Fear of flying! Transporting the boat to Paris by land

“Taking boats on board is a lottery”: Victoria Wolfhardt and Corinna Kühnle have a clear boat for Paris, and nothing can happen to it. Felix Ochmautz has a similar boat in reserve.

The Austrian flatwater canoeists will travel to the French capital next Friday as the first members of the Austrian Olympic team for the Paris Games. Of course, the favourites Corinna Kühnle, Viktoria Wolfhardt and Felix Ochmautz have been on site for a long time and have had to be transported by road. That would be very difficult by plane, as the OKV trio confirm;

There were plenty of opportunities to park the boats, and people trained repeatedly along the whitewater area of ​​Paris, most recently just last week. “We have already left the boats there from the training camps and they will be stored there temporarily. Because flying boats is always a risk factor,” explained Victoria Wolfhardt, who will definitely join the Olympic bandwagon at the beginning of July. “Something can always happen. And if an Olympic boat breaks and is completely destroyed, that would be bad.

Carbon, that's hard.

The woman from Toulon completes a few flatwater units in her home country these days; in Paris, she relies on a very specific boat that she knows best in rowing. Others have a spare, you know, and that’s the case with Ochmautz. He already had a boat temporarily stored in Paris last October, but another set of wheels will take him to the medal. “The second boat was added in the spring, which is what I decided. The only difference is that one is newer than the other.

What matters to Carinthian is that he has an equivalent boat in reserve. “That’s especially important because it means that training won’t be affected.” Transport on a roof rack or by trailer instead of by plane is a given for the athlete who finished fourth in the Tokyo 2021 Olympics in the single kayak. “You try to fly as little as possible with boats like this because they’re made of carbon. That’s enough if they get stuck somewhere or fall somewhere.” Kayak specialist Conley sees it this way: “Taking the boats with you on the plane is a lottery.”

The now three-time Olympian also relies on a specific boat. “I feel comfortable with it. I’ve driven it in competitions during the season and it’s worked well,” he says. “I have it in my pocket. I feel good with it, so I always travel back and forth.” What makes land transport easier is that most of the whitewater facilities are in Europe. “Nothing has happened to us during air transport. But if they break the boat, it will be difficult.”