The German gymnasts Elisabeth Seitz and Emma Malewski have shown the way: At the European Championships they celebrated their European Championship title in front of their home crowd. From Thursday (August 18, 5.07 p.m.), it will also get serious for the men. For Germany at the start will go: Nils Dunkel, Lukas Dauser, Andreas Toba, Lucas Kochan and Glenn Trebing. On Monday (August 15) we met the gymnasts after their training at the TUM Campus in the Olympic Park. All-around, team competition and individual are on the program.
"The preparation went pretty well - I think I can speak for the whole team," said Nils Dunkel. Until the weekend, the gymnasts were in pre-camp at the Kienbaum training center. There, the team was able to "do some more fine-tuning," the 25-year-old continued. "The atmosphere in preparation was good," Andreas Toba also explained in conversation. Normally, he is always a bit wistful to have to leave Kienbaum. This time, however, it was different, he said. "Now it was really so that I had really Bock to come here. I'm totally happy that we can be here and that I also have the privilege to be here. The team has made a very cool atmosphere and we are just looking forward to the competition."
However, the past few months have not been quite so easy for the 31-year-old. "It has definitely been a very difficult six months," Toba looked back. He said that little things kept coming together that forced him to take a break from training. "In comparison, I'm probably at 1,000 percent. It's getting better every day, I'm feeling more and more comfortable and my body is doing a little better every day." Now he hopes to get through healthy and get through his routines "reasonably."
Last year, the gymnast won the silver medal on high bar at the European Championships. Asked how high he thought his chances were of repeating this in 2022, he said, "I don't think you should think about that too much. Last year was really cool. But you also have to say, there's always a bit of luck involved, but of course a lot of hard work as well." He is here now, he said, to "do gymnastics as well as possible."
His gymnastics colleague Lukas Dauser found similar words. The 29-year-old had most recently won a silver medal at the Olympic Games and claimed the all-around title at the German Championships. For Dauser, the European Championships in Munich are a real home game. The European Championships is "something very special" for him, he said. "I lived here for 18 years and did my Abi, then moved to Berlin. I still have many friends and family here. They will also be in the hall on Thursday," Dauser said. Then he will try to "simply perform well" in the Olympic Hall in Munich. He definitely sees chances for his colleagues and himself. "I think if we gymnastics well, we can also be among the front runners and ideally also be in the mix on all competition days," he added.
"To get through as error-free as possible," 22-year-old Glenn Trebing also wants. Together with Lucas Kochan (also 22), he is the youngest in the team. At the German Championships, Trebing recently convinced on the parallel bars (second place) and in the all-around (third place). In the interview, he said with a view to the European Championships: "In the team, third place would be nice - but there, too, it's mainly a matter of getting through well."
Dunkel takes a similar view. The team is "very well positioned," he said, and "a lot is possible" - but first an appropriate performance must be shown. If a medal ultimately resulted, that would be "really cool, but it will also be a really tough task.
With the spectators on their side - as experienced by other athletes in athletics, triathlon or BMX freestyle, for example - the gymnasts could surpass themselves even more. "I think the atmosphere will be awesome and with the audience behind us, it will be even more awesome for us to gymnast," Toba was sure.
Text: Michelle Brey
Interviews: Lina Lässer, Milena Kreber, Lena Hemmers & Michelle Brey
Photos: Lina Lässer