German twins and training partners Anna and Lisa Hahner were taking part in the women’s marathon on Sunday when they made a decision to join hands as they crossed the finish line deep in the pack and far from the medals.
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Anna Hahner told the Times that finishing together – in 81st and 82nd place, if you’re wondering – wasn’t the plan. The so-called publicity stunt also overshadowed a better performance from a fellow German, Anja Scherl, who placed 44th.
They echoed the same sentiment on Instagram, writing, “We can say we gave all we had yesterday”.
“Definitely not what we had hoped for”. Still one of our biggest sporting moments. “For this we had trained to our limit and sometimes beyond”.
“The Hahner twins, Lisa and Anna, ended their Olympic marathon race more than 21 minutes behind the victor, [and] more than 15 minutes [off] their best performance, [in positions] 81 and 82”, he said.
But Thomas Kurschilgen, the sports director of the German Athletics Federation, had a different take on the sisters finishing together.
He argued that it was “disrespectful and a slap in the face to all the other athletes in the German team”.
A columnist in German newspaper Die Welt named Lars Wallrodt wrote that he was more or less sickened by the display, saying, “If the Hahners jointly want to cross the finish line, beaming and holding hands, then they can – in the countryside home run in St. Pölten or the Miss-Braided run in Solingen”.
However, the pair defended their actions.
“It all seems rather over the top”, commented sports website Le Buzz.
As the Times addressed so well, there is the philosophy that you can grab attention by “losing memorably” at the Olympics, but I’m taking this as a wonderful shared moment between sisters, not a ploy to grab the media spotlight.
“If you can not achieve Olympic glory, why not lose in style, we say”.
There are no reports of hand-holding from this family.
The twins also attracted some support on social media.
Image copyright Twitter Image copyright Twitter Image copyright Twitter Image caption Lucas Gerrits tweeted: Germany on the way to “moral policeman” gold Image copyright Twitter Image caption Ailton. Nicht tweeted: Who of the whingers and whiners has qualified for the Olympic marathon, and ranked at least 80, let them cast the first stone! “That race was so though and both of us were really happy to cross finally the finish line”.
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“It was a magical moment that we could finish the marathon together”.
