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It all happened very quickly for Jan Vandrey. Before the year 2016 he wasn’t even a member of German senior canoe sprint team and in his first season he already got a ticket to the biggest sporting event of the year thanks to the doping offenses of other nations. Jan joined forces with experienced Sebastian Brendel and this duo surprisingly picked up the gold medal in C2 1000 meters Olympic final.

 

“It was a moment that changed everything. But it didn't make it easier for me. The attention was huge - and I enjoyed it. I took everything I could get. It was clear to me: Maybe it won't work again with such great success - but then I would really like to have savoured one,” admitted Vandrey.

 

Following the success in Brazil things did not go according to plan he confessed in an interview for Der Tagesspiegel, “Also because sometimes the last percentage points were missing in training – if I'm honest.”

 

He was a member of C4 crew who won two medals at World Championships in 2017 and 2019 and European Championships in 2017, but the partnership with Sebastian Brendel was not possible at major international competitions, since Peter Kretschmer and Yul Oeltze were always stronger inside the German team.

 

His coach Ralph Welke pointed out the challenges that were brought by sudden Olympic glory, “The expectations in training and competition were according to this. Before, everything was carefree for him, then he was always put to the test. That was difficult for him. He is much more mature than back then.”

 

If the C4 was an Olympic discipline the ticket for Jan Vandrey wouldn’t be questionable, but now he’s ahead of difficult task to qualify for Tokyo, “I will give everything for it,” said Jan and his coach added, “Jan surprised us all in 2016 - we'll be happy to be surprised again in 2020.”