(Article updated on August 7, 12:00 a.m.)

He did it: "Our" Dresden canoeist and TUD student Tom Liebscher won the gold medal over 500 metres at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo with the German kayak four. In a thrilling neck-and-neck race, the German team crossed the finish line first ahead of the Spanish team. In qualifying for the semi-finals, the German team had already set an Olympic best time.

The Dresden transport and traffic scientists and all members of the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences at TU Dresden extend their heartfelt congratulations to the transport engineer student and his team colleagues on this magnificent success.

The 28-year-old says about his first days in Tokyo: "The canoe course is very susceptible to wind, but we have prepared for that in recent years. We are also getting better and better at dealing with the time difference and are now really up for showing what we can do. We have a really cool team and let's see if we can set a world record. The expectations are clear: to race fast." That worked out very well.

It's already the second Olympic gold for Tom Liebscher after 2016 in Rio de Janeiro in the 1,000-metre kayak four. The Dresden-born athlete has been racing canoes since 2003. He was also previously awarded gold this year: at the European Racing Canoe Championships in Poznan.

Tom Liebscher is one of eight sports scholarship holders currently supported by the TU Dresden. All information about the sports scholarship at TU Dresden is available on the TUD website. The current scholarship holders also introduce themselves here.

Tom Liebscher on Instagram.