Germany's First Week at the 2012 Olympics
As of this writing, Germany has earned 19 medals at the Games of the XXX Olympiad in London. These Games, however, withheld even bronze from the German team for four days, until the equestrian broke through with two golds on July 31. After the riders let the kink out of the hose, however, the medals started to flow a bit more regularly for the dependably competitive Germans, who followed the horseback victories with two golds in rowing, in the men's eight and men's quadruple sculls, then a win in women's cycling after a surprising finish in the team sprint. Apart from gold, German athletes garnered eight silver and six bronze medals thus far, in a wide swath of sports, like judo, canoeing, gymnastics and table tennis. A selection of the multifarious output of the German team follows.
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On the shores of Dorney Lake, where Germans have thus far heaved and hoed their way to a few pedestals, the men of the quadruple sculls added another rowing medal, a gold, to the German team's take. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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Miriam Welte and Kristina Vogel, after seemingly being bested by the Chinese team in the women's team sprint, received the delightful news that their Chinese competitors had improperly changed lanes, thus catapulting the German duo to the gold. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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Riding Sam, Michael Jung won two gold medals in eventing over the last week, once in the individual and another in the team competitions. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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The German riders appear much less graceful without their horses, whose agile leaps earned them their first place in equestrian eventing. Assuredly, their lithe coordination with horses is more sophisticated than with their bipedal fellows. (© picture alliance / Pressefoto ULMER) -
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After winning gold on the big boat in the men's eight rowing competition on August 1, Kristof Wilke shows that standing, and posing, upon said boat is not so hard for a man awaiting a gold medal. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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Maintaining concentration through the tumult of white water, Sideris Tasiadis managed silver in the canoeing slalom. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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Marcel Nguyen, exhibiting both strength and delicacy in the men's all-around, secured a surprising silver. (© picture alliance) -
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Showing off their take: Germany's silver-medal-winning rowers Britta Oppelt, Julia Richter, Carina Baer and Annekatrin Thiele, who won their prizes in the women's quadruple sculls. (© picture alliance / dpa) -
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A silver medalist at these games, and a tough one, Kerstin Thiele throws China's Fei Chen over her shoulder in the women's 70kg judo. (© picture alliance / abaca ) -
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Do you pong … err, play table tennis? Germany's Dimitrij Ovtcharov does, and he did so well enough in the 2012 Olympics to earn a bronze medal. (© picture alliance / ZUMAPRESS.com ) -
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Fencer Britta Heidemann (right) gets this point against Ukraine's Yana Shemyakina, as is evident by, if not the impact upon the latter's back, then the illuminated helmet of the German, which signifies a first, winning strike. Despite winning this point, howver, Ms. Shemyakina won gold and the Chinese-speaking Ms. Heidemann settled for a silver. (© picture alliance / Sven Simon )
