stamina.
Normally.
In the end, however, he lost his strength that day.
Nothing works anymore.
1: 57.48 minutes.