Johannes Polgar

Johannes Sebastian Polgar (born 25 August 1977) is a German sailor, who specialized in the multihull (Tornado) and keelboat Star) classes.[1] Together with his partner Florian Spalteholz, he was named one of the country's top sailors in the mixed multihull catamaran for the 2008 Summer Olympics, finishing in eighth place.[2] After the Games, Polgar decided to move into the Star class and eventually shared a gold-medal victory with his partner Markus Koy at the 2010 Europeans in Viareggio, Italy.[3] A member of North German Regatta Club (German: Norddeutscher Regatta Verein), Polgar trained most of his competitive sailing career under the tutelage of his Norwegian-born personal coach Rigo de Nijs.[4]

Johannes Polgar
Personal information
Full nameJohannes Sebastian Polgar
Nickname(s)Jojo
Nationality Germany
Born (1977-08-25) 25 August 1977
Olpe, North Rhine-Westphalia, West Germany
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight74 kg (163 lb)
Sailing career
Class(es)Multihull, keelboat
ClubNorddeutscher Regatta Verein
CoachRigo de Nijs (NOR)
Medal record
Men's sailing
Representing Germany
European Championships
2010 Viareggio Star

Polgar competed for the German sailing squad, as a 30-year-old skipper in the Tornado class, at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Leading up to their maiden Games, he and crew member Spalteholz topped the selection criteria in a duel against brothers Tino and Niko Mittelmeier for the country's Tornado berth, based on their cumulative scores attained at two international regattas stipulated by the German Sailing Federation (German: Deutscher Segler Verband).[5] The German duo started off the race series in the middle of the fleet until the shifty wind conditions propelled them to the front on the final half with a single victory and a triad of top-five marks, making both Polgar and Spalteholz eligible for the medal race.[6][7] An unforeseen capsize by the German duo on the initial run, however, saw their medal chances vanish, plummeting them further to eighth overall with 74 net points.[2][8][9]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Johannes Polgar". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  2. "Spain wins gold in Tornado as Australia loses gamble". Sina Corp. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  3. "Polgar And Koy Claim Star European Championship In Record Fleet". World Sailing. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  4. "Eröffnung soll Segler Polgar Rückenwind geben" [Sailor Polgar most likely to attend the opening] (in German). Handelsblatt. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  5. "Die ersten Hamburger für Olympia" [The Hamburg natives are going to the Olympics] (in German). Bild. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  6. "Echavarri and Paz Tie With Bundock and Ashby". World Sailing. 17 August 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  7. "Echavarri and Paz Team To Beat In Tornado Medal Race". World Sailing. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  8. "Echavarri and Paz of Spain Win Tornado Gold". World Sailing. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  9. "Beijing 2008: Open Tornado Class". Beijing 2008. NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2012.


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