German Para-rower, Molkenthin first raced internationally in the mixed coxed four in 2009, taking a silver medal with her crewmates at the World Rowing Cup in Munich. She was 47. She has competed every year since, never missing the podium. At the London 2012 Paralympic Games she won silver.

But things have changed since 2013. She no longer rows in the LTA mixed coxed four, a Paralympic boat class. She had to make a switch to a non-Paralympic boat class, the LTA mixed coxed double sculls.

“We cannot select Para-rowers in Germany because there are not enough to select. If we are available, and are good enough, we get selected,” explains Molkenthin. “But that’s the way it is in Germany. We don’t have a system like Great Britain or Italy that recruits other people. We have the same [rowers] that we have, but no new ones coming – only old ones going – and that’s why we don’t have a four.”

If she could, the Molkenthin would eagerly row in Rio, in two years’ time, but the possibility seems less likely now. “The double is not a Paralympic boat class and we don’t have a four at the moment,” says Molkenthin.

Before rowing, Molkenthin was a long-distance runner and triathlete. “I only did trail races, desert races,” she says. “For example I did the Marathon des Sables (a multi-stage running event through the Sahara desert) 13 times.”

Molkenthin also did a triple ironman. “That was a long slow one,” she says. “It is completely different from doing a 1,000m rowing race.”

Although she can no longer run, Molkenthin is still involved in the sport. “I represent the Marathon des Sables in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. That’s my job,” she says. “So I’m still with the runners. It is still my work, as it has been for years before.”

Molkenthin came into Para-rowing because of her disabled leg and disabled arm. “My leg has dystonia, it was paralysed and I cannot control it all the time. I was born with a failure in the nerve and (dystonia) came 25 years ago after an operation. I had a certain percentage of the nerve that worked and now it is doing too much sometimes. It’s always a problem because it always does too much, but at certain moments it does so much I cannot control it anymore,” she explains. “My problem is I cannot get to the catch. I need to use my backside muscles to get to the catch. It’s the same when I use a normal erg – I cannot row on a normal erg for a long time. I can row on an erg with slides for a very long time. So it’s better in a boat and on slides than on a normal erg. I can’t run, I can’t bike.”

Challenges do not seem to deter Molkenthin. “It takes me more than two hours to get to a rowing club. So that means my training happens in my living room and I erg on slides. That is 90 per cent of my training. So I’m only on the water when we have a competition or a training camp,” she says.

Molkenthin is based in South-East Germany. Her rowing partner, Tino Kolitscher is a blind rower that took up the sport in 2011. Kolitscher is located in the east of Germany, in Halle. “We’ve only met a few weekends. That’s our main problem. I’m quite old and Tino’s going to be 40 next year – so I think we are the oldest participants in a World Cup competition,” says Molkenthin.

Molkenthin admires her competitors, especially France and Ukraine and the three countries got to race each other at the World Rowing Cup last month in Aiguebelette (FRA). The reigning World Champions, Ukraine were beaten to the line by France’s Guylaine Guesnon and Antoine Jesel. Molkenthin and Kolitscher came in third.

The crew’s next aim is for the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. For Molkenthin, it is important to continue one competition at a time, which leaves the future full of possibilities.

Better late than never for Molkenthin

International scene at Henley Regatta

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