What an exciting, tense few weeks it was for Team Germany's eight leading up to the big Olympic final last Saturday at the Stade Nautique in Vaires-sur-Marne near Paris. After a furious hopeful run two days earlier, the team led by national coach Sabine Tschäge had started the Olympic final with hopes of a medal - and only just missed out. Behind Great Britain, the Netherlands and the USA, it was enough for 4th place in the end after a strong race.

The athletes were cheered on by the Wilo-Foundation (Evi Hoch, Wolfgang Mertineit and David Höltgen), which has been closely associated with the German eight for over ten years as a sponsor of young talent, in the water sports stadium filled with around 20,000 fans. As the team's main sponsor, Wilo was also represented on site by Richard Schmidt to support the team together with Philippe Marjollet (Managing Director Wilo France) and Laure Masson (Marketing Manager Wilo France).

On the afternoon of the final day, the Family Foundation and Wilo organised a Family & Friends get-together in the museum garden of the birthplace of the French writer Balzac. In a summery atmosphere, the rowing athletes had their first opportunity after long, exhausting weeks to relax a little, recharge their batteries and unwind from the hustle and bustle of the Olympics in the shade of the Eiffel Tower. The rowers' parents took the opportunity to talk about the special preparation time and expressly thanked the Wilo-Foundation for supporting their children.

The event was moderated by David Höltgen and welcomed by Wolfgang Mertineit from the Wilo-Foundation, who congratulated the German eight on their fourth place on behalf of the foundation's committees and recognised the good performance of the athletes and the coaching and support team. Philippe Marjollet from Wilo France then addressed the rowers: He was visibly impressed by the team spirit, pointed out parallels to the team performance at Wilo and provided information about the Wilo locations and in France. As a former rowing athlete who now heads the H2 team at Wilo in Dortmund, Richard Schmidt emphasised the great sporting spirit that the athletes had shown over the past weeks and months in his speech and presented the give-away gift from Wilo, Puma sneakers for the athletes and the matching green Olympic socks from the Wilo-Foundation.