Olympics: German twins end race ‘in style,’ earn ire of officials

A “fun run” or an Olympic marathon? Sprinting twins Anna and Lisa Hanher sparked criticism back in their home country in Germany after they finished 81st and 82nd in Sunday’s women’s marathon in the 2016 Rio Olympics. A few meters near the finish line, the pair finished the race in style by holding hands.

While social media praised their unique sportsmanship, several German officials accused the pair of “not doing their best” and “running for publicity.”

“It looked as though they completed a fun run and not [an] Olympic [race],” German Athletics Federation director Thomas Kurschilgen told media outlets. He also slammed the pair’s performance as “disrespectful and a slap in the face to all the other athletes in the German team.” While the twins received love and support from their foreign fans, a number of German Facebook users denounced their “poor performance.”

“This is when the cost of your holiday in Rio really paid off. Why don’t you just stay home?” one user commented in German.

The duo defended themselves from harsh criticisms. In a Facebook post in German, they explained that despite the “ups and downs” of their strenuous training, they gave their best shot during the race. “Definitely not what we had hoped. Nevertheless, one of our greatest sporting moments. For this, we had trained to our limit and sometimes beyond,” they wrote, translated by BBC.

According to the New York Times, the twins also defended their self-promotion and social media notoriety, claiming that their expenses were not funded by the German Athletics Association.

Aside from the Hanher twins, Estonian triplets Leila,Lily and Liina Luik also bolted in Sunday’s marathon. Two of them finished 97th and 114, while the third dropped out of the race. The Hanher twins and Luik triplets were crushed by North Korean twin sprinters Kim Hye-song and Kim Hye-gyong, who finished in the 10th and 11th spot.  Gianna Francesca Catolico