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In an interview with rbb24 the 4-times Olympic medallist pointed out how quickly everything went downhill and how they eventually managed to return to Germany. After it became clear on Friday that the situation worsened they have rebooked their plane tickets for Sunday, only to find out that Spain will go to lockdown, “The last few days have been the most hectic I've had in my career as an athlete. Already two hours later came the announcement that Spain would declare an emergency, close the borders and impose a curfew.”

 

So, the Sunday’s flight was not an option anymore and they have found Saturday’s flight from Portugal, with one more problem. How to get to Portugal with rentalcar companies no more renting the cars. “We then more or less bribed taxi drivers who drove us to Faro in a convoy. Now we are sitting at home and do not really know what will happen to us,” said Rauhe.

 

At the moment the future of Olympic Games in Tokyo is still uncertain. “This is of course a very, very difficult situation for all athletes. We trained for it every four years and set ourselves our goals,” also said Rauhe, who would participate in his sixth Olympic Games and cancellation would hit him hard, “It is hard to put into words what would collapse there. My family has sacrificed itself for three years and if all of this was in vain it would be very hard to cope with.”

 

However one of the greatest canoe sprinters of all times understands the situation and knows that postponing the games would be the solution. “Of course I'm also in conflict: I can't just think about training now, I have a family and I want to be there for them. Because of the daycare closings, I don't want to leave my wife alone. Taking a boat and going on the water would be doable, but we have a few more things to do in training,” he concluded.