INGOLSTADT, Germany (AP) — Sabrina Wittmann, who in 2024 became the first female head coach in the top three men's soccer divisions in Germany, was fired Thursday after a rocky start to the season.
Wittmann leaves after three losses in Ingolstadt's last four games left the team 13th in the 20-team third division, a setback to any chances of promotion.
The club's managing director for sport, Harald Gärtner, said “a change of direction” was needed after recent results and an analysis of the club's broader development.
“On a human and personal level this decision was very hard for us,” he added.
Wittmann said she had wanted to stay.
“I would have been very happy to continue and to carry on with a team full of exceptional characters,” she said. “Unfortunately the trust required for that is no longer there and the club has decided on a different solution.”
The club did not immediately name a replacement.
Wittmann was initially made interim coach for four games in 2024 and earned a permanent role by going unbeaten in that stint.
The 35-year-old Wittmann fell in love with soccer as a teenage exchange student in the United States and had been in various coaching roles with her hometown club Ingolstadt since 2009.
“Ingolstadt was more to me than just another club. I was at home here,” she said Thursday, adding that she leaves her role with “countless special memories.”
Wittmann said during her time in charge that she saw “people management” as a strength and had needed time to get used to the extra scrutiny as a female coach in a predominantly male sport.
During Wittmann's time in charge, Marie-Louise Eta became the first woman to coach a team in any of Europe's biggest top-level leagues with a five-game interim role at Union Berlin last season.
Union avoided relegation with Eta, who then moved to coaching Union's women's team for the 2026-27 season as the club hired Swiss coach Mauro Lustrinelli for the men's team job.
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
FILE - Coach Sabrina Wittmann from Ingolstadt reacts during the 3. Liga soccer match between FC Ingolstadt and SV Waldhof Mannheim on May 5, 2024. (Daniel Karmann/dpa via AP, File)
NAGOYA, Japan (AP) — Japanese teenager Shin Ohashi set a world record in the 200-meter breaststroke on Thursday at the Asian Games, swimming a time of 2 minutes, 4.83 seconds.
The old record was 2:05.48 set by Qin Haiyang of China at the 2023 swimming world championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Denis Petrashov of Kyrgystan was second in 2:08.67 and Cho Sung-jae of South Korea took bronze in 2:08.76.
The 17-year-old Ohashi already had the fastest time of the year (2:06.59) and has been the breaststroker to beat this season.
Ohashi’s record temporarily took the spotlight away from China and 13-year star Yu Zidi. Yu has won three gold medals in the 200 butterfly, and 200 and 400 IM during the Asian Games. She will not swim any other individual events.
Ohashi won the 400 individual medley earlier in the week in the Asian Games, clocking 4:07.02. That world mark is held by Leon Marchand of France (4:02.50), who won four gold medals in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Marchand has been among the presenters handing out medals on the pool deck during the games with swimming being held in the Olympic pool in Tokyo.
Ohashi is far from physically imposing. He is only 1.69 meters tall — just under 5-feet-7 — and broke Japan's national record earlier in the year in the 100-meter breaststroke.
That record had been held by Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, a four-time Olympic gold medalist and three-time world champions.
China, slightly in the shadows of Ohashi's world record, still won four gold medals in Thursday's seven events. Through five days in the pool — swimming ends Friday — China has won 25 gold medals in 34 events.
Chinese winners on Thursday included Wu Qingfeng in the women's 50 free (23.98); Zhang Zhanshuo in the men's 800 free (7:42.49); the men's 4x100 freestyle relay (3:10.60); the women's 4x200 free relay (7:49.37).
In addition to Ohashi, Japan also picked up gold from Kotomi Kato (2:22,57) in the women's 200 breaststroke.
The other gold on Thursday went to Mikhail Arkhangelskiy of Bahrain (22.91) in the men's 50-butterfly. Arkhangelskiy was born in Russia and has swum for Florida State University.
See full AP coverage of Asian sports here
Shin Ohashi of Japan competes during the men's 200-meter breaststroke final in swimming at the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Shin Ohashi of Japan celebrates after winning the men's 200-meter breaststroke final in swimming at the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
Shin Ohashi of Japan celebrates after winning the men's 200-meter breaststroke final in swimming at the Asian Games in Tokyo, Japan, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
