Exclusive interview with Nico Langmann: Olympics in Tokyo are getting better, "because more relaxed"
In a detailed interview with tennisnet.com , the Austrian number one in men's wheelchair tennis, Nico Langmann , talks about his (second) successful qualification for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the challenges he had to contend with during the corona pandemic and what he was doing his second Olympic participation better than at the premiere in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Jun 27, 2021, 09:03 am
tennisnet.com: Servus Nico! How are you?
Nico Langmann: You, I can't complain at the moment. After recently achieving a big goal and finally leaving that big chunk of Olympic qualification behind me, a period of relief has come.
First of all, congratulations on that. I imagine it to be incredibly difficult. The Olympic Games were planned for 2020 and you wanted to focus on working towards qualifying. How was it for you when you noticed, oh dear, that takes a year longer. And you had to refocus on the next year.
It was an exciting story because 2019, the way the qualification started - and also into 2020 - was a very stressful and powerful year because they wanted to qualify for the Olympic Games. And then in March, when it was said, okay, the ranking will be frozen because the tour has just been stopped, I received an email: “Yes, you have qualified for the 2020 Olympics. Your points are frozen and no one can overtake them. ”But the next day the message came:“ The games will be postponed. ”So for one day I was already qualified for 2020. (laughs)
What was going on in you at the moment when you heard it won't be anything this year?
I honestly have to admit, when I remember March 2020, April 2020, the sport in general somehow took a back seat because there was this absolute exception. I actually saw it as a great feeling of solidarity, where the basic values of society have simply come to the fore and entertainment - under quotation marks - into the background. That's why I wasn't so concerned with my own career. I was actually happy, and still am, that this could be made possible in times like this. So even if Tokyo will certainly not be comparable to Rio due to all the restrictions and the number of spectators ... They can lock me up in a room for 20 hours and only let me out for the match - the fact that this is possible makes me really happy.
Does that mean that the joy that you have made it makes up for a lot of the past year?
Yes absolutely. No question.
You have already given a little insight, and I would like to investigate right away - how much did it work, or does COVID-19 get on Mr. Nico Langmann's nerves - as a private person and as an athlete?
Phew, difficult question. Well, it's a stupid virus (laughs) . I am so divided. Of course, as a private person, I find that it sucks not being able to meet so many friends, not being able to see so many people, not being able to see the grandparents ... On the other hand, it is rationally the important and right thing to do all of this. And if I'm being completely honest now - at many tournaments where I play there weren't any spectators before. So now I didn't have a big difference. In disabled sports, it is not the case that we miss an audience of millions. But I just missed the tournaments, the competition, playing against each other, the feeling of winning or the sadness of losing - just the emotions. So I was glad that it came back to a certain extent.
Absolutely understandable. How long was the break on your tour, when were the first tournaments played again?
Our tour certainly came back weaker than the ATP tour, because of course the financial background is not there. It is also the case up to now that many tournaments do not take place. Our tournament calendar is still very slimmed down because some sponsors have dropped out. It is not the great organizational effort that goes into the ATP tournaments - something like the bubble, for example, which, of course, no tournament organizer can afford with us. So the tour came back very slimmed down. And since the opportunity to gain points was only given in very rare cases, the Tokyo qualification was not at all a “g'mahte Wies'n” as one might have expected at the beginning. So therefore, as I said, great relief.
When did you play again for the first time?
I played again for the first time in mid-September 2020, and then I was able to play through almost until December. But then the whole trip to Australia was canceled and all tournaments after that were not held. I wasn't able to play again until the beginning of April - that is, January, February, March just fell into the water. But of course I didn't twiddle my thumbs, but had a physical structure like no one else. A little Schwarzenegger in a wheelchair (laughs) . The biceps are now three times as big.
# IMG2 #
You have repeatedly pointed out in previous interviews that your physical constitution is one of your greatest strengths. Is that still the case?
I would say that, or I really work a lot on it, let's put it that way.
With the new training opportunities that you now have at the ATC Academy in Traiskirchen with Wolfgang Thiem, would you say that something has changed a lot in terms of play, or how you design games in the facility?
Yes absolutely. We haven't really left one stone on the other. When I came to Wolfgang in 2019, we made a lot of changes to my game, and we said in advance that we would accept that the results might not come straight away because we think long-term, plan for the long term. He said it would take six months for all of this to level off. And then after six months Corona came and I had no way of showing it now. You couldn't have known, of course, but the timing of the virus could have come better (laughs) . Well, with the few options that existed, I was able to show that something has gone further. And now that the pressure to qualify has dropped, things will be even more relaxed.
If you said now that you have rebuilt so much - wasn't it also psychologically very stressful that you didn't get any feedback because there were no opportunities to play?
Yes, you've already answered that relatively well anyway. In the beginning I lost to people I didn't lose to before. Then in tennis, where it's all about self-confidence and self-conviction, a lot has been gone. And if you then go into a match questioning yourself, the security is of course not there either. It wasn't all that easy. And if you are then deprived of the opportunity to compare yourself internationally, you never know exactly whether you will really hit the top of the world in roller tennis? Or does it have to be more? Or is it also possible with less risk? It was the case that the orientation was a little lacking, but meanwhile the possibility of comparison is again given, thank God. The coaching team then naturally continued to develop, and they have often been to tournaments and seen what is enough and what is not enough. It's true - wheelchair tennis is a relatively unknown subject, especially in Austria, and you have to work together or familiarize yourself with it. But well - now two years have passed and the training period is over, thank God.
To conclude, let's come back to the Olympics. You were already there in 2016 in Rio, and back then you told me in advance that it was a huge dream, that you could be there at all, that a huge wish had come true for you. How's the second time?
(laughs) It's better because it's more relaxed. I know roughly what to expect, I know how to deal with it. I know what kind of mistakes I made the first time, and that's the nice thing that you can take these experiences with you from the first time and incorporate them the second time.
You were only 19 years old at the time, which is really still extremely young. It was a damn long time ago, but maybe you can still reflect - how did you feel back then. You clearly lost 3: 6, 0: 6 against the Chinese Shunjiang Dong at the start - Dong is currently 59th, you are currently 30 places above him in the world rankings. Can you still reconstruct today what the mistakes might have been back then?
Oh God, that was one big mistake (laughs) . I had never played a match of this magnitude back then and had no idea how to deal with it. In the end, I just flipped. I looked more at who was sitting in the stands or watching me than at where the ball was going. As stupid as it sounds - but the then defense minister was watching, all the representatives, a lot of fans who flew in especially, and I was completely impressed by it, also by the whole scene in front of it - by the opening ceremony, by the spirit in the Athletes village. This is all great, but it can also be very, very distracting and make the tension way too much. And then I didn't know how to deal with my nervousness either. And then in the end I was not only paralyzed from the stomach down, but even from the neck down (laughs) . That wasn't nice anymore. So that couldn't inspire me.
And what do you expect this year then?
A maximum match performance in every match. How far it will come then, no idea.
All right, then we will keep our fingers crossed for you and wish you all your hopes will come true. Thank you very much for the nice conversation, and all the best for Tokyo, Nico!