London will be the focus of the global triathlon scene this weekend. For the fifth race of the World Championship series in the British capital Romana Gaidoshova got her place on short notice after the Slovakian recently successfully fought for Bundesliga points alongside the Thuringian women’s team in Tübingen. Once upon a time in VTKSThe series was also interesting Sophie Giessmann. “That would have been a good goal,” says the Erfurt native, leaving a quick glance for now. What matters for her and her team this weekend is Hannover.
Triathlon is booming. In Germany, many talents are developing in endurance eventing and are at the forefront of the world. Under the leadership Lisa Turch Ranked second in the world rankings, only seven German triathletes are in the top 60. With a few exceptions, this broad national leader is now among the best “Final” starts in Hanover, takes part in the race German Championship and around Bundesliga-The glasses are getting louder and at the same time more demanding.
Hannover will test the endurance of Germany’s triathlon elite
Sophie Giessmann (Overall value Erfurt) is not at all afraid of this competition. She has been involved in triathlons since she was six years old and has invested a lot in gradually improving and striving for the top. Expectations from Sea Steinhude stay within limits.
Manami Iijima competed for Guam at the Summer Olympics in Paris. She will make her Bundesliga debut in Hannover. © IMAGO/ITAR-TASS | Victor Ivanov
“For us, the main thing is to perform as a team, feel good and have fun together. For each of us it will be an assessment of where we are,” she said ahead of the third Bundesliga race on Saturday. Manami Iijima (Guam) makes his Bundesliga debut. On Sunday, the Bundesliga men will also meet with the team. Weimar engineers the turn has come.
Results of the 2026 finals: a brief overview
- “Final” are the biggest sporting event in Hannover in 20 years. National titles in 27 disciplines will be up for grabs until Sunday.
- The program includes six new disciplines: Beach volleyball, Weightlifting, Jujutsu, Fast surfing, Speed windsurfing And Sailing. Beach volleyball is played as a club championship. At the end of August, the classic beach volleyball championship takes place in Dortmund. Before that they had been on Timmendorfer Strand for 33 years.
- Swimming returns to Final back. DM will take place at the beginning of the year in Berlin. In Hannover, champions will be crowned in the newly created sprint and medley relays.
- die athletics This time it is not in the program because there is no suitable sports facility in Hannover. The 126th German Athletics Championships will take place on Saturday and Sunday. Lorheidestadion in Bochum-Wattenscheid.
- Standing rowing is one of the four demonstration sports. This also includes Street Floorball, Canu Polo And Takbol.
The Erfurt team is growing – and Giessmann is adding personal highlights
After the first warning signs they can be more fun Thuringian women’s triathlon there could hardly be more around Sophie Giessmann right now. A week ago in Tübingen they achieved the best result in their history in the Bundesliga, finishing fourth. Before the Mountain Festival they were in fourth place. “Madness. This was not expected,” says the Erfurt native. She’s not just happy about the team’s success.
Personally, the student who trains at the Saarland base is doing particularly encouragingly. Finishing tenth in Tübingen, the world number 136 earned him a place in the U23 rankings. At the Asian Cup in China she was third and seventh. IN Kitzbühel she entered the top ten. Most recently there was 13th place at the European Cup in Wels.
Thuringia started in the 2026 final
- Beach volleyball: Paul Henning (originally from Erfurt/Eintracht Spontent Düsseldorf); Tristan Froebel (Sun in Paradise, Jena/Capital Beecher).
- Hardware gymnastics: Nils Dunkel (Erfurt/NE Halle).
- Hack: Trains athletes of the Thuringian Dance Sports Association.
- Ascent speed: Anika Spiessmacher (Saalfeld); Clara Köhler (Jena); Konstantin Leffler (Weimar); Willy Bittorf (Weimar).
- Triathlon: Weimar team engineers (Leon Fischer, Alexander Kull, Phil Pfeiffer, Stig Rudolf, Theo Sonnenberg); Thuringia women’s triathlon team/LTV Erfurt (Sophie Giessmann, Muriel Oberländer, Jana Millat, Iijima Manami).
- Booked sport: PSG Guera (Daniel Dick, Susan Schumann, Sandra Kunz, Torsten Beyer, Sandra Döllitscher, Ellen Klotz, Mike Bandlow); BC Suhl (Sandra Hoffmann, Christian Engelhardt, Sandra Hoffmann, Sina Hoelzer, Janine Behring), NE Geratal Elxleben (Marlon Walter, Svenja Dietel, Konstantin Benischke, Lea Fischer, Bastian Gropp, Elisa Idensen, Adrian Maasdorf, Lennard Hofmann); NE Weissensee (Till Schröder, Jasmine Lange); SV Stahl Unterwellenborn (Finja Treuner, Lennard Hofmann, Raphael Scheer, Jolien Walter, Bianca Pfeiffer, Susanne Liebmann, Andrea Scheer, Patrick Pfeiffer, Jonas Kinzel, Sebastian Fritsche); NE Erfurt West (Felix Schönherr, Johanna Weske, Jakob Weske, Frieda Jahnke, Moritz Kauer, Timo Kennecker, Emma Kaiser, Lea Fischer, Bastian Gropp, Kilian Mayer); SV Schwabhausen (Celine Eschrich, Florian Kammerer, Sofia Grebhan, Victoria Weiss, Jasmine Lange); Starts for other regional associations: Michelle Kroppen, Charlene Schwartz, Christian Engelhardt, Florian Kemmerer.
- Athletics (excluding the final in Bochum-Wattenscheid): Anton Saar (Erfurter LAC), Sebastian Lehmann (LG Ohra Energie), Robin Müller (LG Ohra Energie), Karl Geburek (ASV Erfurt), Til Stefan (Erfurter LAC), Finn Friedrich (WSSV Suhl 1990), Thomas Röhler (LC Jena), Josh Anhalt (LC Jena).
Strong curve shape gives hope for the next step
Good results are encouraging, especially individual performances such as her recent strong swimming performance or 17:25 minute 5K run in China. Lianyungang. And they confirm that they train hard seven days a week.
There are almost no rest days. There are still many different tasks ahead. One of them is the Student World Championship in Nyon (Switzerland), which will last a little more than two weeks. Looking forward to it Sophie Giessmann especially before we head to Asia again. The triathlon season is long.