Tom Leibscher-Lucz revealed that he was forced to smash through a toilet door to help Germany make the men's kayak four final of the International Canoe Federation Canoe Slalom World Cup in Szeged, Hungary.
With fewer than 30 minutes to go before he was due to race in the semi-finals, the three-time Olympic champion found himself stuck in a toilet.
After trying to get help to unlock the door, Leibscher-Lucz took matters into his own hands by breaking through the cubical to ensure he made the startline.
It paid off as the German quartet advanced to the final, finishing second behind Australia in their semi-final to safely make it through.
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“I would like to say sorry to the technical staff of the course,” said Leibscher-Lucz.
“I got to the toilet half an hour before race.
“I tried to get out but it was locked from the inside.
“I called the coaches with all the machines to try to work it 25 minutes before the races, so I said 'stop,' and cracked it with a shoulder.
“Sorry for that, it was my fault, I just wanted to get to the race.”
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Leibscher-Lucz is back in the German K4 after missing out on selection last year.
It was a tough pill to swallow for the 32-year-old who had played an instrumental role in Germany’s success.
But Leibscher-Lucz insisted it was the correct decision after a disappointing showing in the selection races.
“It’s pretty special to be back in the German K4 boat after 365 days of being in the K1,” said Leibscher-Lucz before the race.
“The decision was right to take me out of the K4 as the performance was not good last year.
“I was a bit mad about the decision but only at first because the decision was based on the results in the selection which were not good.”
Liebscher-Lucz spent 2025 focusing his efforts on the men’s kayak single as he ranked fifth in the final at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan.
“I was really happy about this result but I also really wanted a medal in Milan,” said Liebscher-Lucz.
“It was quite a good race and then I tried to keep the speed through the winter and tried to get back in the K4 which went pretty well.”
Leibscher-Lucz rejoins Max Rendschmidt, Max Lemke and Jacob Schopf to form the team that won Olympic gold in 2024 in Paris and the world title in Duisburg in 2023.
Last season, Anton Winkelmann took Leibscher-Lucz’s place in the boat.
Winkelmann made the shock decision to end his career at the age of 22 and become a farmer with his family's business.
“I was really surprised about it as he achieved a lot of things,” said Leibscher-Lucz.
“He qualified and racing in Paris in 2024.
“He was sitting in the K4 big boat and had this experience for one year with World Cup victorious and everything. He said maybe this is everything that I want to achieve and maybe I want to achieve something more next to the sport.
“He was so young making a decision like that, it’s a really strong decision to put it past all the trainers because they are all asking you are 22 or 23, why are you stopping?”
The ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Szeged will count towards the Olympic Ranking after the qualification period officially opened.
“I am really on fire to get to LA28,” said Leibscher-Lucz who claimed gold medals at Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024..
“It’s a long way but we all know about the Americans – when they have the Olympics, it is going to be crazy.”
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