In the Walter-Köbel-Halle in Rüsselsheim, the path from the athlete's entrance to the dojo in the basement is placarded with posters showing the judoka Eduard Trippel with his silver medal from the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

A meeting with the 24-year-old at his training facility.

Achim Dreis

Sports editor.

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Mr. Trippel, how does it feel for you to meet yourself here every step of the way?

It definitely feels cool because I'm always reminded of my success.

But I also feel a little uncomfortable when I come in here with friends or acquaintances.

I'm actually trying to be relatively humble, and now there are only pictures of me hanging here.

On the other hand, I didn't hang up the posters myself, but the association.

That's why I feel a little honored.

Has anything changed in everyday life?

What is a clear difference from before: People now recognize me on the street.

When I walk through Rüsselsheim, someone always comes along and says: "Eh, you are this Eduard Trippel".

It's a great feeling when you get this attention.

My sport is not that popular in Germany.

If someone recognizes me in my city, then that makes me proud.

I assumed that nobody was watching my judo competitions.

But apparently a lot of people saw it.

That makes me happy.

That is the impression from the outside.

How about you personally?

I have gained this inner peace of mind for myself.

Before that, I always put a lot of pressure on myself.

Now I feel like I've calmed down.

I'm not going to training anymore and I think I have to prove to everyone that I can do something.

Now I had this self-affirmation.

I did it.

Is that how you imagined it or does it surprise you?

I already imagined that some things would change, but not like that.

I didn't think I'd really be that much happier afterwards.

I thought this might last for a couple of weeks.

But now, after almost five months, I still feel like I did after the first day.

Really?

Yes.

The only thing that has changed a bit is that I think a little more negatively about the final.

In the beginning I was totally happy with the silver medal.

Now I think: there would have been gold in it.

There have been one or two sleepless nights when I thought: That was the day when it would have been possible.

But then I get myself back and say to myself: It could have been very different, I could have been thrown out on the first lap.

That's why I'm grateful for the silver medal.

In Tokyo it seemed as if your successful semi-final fight had already been the break of the line, after which all the burden had dropped.

The fight for gold came after that.

It was like a bonus fight for me.

I thought: I've achieved my goal, now I'll just fight as I please.

And that's why I get so annoyed in retrospect.

I watched the fight a few more times and thought: There would have been a lot more in there.

Normally I should have hit that too.

As an Olympic runner-up you only realize later that the difference is not so small whether you are Olympic champion or runner-up.

It's already relatively big.