“Huge pressure and no mistakes”
Tininess deprives German gymnasts of their Olympic tickets
October 3, 2023, 8:46 a.m
The German gymnasts missed qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris by 0.169 points – for the first time in 20 years. Without two stars, there are no mistakes, but the difficulty of the exercises drops somewhat. But neither the national coach nor the sports director make any accusations.
When the German gymnasts’ Olympic exit was sealed, there were no tears, and even the national coach praised them. “We’re only missing a crazy two tenths. The girls were under a lot of pressure and didn’t make a single big mistake,” said head coach Gerben Wiersma with pride in his voice after the thankless 13th place at the World Championships in Antwerp. With 157.128 points, just 0.169 points were missing for the Paris ticket.
For the first time in 20 years, no German gymnastics team will be on the Olympic podium in 2024. The failures of German record champion Elisabeth Seitz (torn Achilles tendon) and Emma Malewski (foot operation) were too serious. The invalid duo almost screamed their lungs out in the Sportpaleis – in the end in vain. With strong nerves, the German quintet avoided major mistakes, but some exercises lacked the required level of difficulty.
Meanwhile in tenth place, the athletes had to watch helplessly as first Japan and later China and France overtook them in the overall ranking. “I didn’t know how to feel, I had to sort myself out first,” confessed Pauline Schäfer-Betz. The former world champion kept herself and her teammates in the race for a long time with a world-class exercise on the balance beam. The sports soldier confidently reached the apparatus final on Sunday and has realistic chances of winning a medal there.
According to his own statement, Wiersma was not completely successful in getting the psychological stress out of his charges’ minds: “We had to work in a new reality after Eli and Emma’s serious injuries.” The one in Antwerp was only a blink of an eye away from its fellow competitors South Korea and Canada. Thomas Gutekunst, sports director of the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB), then supported national coach Wiersma. “The coach did a good job in one and a half intensive years. Of course we are very disappointed, but there are no accusations,” said Gutekunst.
Led by record world champion Simone Biles, the US team will be hard to beat in the World Cup team final on Wednesday (7:30 p.m.). Great Britain and China came closest to the top favorites in qualifying. The world title fights continue on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.) with the men’s team final. The German team also qualified for this on Sunday.