Quitting at the top
Germany's Elena Richter has retired at the very top of the sport. Why?
Otokyo lympic athletes work in four year cycles, and the postponement of
2020 has upset a lot of work/life balances. The German women's recurve team were on a career high, slightly clouded by the injury and current rehabilitation of Lisa Unruh.
Still, the 31-year-old Richter, from Berlin, was perhaps most experienced German recurve archer. She made her debut as a cadet on international competition fields in 2003, and went to her first Olympics in 2012 at Lord’s Cricket Ground, finishing the individual competition in 17th place. Two years later she was the first German female archer to win individual gold at a World Cup, taking an individual bronze at the World Cup in Wroclaw. In 2018 the sports soldier became the double indoor world champion in Yankton / USA; titles she will at present hold in perpetuity, as the indoor world event is no longer being held. At the 2019 World Championships, together with Michelle Kroppen and Lisa Unruh, she secured three quota places for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and in 2019 she won the gold medal at the Military World Games in Wuhan, China.
But after the postponement of the Summer Olympics to 2021, in August Richter, along with less-decorated German international
Camilo Mayr, announced their retirement from competitive sport. The withdrawal leaves Germany in a tough spot, with no immediate heir to her Tokyo spot in the sort of form that could see the team taking home a medal.
"It's complicated." she said. "The advance training for the Olympics is a huge burden and affects all areas of an athlete's life. Preparations were in full swing until the beginning of the pandemic. After it was announced that the Games would be postponed to 2021, I was still very positive at first. But it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to prepare for it with full motivation, because ultimately it remains to be seen whether and in what form the Games will be played at all. I think there will definitely be restrictions on how the Olympics will take place."
"Along with that, our coach demanded considerable additional effort in many areas of the training, both practical and mental, so that for me the overall 'package' was no longer in proportion to what may or may not be coming down the road. Even before the pandemic, I had planned that I would end my competitive sports career after the Games in Tokyo 2020. So
because of the situation, I ultimately decided to end it in 2020 after all."
When you look back on your sporting career today, what were your most beautiful moments and greatest highlights? "That is not easy to answer because there were many wonderful moments. A highlight from the recent past was the World Military Games [in Wuhan last year]. The starting conditions were difficult, as there was no shooting on site in the week before the games, only athletic training was possible. But when I won the gold, these games became a special highlight for me. My 2014 World Cup victory will not be forgotten. By then the German team had not yet reached the top of the world, we had international podium places, but never a gold medal in an individual. Of course, I also remember my participation in the 2012 Olympic Games in London at Lord’s. So far, that has been easily been my competition with the biggest audience."
"There are a lot of people who have accompanied me on my way, and it is difficult to name all of them. It starts with the coaches who taught me archery when I started playing and ends with the coaching team of the national team. The psychologists and the physiotherapists and the medical and rehabilitation support were so valuable. All of these people have become a part of my sports career and they have all made such an important contribution."
Richter is a keen horse rider, and has also returned to university to study sports psychology. "My interest in sports psychology has grown over the years, even if that wasn't my goal when I started my studies. But I noticed how much I could benefit from sports psychology myself. As an athlete and psychology student, I have been able to combine a lot of experience with my knowledge from my studies in recent years. I could well imagine passing this knowledge and practical experience on to other athletes in the future. In any case, I am interested in working in sports professionally. Since I am passionate about riding, this could also open up a field of activity. Subject areas such as human communication made clear by working with animals are very interesting. Horses can very well reflect the human mood and the security of their own actions, and through the reactions of the animals, in turn, humans can learn a lot about themselves and their interactions and communication."
Can you see yourself shooting arrows in the future? "I probably won't shoot in the coming season and will actually put the bow aside for the time being. The athletes have to train intensively, especially for the Bundesliga [national competition], and I have not planned any regular training for the next few months. I could imagine accompanying the athletes as a supervisor. I'm talking to the federation about it."
I know you recently got married (as did fellow international Lisa Unruh). What are you particularly looking forward to now? "I'm definitely still in the process of finding out, because extensive training in competitive sports will no longer be part of my future."
" I will have to get used to it for a while until new structures are established in everyday life. Right now it's all about our purchase of a house - there is still a lot of work to be done in the next few months."
Are there certain personal characteristics that you have learned in competitive sport that can take into your new life? "Yes, definitely. In competitive sport you learn to develop mental stamina, a pronounced determination and ambition as well as to build focus and structure. In top-class sport, you learn to go through ups and downs and still keep an eye on the goal.
I am absolutely grateful for all of this and for the many experiences in competitive sports. I'm looking back on a lot of wonderful years in competitive sports. It was gruelling and demanding here and there, but on the whole it was a formative time from which I will take a lot with me into my future life."
“It might sound like something has died, but it’s not like that,” Richter said. “I don’t think it’s sad at all. In fact, it’s quite exciting. It’s a new beginning.”
"TRAINING FOR THE OLYMPICS IS A HUGE BURDEN AND AFFECTS ALL AREAS OF AN ATHLETE'S LIFE."