Seldom has his first name been as fitting as it was these days.

Felix - from Latin this can be translated as “happy” and “successful”.

In short: Felix Rijhnen can hardly believe his luck with his successes.

The man from Darmstadt has fulfilled his greatest wish "on ice", which for many years seemed completely unrealistic and difficult to achieve for a few months: Rijhnen qualified for the Olympic Games in Beijing in speed skating.

Just back home from Canada, he says: “I'm super happy.

I can hardly believe it. ”Last weekend, in Calgary, he experienced the strongest moments of his (short) career on the ice.

On his parade route 5000 meters, he first set his best time to 6:12:01 minutes - the seventh fastest of the day and the third fastest time ever achieved by a German athlete over this distance.

World class as a speed skater

So Rijhnen was in excellent shape for the mass start race the next day, his last opportunity in the last pre-Olympic World Cup to get the Beijing ticket. The weekend before at the World Cup in Salt Lake City he had also set a new personal best over 5000 meters, but was then eliminated in the mass start race in the semifinals. Also because of technical difficulties on the extremely fast ice at high altitude in the American state of Utah. Because compared to the world's elite, Rijhnen has barely collected any kilometers of life on the ice.

As a speed skater who has consistently been world class for years with rollers under his feet, he is a career changer in speed skating - sometimes including technical defects.

In Calgary, however, Rijhnen made his big appearance in the mass start race.

The South Hesse put everything on one card and attacked together with the Dutch Albertus Hoolwerf early and consistently, pulled away from the field.

The top 8 position, which he needed for the Olympic qualification, could be achieved via the points in the intermediate sprints or in the final ranking.

Rijhnen did well to take the lead.

The Dutchman left most of the points to the German, but Rijhnen did most of the leadership work.

A silent agreement for mutual happiness.

Because Hoolwerf won the race against an increasingly exhausted Darmstadt.

But Rijhnen saved third place with a fraction of a second advantage on the home straight across from the approaching field - a milestone for him and the German Speed ​​Skating and Short Track Association (DESG). Because for five years no German athlete has stood on the podium at a World Cup event. “I risked a lot and gave everything. It's really amazing what has happened in the past two weeks, ”says Rijhnen.

So he is the only German man alongside the German forerunner Patrick Beckert who meets the national and international Olympic standard.

The former speed skating world champion will be able to safely start over 5000 meters and in the mass start after his impressive overtaking maneuver against the German ice competition in Beijing.

“A fight against the clock and a man against man fight.

That is very attractive, ”says Rijhnen.

A break is out of the question until Beijing.

An endurance training block on skates and on the bike in Darmstadt, Germany, will be followed by the Ice Age in Erfurt this year.

In the new year Rijhnen will train in Inzell and take part in the European championships in Heerenveen.