The exceptional wrestler Frank Stäbler was rewarded with his first Olympic medal at the end of his career. His farewell performance was a drama in four acts – and his body was drawn from the drudgery.
At the end of his Olympic medal dreams, Frank Stäbler symbolically took off his shoes while still on the mat and bowed. Those who were allowed to be present at the last big appearance of the three-time world wrestler in the Makuhari exhibition hall in Tokyo applauded him appreciatively – other athletes, supervisors and helpers. It was a very special moment. And for Stäbler himself, despite his many previous successes, it was probably the best of his career. In his very last international fight, the Musberger won bronze and with it the longed-for Olympic medal on Wednesday.
“Breathtaking,” said Stäbler, covered in sweat. “The dream has come true. I brought it home with the very last possible strength. For me this bronze medal is like a gold medal.” After a 5-0 lead, the Swabian had to tremble again in one of the small finals in the weight class up to 67 kilograms against the Georgian Ramas Soidze, but ultimately won 5: 4. What a feat of strength at the end of his career! What a relief after all the disappointments at the previous games!
Always had bad luck at the Olympics
The last second of his fight, in which he realized that this time it would actually be enough for Olympic precious metal, filled him with “so much pride and so much love for all the people who have always stood behind me,” said Stäbler – then broke the voice of the completely overwhelmed 32-year-old. In 2012 he lost the bronze fight in London, in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro he was weakened by a foot injury and seventh. Olympia and Stäbler – it didn’t go well. Until the last moment. In that he finally struck.
And as soon as the exceptional athlete had disappeared into the dressing room, his team-mate Denis Kudla also won bronze in the class up to 87 kilograms – as in 2016. Thanks to these two medals and gold from Aline Rotter-Focken (class up to 76 kilograms), these are the most successful games for the German Wrestling Association (DRB) since 1992 in Barcelona. At the age of 26, Kudla may still have many big fights ahead of him. But now it’s over for Rotter-Focken and Stäbler. And the Swabian body will thank him for it.
He promised him “if he wears me again, then I’ll sit back for the rest of my life,” said Stäbler about his fully trained, but also completely worn out body. In preparation for Tokyo he had to suffer again particularly. For a long time, Stäbler has been struggling with the consequences of a split shoulder joint. He became infected with the corona virus last autumn and experienced a drop in performance. Since then he has been relying on special breathing therapy. And because he normally weighs around 75 kilograms, he had to lose eight kilograms for the games in Japan.
The preparation was marked by setbacks
After his opening win against the Serbian Mate Nemes and the quarter-final defeat against the eventual Olympic champion Mohammad Reza Geraei, Stäbler was already out on Tuesday, but because the Iranian later made it to the finals, he was back in – although no longer in the race for gold, but in the round of hope about bronze. It cost him a lot of strength to bring the required weight again on Wednesday morning, he reported. He had gastrointestinal problems. But he bit his way through somehow. First against the Colombian Julian Stiven Horta Acevedo. And then against Soidze too.
It was a drama in four acts, which the long-time German flagship wrestler offered again at his farewell performance – and which his national coach Michael Carl also followed with a “200 pulse”. It matched the ups and downs of his career. Because of a bizarre dispute in his hometown club, Stäbler has long since stopped training in its hall, but in a converted chicken coop on his parents’ farm. His original weight class had been dropped from the Tokyo program, which is why he took on this weight-loss ordeal again. And then the games in Japan were postponed due to the corona. Stäbler, who wanted to quit as early as 2020, had to hang on for another year – and continue to torture himself.
But it should be worth it. “In Rio I swore to myself that I would hold an Olympic medal in my hands sometime in my life,” said Stäbler, before he climbed onto the podium and finally got it: the last piece of the mosaic, that of the most formative figure in recent history of the German wrestling was still missing.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
