On the first day of the Summer Olympics in Paris, the swimmer wins the first German gold medal. Lukas Märtens’ victory will shape the mood in the German team and in the sporting nation.
What it means to win and what it means to lose at the Olympics is something you will learn on Saturday evening in the multi-purpose hall of La Défense, located in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre, nowhere more impressively than behind a thin blue wall that separates the swimming area from the belly of the arena. A narrow corridor leads from the pools into the hall. The athletes have to take this route, and there, in the so-called mixed zone, they meet journalists.
Those who have lost their races, perhaps by a large margin, rush past quickly, looking at the ground, not to the side, because they suspect that no one is waiting to ask them questions. Maybe they are relieved, maybe disappointed, but no one finds out, the losers simply disappear.
A competition ends every few minutes, attention is scarce and belongs to the winners. And so it happens that swimmer Lukas Märtens, 22 years old, adorned with the first German gold medal at these Summer Games, stands in front of a crowd so large that Olympic staff ask the journalists to put their cell phones on a tray that is placed in front of Märtens. So that everyone, even those standing at the back of the crowd, can have on tape, as Märtens says: “I’m at the top now, and I think I’ve earned it.”
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
