Maximilian Jäger celebrated his Paralympicsdebut. Having become world champion in the individual time trial last year, the 24-year-old came to the cycling course in Clichy-sous-bois with high hopes. A place in the top ten was his declared goal, if not even a medal.
The Bavarian, who suffered a prenatal stroke and is paralyzed on the left side of his body, had a difficult preparation period. A corona infection last autumn bothered him for a long time and prevented him from training to the extent he would have liked. Nevertheless, his performance figures are better than last year.
Jäger is still a newcomer to cycling. He was initially successful in para-kayaking and skiing, until he was Para-cycling legend Michael Teuber He advised him to try out the tricycle. Jäger followed this advice – and was successful.
It started to rain on Saturday in Clichy-sous-bois, just as the race was about to start. Umbrellas were held over the athletes at the starting line, but the start took place on time. Jäger immediately took second place, behind the American Connors, who was leading the field. The field stayed close together and Jäger kept switching back and forth between the first four places, but remained part of the leading group the entire time.
After the second of three laps, the Chinese Chen broke away from the rest of the group, took the lead and was able to extend this lead to almost two minutes behind the chasing group. After securing the gold medal, he almost collapsed from joy at the finish.
In the final meters, things got intense for Jäger. He was able to hold his position at the head of the chasing group well and ended up sprinting against Connors and the Colombian Quiroga. Centimetres before the finish line, he was overtaken by Quiroga and narrowly missed out on fourth place.
After the competition, however, he was conciliatory: he gave it his all and described his placing as “the golden pineapple”. It was his first Paralympics and he was able to take home a lot of positive experiences for himself, including fourth place in the road race and eighth place in the time trial.
These are good starting positions for both the upcoming World Championships and the Paralympics in Los Angeles in 2028. He is delighted about the presence and support of Teuber today, who has taken on the role of his mentor and role model. Teuber was also enthusiastic about the young athlete’s performance and is excited about what is to come.
