Track cycling ace Wafler

Olympic debut: “Goosebumps from start to finish”

Tim Wafler was thrilled by the atmosphere.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

Viennese track cyclist Tim Wafler finished 13th in the omnium event at the Olympic Games on Thursday evening. The 22-year-old U23 Madison European Champion only really got into his stride over the four sub-disciplines in the final points race, where he finished seventh. Wafler started in 13th place in the scratch race, finished 16th in the tempo race and 19th in the elimination race. Gold went to the much-acclaimed Frenchman Benjamin Thomas (164 points). Wafler scored 55 points.

"Goosebumps from start to finish," enthused the ÖOC athlete after the race. "It was a really good advertisement for track cycling. Normally you can't hear anything under the streamlined helmet, but I almost got tinnitus." The chants of "Alles les Bleus" were mainly directed at Thomas. He had crashed while leading the points race, but picked himself up again and continued to score points. The local hero still won relatively clearly. Silver went to Iuri Leitao (POL/153), bronze to Fabio van den Bossche (BEL/131).

Wafler at least didn't get off to a good start. "I was a bit devastated. It was the first bad day in two years," was his initial summary. "The performance in the scratch was still halfway okay, but then he gradually deteriorated. "The elimination race was catastrophic. I was pretty exhausted for a short time, but then I concentrated on the essentials and thought it was super-awesome that I could be there." He enjoyed the points race, in which he was one of the best. "Mega cool, that was really fun."

Has to miss Madison due to injury
The performance in the points race, in which he is not usually one of the best, now gives him motivation for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles. He is also happy that his family was there - including his middle sister. She was actually due to leave on Thursday for one of the Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna, which were then canceled on Wednesday. However, she won't be seeing her brother again at the oval in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines near Paris, as Wafler had to miss the Madison scheduled for Saturday (17:59) due to injury.

Tendonitis in her hip has become acute again, so there is no point in competing in the long Madison. Wafler: "You have to be 100 percent fit for the Olympics." The Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) reacted and nominated substitute Raphael Kokas for the competition instead of Wafler. The 19-year-old will ride with Maximilian Schmidbauer and is the second substitute in the ÖOC line-up for these Games. The first was dressage rider Stefan Lehfellner.