Multiple canoe world champion Conrad Scheibner has had to abandon his medal mission at the World Championships in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. The 28-year-old Berliner, who was only a reserve driver at the Olympic Games in Paris, was slowed down by a positive corona test. “Already struggling with nausea. Headaches and aching limbs yesterday. Today I received confirmation,” the canoe specialist from SC Berlin-Grünau posted on Instagram.
Scheibner had narrowly lost the internal duel for a ticket to Paris against three-time Olympic champion Sebastian Brendel over the Olympic distance of 1000 meters. Now the Berliner wanted to compete on equal terms with the medal winners from Paris over the non-Olympic distance of 500 meters at the World Championships.
“I came here to have a good end to the season and a worthy opener for the next Olympic cycle,” said Scheibner. He reacted disappointedly to the World Championship exit: “I’m having trouble finding words to describe how I feel right now.”
Following Brendel’s expected retirement, Scheibner is considered a great hope for the future of the Canadian canoe. In 2021, he won gold at both distances at the World Championships and took silver in the 500 meters at the home World Championships in Duisburg in 2023. In the preliminary round on Friday, he moved straight into the semifinals with second place behind the Czech Paris Olympic champion Martin Fuksa, which he won comfortably. The final then took place without him.
The German Canoe Association (DKV) and its mini team only managed two podium finishes at the World Championships: bronze in the kayak two-man over 1000 metres by the Potsdam duo Felix Frank and Martin Hiller and silver by Annika Loske (Potsdam) over 5000 metres in the Canadian singles.
