Finals in Berlin: Half an exercise is not enough: Seitz misses the 24th gymnastics title

Finals in Berlin
Half an exercise is not enough: Seitz misses the 24th turn title

Half an exercise wasn’t enough: Elisabeth Seitz just missed her 24th title at the German Gymnastics Championships in Berlin. The German record champion took second place in her only apparatus final.

With 13,500 points, the Stuttgarter had to admit defeat on the uneven bars to her club colleague Kim Bui, who received 13,600 points for her exercise. Third was Emma Malewski from Chemnitz with 12,733 points. One day after winning the all-around title, Sarah Voss from Cologne came in fourth with 12.666 points.

As in the four-way battle, when she qualified for the final with the day’s best value of 13,500 points, Elisabeth Seitz only performed 50 percent of her exercise in the final battle of the top six. “The complete first part is still missing,” she said. As a result, she lacked the level of difficulty, which ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the 33-year-old Kim Bui.

“I just needed a break”

The 28-year-old Seitz took a break after the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she finished fifth on the uneven bars. “I just needed a break – mentally and physically. It lasted a very long time,” she said in Berlin. In addition, she completed an internship at the school for her studies, so she only got back into full training this year – only to be thrown out of rhythm with a cold in the run-up to the championships. “It didn’t work out that well because my schedule for the German championships was very tight. In the end, I decided I didn’t want to take any big risks.”

So she only competed in the all-around on the uneven bars and in the vault, where she missed the final. It was not easy for her to do without the other two devices, floor and balance beam. “If you walk into the hall, it’s extremely tingling. It’s just fun, I like doing it. But I just have to listen to my body, and that’s the most important thing, being healthy and staying healthy, especially if the path is to go a little further,” said the World Cup third on the uneven bars in 2018 with a view to the European Championships from August 11th to 21st in Munich.

Dark “also hurt” when he got off the horse

At the start of the third day of competition, all-around champion Voss had secured the title in vaulting with 13.066 points. In the men’s category, Milan Hosseini (Böckingen) won with 14.266 points on floor just as surprisingly as Pascal Brendel (Wetzlar) with 13.500 on pommel horse.

He benefited from a relegation of Nils Dunkel (Halle/Saale), who had the best qualification. «I was surprised that Nils fell off his horse. From my point of view it was a 100% gold medal. That hurt him too, »said national coach Valeri Belenki. Dario Sissakis from Berlin became German Ring Champion with 13.666 points.

dpa