Sophie Leupold won both the women’s solo and the mixed quad in the beach sprint competition at Die Finals 2026 last week, and narrowly missed out on a perfect record with silver in the mixed double. Her mixed quad teammate, and German national team companion, Moritz Wolff matched her double-gold result, adding a win in the men’s solo. But Leupold, who was representing Pirnaer Ruderverein from the Saxony region, broke that tie with her silver medal.
Die Finals is a multi-sport festival that combines the German national championships from a range of different sports. First held in 2019, this year’s competition took place in Hannover from 24 to 26 July and featured 24 different sports. In the overall medal table, Baden-Württemberg was the top-ranked German state.
Leupold first competed as a junior for the German flat-water national team back in 2016, but switched over to coastal rowing after missing out on Paris 2024 Olympic qualification in the German women’s eight. Last year she raced at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals with Franz Werner in the mixed double. Werner picked up second place in the men’s solo at Die Finals last week, plus gold and silver alongside Leupold in the quad and double, respectively.
To some extent this is the first time “beach” sprint has featured at The Finals. The discipline was part of the event in Dresden last year, but instead of running on sand, athletes sprinted across mats laid down on the riverbank. But this year, competition took place on Lake Steinhude to the west of Hannover. The lake features a small, artificial island built out of sand. However, a consequence of racing in the lake, apart from the lack of tides and ocean waves, was that the water wasn’t deep and athletes had to run farther than normal through the shallows.
The full senior podiums from The Finals 2026 in Hannover were:
CW1x:
- Sophie Leupold – Pirnaer RV
- Judith Guhse – Rendsburg RV
- Katharina Bauer – RV Treviris
CM1x:
- Moritz Wolff – Berlin Rowing Club
- Franz Werner – Pirnaer RV
- Julius Blümel – Berlin Rowing Club
CMix2x:
- Franz Friedhelm Cherubim, Judith Guhse – ARV zu Leipzig/Rendsburger RV
- Franz Werner, Sophie Leupold – Pirna RV
- Moritz Korthals, Katharina Bauer – Stuttgarter RG/RV Treviris
CMix4x+:
- Moritz Wolff, Jette Hansen, Juliane Faralisch, Sophie Leupold, Franz Werner – Berlin RC/Hamburger & Germania RC/Frankfurter RG Germania/Pirnaer RV
- Moritz Korthals, Katharina Bauer, Franz Friedhelm Cherubim, Judith Guhse, Johann Meyer – Stuttgarter RG/RV Treviris Trier/ARV Leipzig/Rendsburg RV/RV Münster
- Leander Spalek, Luis Haack, Ayse Gündüz, Marion Reichardt, Elias Aronovici – Frankfurter RG Germania/Berlin RC/RU Arkona Berlin/ARC Würzburg/