Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Full name | Johannes Sebastian Polgar | ||||||||||||||
Nickname | Jojo | ||||||||||||||
Nationality | ![]() | ||||||||||||||
Born | Olpe, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany | 25 August 1977||||||||||||||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||
Weight | 74 kg (163 lb) | ||||||||||||||
Sailing career | |||||||||||||||
Class(es) | Multihull, keelboat | ||||||||||||||
Club | Norddeutscher Regatta Verein | ||||||||||||||
Coach | Rigo de Nijs (NOR) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Johannes Sebastian Polgar (born 25 August 1977) is a German sailor, who specialized in the multihull (Tornado) and keelboat Star) classes.[1] Together with his partner Florian Spalteholz, he was named one of the country's top sailors in the mixed multihull catamaran for the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing in eighth place.[2] After the Games, Polgar decided to move into the Star class and eventually shared a gold-medal victory with his partner Markus Koy at the 2010 Europeans in Viareggio, Italy.[3] A member of North German Regatta Club (German: Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), Polgar trained most of his competitive sailing career under the tutelage of his Norwegian-born personal coach Rigo de Nijs.[4]
Polgar competed for the German sailing squad, as a 30-year-old skipper in the Tornado class, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to their maiden Games, he and crew member Spalteholz topped the selection criteria in a duel against brothers Tino and Niko Mittelmeier for the country's Tornado berth, based on their cumulative scores attained at two international regattas stipulated by the German Sailing Federation (German: Deutscher Segler Verband).[5] The German duo started off the race series in the middle of the fleet until the shifty wind conditions propelled them to the front on the final half with a single victory and a triad of top-five marks, making both Polgar and Spalteholz eligible for the medal race.[6][7] An unforeseen capsize by the German duo on the initial run, however, saw their medal chances vanish, plummeting them further to eighth overall with 74 net points.[2][8][9]
References
[edit]- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Johannes Polgar". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ a b "Spain wins gold in Tornado as Australia loses gamble". Sina Corp. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "Polgar And Koy Claim Star European Championship In Record Fleet". World Sailing. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "Eröffnung soll Segler Polgar Rückenwind geben" [Sailor Polgar most likely to attend the opening] (in German). Handelsblatt. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "Die ersten Hamburger für Olympia" [The Hamburg natives are going to the Olympics] (in German). Bild. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
- ^ "Echavarri and Paz Tie With Bundock and Ashby". World Sailing. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "Echavarri and Paz Team To Beat In Tornado Medal Race". World Sailing. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "Echavarri and Paz of Spain Win Tornado Gold". World Sailing. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
- ^ "Beijing 2008: Open Tornado Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
External links
[edit]- Johannes Polgar at World Sailing
- Johannes Polgar at Olympics.com
- Johannes Polgar at NBC 2008 Olympics website at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 July 2012)