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The greatest success in Angelina Köhler's career
Photo: Hassan Ammar / AP
Short course European champion Angelina Köhler won gold in the 100 meter butterfly at the World Swimming Championships in Doha, making herself the first German world champion in the pool in 15 years. The 23-year-old clocked in 56.28 seconds and secured her participation in the Summer Olympics in Paris with her first World Cup medal.
Silver went to the American Claire Curzan ahead of the Swede Louise Hansson. Most recently, Britta Steffen won women's World Cup gold in the 50 and 100 meter freestyle pool for Germany in Rome in 2009.
Köhler was the fastest in the semi-finals on Sunday and reached the final within one day with her second German record (56.11 seconds). In the preliminary run, the Berliner had already beaten her own record, which she had set at the World Championships in Fukuoka, by 64 hundredths of a second.
She has a special ritual before the races. «I always listen to Taylor Swift. "It means a lot to me," she said of the pop star, who celebrated with his friend, football player Travis Kelce, his victory in the Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night. “I always listen to the music and dance to it before my races because it gives me incredible strength.”
Taylor Swift and top-class sport probably belong together these days.
At the last World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Köhler took fifth place. The four swimmers who were ahead of her at the time were not there this time. The highlight of the season is the Olympics. In order to better prepare, some stars - not just on Köhler's route - are foregoing participation in the World Cup, which is taking place for the first time in the same year as the Summer Games. It is therefore difficult to estimate what Köhler's success means with regard to the spectacle in Paris. One thing is certain: she will start in Paris as world champion.
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