Our Olympic golden girl

End of Vadlau’s career? Dad escaped arrest

Cheers! Lara with mom Eva and dad Ernst directly after the gold medal run in Marseille.

(Bild: zvg)

Lara Vadlau is an Olympic champion - the first from Carinthia at the Summer Games. In 2004, the Maria Rainer native sat down in front of the TV - from then on, she only thought about the five rings. But without her sailing-mad parents Eva and Ernst, she would never be where she is today. And perhaps the gold race was also her very last. .

It was 2004, at the Olympics in Athens. Andreas Geritzer from Vienna took silver in the sailing laser. And Lara Vadlau sat spellbound in front of the TV as a ten-year-old. "I looked up to him at the time. And from then on it was clear to me - that's where I want to go, that's what I want to do!" Lara told the "Krone" at her parents' house in Maria Rain before the Games. .

"Kärntner Krone" sports director Claudio Trevisan had a chat with Lara Vadlau just before the Olympic Games.

(Bild: Pessentheiner/f. pessentheiner)

Now Lara has reached the goal of her dreams and has even surpassed her former role model with the gold medal. Thanks in part to her parents Eva and Ernst. Two positively crazy people who always made everything possible for the now 30-year-old, sparing no effort and, above all, no expense. "As a child, we sent her to soccer, motocross and sailing. But when Lara took part in her very first regatta as a girl, everything was clear - the talent was already there," says Eva.

"Maybe there will be another ad"
Also moved to tears yesterday: Papa Ernst - who was full of euphoria immediately after the victory, pushing through all the security barriers. "The security didn't want to let us see Lara - it almost ended with two arrests, maybe we'll be charged. But I don't care today," laughed Ernst, for whose daughter only one thing mattered: "Gold or nothing!"

"If she wins, she'll stop..."
And now? It could even be the end of her career at the climax - as dad Vadlau reveals: "We've worked it out like this: if she doesn't win gold, she'll go to the 2028 Olympics. If she wins, she'll stop." But Lara herself is still keeping everything open. . .