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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

German cyclist breaks women’s sprint world record

Germany's Lea Friedrich smashed the women's sprint world record on Friday, just minutes after New Zealand's Ellesse Andrews did the same.

Published: 9 August 2024 15:24 CEST

Germany's Lea Sophie Friedrich competes in a women's track cycling sprint qualifying round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, south-west of Paris, on August 9, 2024.

Germany's Lea Friedrich competes in a women's track cycling sprint qualifying round of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines National Velodrome in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, south-west of Paris, on August 9, 2024. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)

The 24-year-old blasted round the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome in 10.029 seconds during qualifying to lay down a marker ahead of the final on Sunday.

Her sizzling ride came after newly-minted Keirin gold medallist Andrews clocked 10.108 to better the previous world best (10.154) set by Canada’s defending Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell in 2019.

A new mark was on the cards after the Olympic record was lowered four times before Andrews and Friedrich took to the track.

A slew of world records have been set at the lightening-fast Paris velodrome, with nine before the exploits of Andrews and Friedrich.

In Germany, the Olympic games is being shown by four broadcasters: ZDF, Discovery+, ARD Mediathek and Eurosport.

If you have a TV with a cable connection, or similar service, you can turn to the Eurosport channel, as well as ARD or ZDF, for extensive coverage.

For those without cable TV connections, you can also watch live streams of Olympic events on the ZDF, Discovery + or ARD websites.

READ ALSO: How to watch the 2024 Paris Olympics in Germany and who to look out for

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How to watch the 2024 Paris Paralympics on TV in Germany

The Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games will take place from August 28th to September 8th this year.

Blind football, wheelchair fencing, sitting volleyball, swimming, judo, shooting and many more events will be among the sports included at the Paris 2024 games. Whatever happens, the determination, skill and self-improvement of the world’s best Paralympians will be on full display.

About 4,400 athletes will participate across 549 events in 22 sports and representing a range of disabilities.

Germany’s complete Paralympic team includes around 80 athletes.

How to watch the 2024 Paris Paralympics in Germany

Similar to the Paris Olympics, the Paris Paralympics will can be streamed freely online or on TV by Germany’s largest public broadcasters, ARD and ZDF.

ZDF is scheduled to broadcast the opening of the games on August 28th starting at 8:15 pm, and ARD will broadcast events the next day. From then on the two broadcasters will alternate days until through the end of the games.

A full schedule of coverage can be found here.

In a sign of the increasing popularity of parasports in Germany, ARD will show parts of the Paralympic Games live during peak programming hours for the first time ever.

President of the National Paralympic Committee Germany, Friedhelm Julius Beucher, commended the decision in a statement: “Paralympics at primetime! It’s historic and amazing, but it’s also appropriate and overdue.”

Andrea Eskau leads Germany’s delegation during the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in South Korea. She won two Gold medals in sitting biathlon events there. Photo: Thomas LOVELOCK / OIS/IOC / AFP

An experienced squad

Among team Germany are plenty of athletes who have already proven themselves on the world stage. Here are just a couple potential medal winners to keep an eye on:

Among the most experienced members of the German squad for the Paralympics is Markus Rehm, a 35-year old track and field athlete who holds four gold medals from previous Paralympic games – three for the long jump and one in the 4×100 metre relay.

Rehm is focusing on the long jump for Paris. Rehm has a prosthetic lower leg after suffering a wakeboarding accident in his youth.

Another accomplished medal winner, Andrea Eskau, 53, is truly a year-round athlete. She holds four Gold medals in the handbike event from summer games, and four Gold medals in the winter biathlon.

Eskau was partially paralysed in a cycling accident in 1998, but clearly she hasn’t let that keep her away from biking or other high-octane sports.

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