Despite suffering from Corona disease beforehand, the swimmer is winning one medal after another in Paris.
After his third stroke of luck in these magical days in Paris, Josia Topf was full of enthusiasm. “An incredible journey from which I’m not just taking medals home in my suitcase,” said the most diligent German medal collector of the Paralympics: “The majority are filled with memories.” And positive ones at that. Because of a corona infection beforehand, the swimmer had traveled to the French capital with a lot of uncertainty.
“It wasn’t clear what form I would be in here,” said Topf after his bronze medal in the 50 m freestyle: “The fact that I won gold, silver and bronze is simply unbelievable.” He was “speechless” about this story and was simply grateful for everything. That’s why he doesn’t mind the fact that he only “felt pretty unbeatable for the first 30 meters” on Friday evening and then lost the lead.
He is “still young, my career is still long. I hope I still have enough opportunities,” said the 21-year-old. Expectations are muted for his last start in the 200 m freestyle. “I hope that I can make it to the final. The rest will become clear. Because of Corona, we noticed that the long distances still hurt a bit,” said Topf: “So let’s see what my legs and lungs can do.”
