Two years after earning women’s 1500m bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Germany’s Isabel Gose is returning to the French capital in search of gold.

Gose, 24, won the European 400m freestyle title in Rome four years ago, since when she has moved up the distance with similar success.

In December 2024 she won 1500m gold and 800m silver at the World Aquatics Championships (25m) in Budapest.

At last year’s World Aquatics Championships in Singapore she helped Germany win gold in the team open water swimming event. She then won 400m and 800m freestyle gold at the European Aquatics Short Course Swimming Championships in Lublin.

Gose’s form as she heads towards Paris is highly promising – she won four titles at the recent national championships in Berlin…

Looking back now on your Paris 2024 experiences, which do you most clearly recall? Were you surprised to reach the podium?

Without a doubt, the 1500m race. I still sometimes wonder how I managed to do what I did. The moment I touched the wall was just incredible – and everything that followed, too: the medal ceremony, and really the entire time afterwards. It was simply beautiful.

When I scroll through my photo gallery these days, sometimes I still come across photos from that time. Just recently I found a video which my best friend’s mother had filmed while she was watching the race. Oh, it was just so lovely – seeing how much everyone was cheering back then!

A dream came true in that moment, and that was anything but a foregone conclusion. I certainly didn’t step up to the starting block with everyone expecting me to walk away with a medal. That would have been unrealistic. I still remember sitting in the guys’ room after my preliminary heat, weeping because I was so terrified.

And then, somehow, I suddenly felt really free in the water – and everything just came together at the right moment. That’s when you realise that all the hard work has paid off. It’s just an amazing feeling.

What do you remember of the Olympic atmosphere and the city? Did it feel different to other competitions?

While the Olympic competitions were underway I didn’t really look around much or pay attention to what was happening on the sidelines. I spent a lot of time on my own during that period as I wanted to stay in my bubble the entire me. I didn’t want to get too caught up in the nervousness of others – since everyone was pretty nervous – so I really just needed a bit of peace and quiet.

I’m also not the type of person who feels the need to leave the Olympic Village during the Games. I put my trust in my routines – the very ones I had practised in the lead-up to the competitions.

Plus I knew I would be staying in Paris for a while after the races were over so I made a point of saving all the sightseeing and exploring for after the events had concluded.

I rented an Airbnb apartment together with Lukas (Martens), Angie (Angelina Koehler) and Ole (Braunschweig), and it really was a wonderful time. Very chaotic, but wonderful!

Among other things we went to watch the beach volleyball matches at the Eiffel Tower and we also visited Disneyland. Those are really special memories for me.

How different as an athlete and a person do you think you are heading into Paris 2026 compared to Paris 2024?

Not a whole lot, I’d say. I mean, ever since the Games I’ve certainly had different expectations for myself. You’ve had this incredible experience once, after all – and naturally you want to experience something like that again.

Dealing with that isn’t actually all that easy. I really struggled with it quite a bit in 2025. My short-course competions had always gone really, very well. But in the long-course pool, I did have a race or two that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with.

I suppose that’s normal though. You can learn from defeats – as the saying goes in the world of sports. But in my experience the exact same applies to success.

How much confidence have you gained from your successes at the World Aquatics Championships (25m) and EA Short Course Championships?

The times swum were quite good, too. Of course, the goal is now to bring that into the long-course season as well.

What are your personal ambitions for Paris 2026? After your four wins in the trials, have you settled on your racing programme in the pool?

My schedule isn’t 100 per cent set yet. My coach Bernd (Berkhahn) and I are in constant communication about it; we’re making everything somewhat dependent on how things go during our preparation phase.

The 400m, 800m and 1500m events seem to be confirmed, but the status of the 200m remains open.

 I think we’re just going to wait and see how training progresses – what suits me best and what doesn’t feel quite right.

Will you seek also to earn further open water honours at the EA Championships?

I’ve also been nominated for the open water swimming events as we might decide to include the Knockout Sprint there. You definitely shouldn’t underestimate the physical demands involved.

 How hard is it to combine the two disciplines?

The distances in the Knockout Sprint fit well with my training programme, but the conditions are completely different.

I actually took it a bit too lightly back at the Singapore World Championships. I was surprised by just how fast the swimming was right from the first two rounds – and how physical it when you don’t have a lane all to yourself.

The way I handled it most recently in Sardinia wasn’t actually a bad approach at all. I’ve definitely learned a thing or two since then.

How significant will the Paris 2026 Championships be for you in terms of a marker on the route to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics?

Paris 2026 is definitely a competition where you can really grow further. I’m very curious to see what the competition in Europe is up to – there’s certainly a lot of new talent coming up right now.

Were you able to have friends and family watching you in Paris. If so, how special was that and will it happen again this summer?

 Unfortunately not. My best friend considered coming but unfortunately there were absolutely no tickets left for the pool swimming events. My parents have now bought tickets for the open water swimming!

Open water swimming at the European Aquatics Championships Paris 2026 will take place from August 4 to 8; swimming will take place at the Olympic Aquatics Center from August 10 to 16.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics