Leonie Ebert's most important goal for Tokyo had already failed before the Olympic Games.

The foil fencer had hoped to meet Roger Federer there, because the 21-year-old professes to be an ardent fan of the tennis player who is almost twice his age.

But the Swiss had canceled his start in Tokyo.

With her own participation in the Olympics, a dream came true for Ebert that the multi-talented sporty child had had since she saw the Olympics on television for the first time at the age of five.

Swimming, ballet, athletics, tennis - she tried everything herself afterwards, and she got stuck with fencing, of all places.

Achim Dreis

Sports editor.

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The young Franconian has done well on the largest possible stage of international sport, but the only German female fencer who even qualified for Tokyo did not come close to medals. In the round of 16 she lost to former world champion Alice Volpi from Italy with 13:15, after she had previously defeated American Jacqueline Dubrovich with 15:14. "Leonie made a strong performance," said Sven Ressel, the sports director of the German Fencing Federation. “I think there would have been more in there,” said the athlete self-critically.

The next day, Leonie Ebert's brother-in-arms Peter Joppich, who already fought for Olympic honors with the foil at the 2004 Athens Games and finished sixth - back when Leonie Ebert was amazed at the Olympic Games for the first time as a child, was over in the round of 16 the television sat. In the meantime, Joppich, who always appears youthful with his blond mane, is already approaching 40, but he still deserves the status of “best German with the foil”. Against the twelve years younger Czech Alexander Choupenitch he was now defeated in a close battle with 13:15. “I can't really blame myself,” said Joppich afterwards: “There were little things that didn't fit. It could also have turned out the other way around. "

At the start, the Koblenz player surprisingly beat third-placed American Alexander Massialas by 15:12 and thus showed what outstanding skills he still has, even if his great successes were more than a decade ago. Between 2003 and 2010, the rather skinny Joppich was four times world champion. Of course, he sees no evidence that his fifth participation in the Olympic Games will mark the end of his long career: “My motivation is still high,” he said before leaving for Tokyo: “The appeal of fencing is there. I love sport. "

In contrast, saber fencer Max Hartung, just like his comrades-in-arms Benedikt Wagner and Richard Hübers, announced in advance that he would lay down his weapon after the Olympics. It will now be down to the sabers on their farewell tour to avoid medalless games for the German fencers.

In the singles, Hartung and Matyas Szabo, who wants to continue after the Olympics, did not get past the round of 16, Wagner even failed in round one.

In the team competition, the sworn saber crew from Dormagen only starts with the quarter-finals.

He was looking forward to “the last dance with the boys”, announced the two-time individual European champion Hartung even before the duel against the Russians this Wednesday.

The Florett men around Joppich still have a chance as a team on Sunday, but go into the battles as outsiders.

“Our goal is to win medals,” Ressel had announced before the games, after it had not been successful in Rio.

Hartung is already planning ahead, should it not work out with the team either: "I had a great career."