Sarah Köhler shed tears of joy after her greatest success and the end of the 13 years of Olympic dreariness for German pool swimmers.

The World Cup runner-up won the bronze medal in the 1500 meter freestyle and thus the first German medal since Britta Steffen's double gold in 2008. In a clear German record time, Florian Wellbrock's fiancée only had to admit defeat to the Americans Katie Ledecky and Erica Sullivan.

"I really wanted this medal and tried to ignore the pain," said the 27-year-old.

The deeply moved Koehler threw kissing hands to the teammates in the stands, where the 15: 42.91 minutes were loudly cheered. "From around 900 it really hurt, at some point it is a fight against the weaker self," Koehler reported on ZDF on Wednesday. She greeted Britta Steffen, who had been part of the excitement at home. “I am as proud as an older sister of her younger one. She did a fantastic job, ”explained Steffen.

The victory went to Ledecky, who swam to her sixth Olympic victory in 15: 37.34 minutes.

Her US teammate Sullivan secured silver - and then came Köhler, who was around six seconds below her German record.

“I'm not sure what to say myself right now.

I just took the chance, ”said Köhler.

At the awards ceremony, she kissed her medal, then put her mask back on.

A little later she was crying in the arms of national coach Bernd Berkhahn.

Outstanding performance by Köhler

After Florian Wellbrock's strong run over 800 meters freestyle, the German Swimming Association is hoping for the next medal on Thursday since Britta Steffen's double victory in 2008. Before that, Steffen was the last German female pool swimmer at an Olympic award ceremony. Germany's freestyle relay over 4 x 200 meters did not make it there, but the men were satisfied even after finishing seventh in the victory of Great Britain.

The day before her fiancé appeared, Köhler made an outstanding performance. The athletes spokeswoman clearly increased compared to her previous performances. Like Wellbrock, Köhler is also part of the training group of national coach Berkhahn in Magdeburg, where she moved in summer 2018. There she managed a leap in performance. The runner-up world championship over 1500 meters freestyle and the title with the open water relay in summer 2019 was followed by a short course world record over 1500 meters freestyle in winter. When the 2020 Olympics were postponed due to the corona pandemic, the law student also postponed her state examination by one year.

In contrast to Köhler, the fourth place in the World Cup, Franziska Hentke (32), did not make it into the final and is about to end her career.

After the semi-final over 200 meters butterfly, the long-time top performer of the German swimmers said: “It is very likely that this will have been the last race.” Hentke had missed the final in 13th place with a time of 2: 10.89 minutes.

"I would like to explain it, but I can't."

Hentke finished second in 2017 and became European champion over her parade distance in 2016.

She holds the national record in 2: 05.26 minutes.

"The fact is that 2:10 is absolutely nothing and I currently cannot explain it," said the Magdeburg native, visibly dejected and in a low voice, about her time.