Gymnastics DM
Dauser’s little farewell with title – young star Kevric shines
Lukas Dauser has shown another strong performance at the German Gymnastics Championships. Photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Two experienced gymnasts dominate the all-around competition. Lukas Dauser then makes a surprise announcement: In the duel for the last women’s Olympic ticket, a 16-year-old is on pole.
With the blissful smile of a proud winner on his face, Lukas Dauser announced a brief farewell. It was the last time the gymnastics star won gold in the all-around competition at the German championships, and the last time the 30-year-old from Unterhaching competed in a six-event competition at national championships.
“The title means a lot to me. It is definitely the last one for me. I haven’t decided yet whether I will continue after the Olympic Games or not. But I will definitely not do any more all-around gymnastics. That’s why this was my last chance,” said the parallel bars world champion in Frankfurt/Main.
Germany’s athlete of the year will have to complete a maximum of three more strenuous six-event competitions on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar: at the second Olympic qualification on June 22 in Rüsselsheim, as well as in the team competition at the Olympic Games and possibly in the individual competition in Paris. “I will not be doing any more all-around competitions, and hopefully my last one at the Olympic Games,” he stressed.
No withdrawal by instalments
The parallel bars specialist does not want his announcement to be understood as a gradual retirement. Rather, the protégé of coach Hubert Brylok wants to concentrate on his favorite apparatus. “If you look at the leading nations and how many multi-athletes there are, there are specialists who only do three or four apparatus their whole lives. Continuing to do multi-event gymnastics at my age is not beneficial for the other apparatus, where I could provide more support,” explained Dauser.
On Sunday he once again demonstrated his exceptional class on the parallel bars and won with 15,500 points. “It’s such a soft style, he does it like a cat,” said national coach Valeri Belenki.
In recent years, the German model gymnast has had to deal with repeated health setbacks. He missed the European Championships two years in a row, first because of a torn muscle in his shoulder, and most recently in April because of a persistent bacterial infection. This put him out of action for five weeks. He had been lying on the couch, unable to do anything and was therefore unbearable. “I always had the feeling that I had to catch up because I was ill,” said Dauser, “everyone always assumes that Dauser will do it anyway. But it’s just not that simple.”
Experienced players keep up-and-coming youth in check
After his victory in the Frankfurt Ballsporthalle with 82.765 points, Dauser and his long-time friend and selection colleague Andreas Toba hugged each other warmly several times. The 33-year-old from Hanover came second with 82.398 points – once again the two experienced and most famous German gymnasts had kept the up-and-coming youth in check, with last year’s champion Pascal Brendel (Wetzlar/20) in fourth place and Timo Eder (Ludwigsburg/18) in third place.
“The biggest and first thing I have to say is that I thank God for giving me the strength to survive the last few years and to still be able to stand here and do gymnastics,” said Toba, who became famous as the “Hero de Janeiro.” Family, coaches and friends believed in him more than he believed in himself. “You are only as strong as the people behind you.” When he won the title on the horizontal bar with 14.475 points, he said he offered “the most successful, the best exercise” since winning silver on this apparatus at the European Championships in Basel in 2021.
Young star “in pole position” at Olympic qualification
While the sporting careers of the two veterans are coming to an end, Helen Kevric’s star rose in Frankfurt at the latest. At just 16 years old, the Stuttgart native won the women’s all-around competition with an internationally valuable 55,500 points. This puts the exceptional talent in a promising starting position for the final Olympic ticket in her first year as an adult.
In the duel with the German record champion Elisabeth Seitz, Kevric has the edge two weeks before the final qualification competition in Rüsselsheim. “Helen is in pole position,” said national coach Gerben Wiersma. With the all-around score, the young star comes closest to the nomination criteria of medal and final chance compared to 14,600 points of the 30-year-old Seitz on the uneven bars. “Based on the criteria, you can see that Helen is in fourth place in the all-around and Elisabeth’s score on the parallel bars is fifth,” explained Wiersma.
Seitz took up the gauntlet, won her 26th championship title on the uneven bars and delivered a top score of 14.750 points. “With 14.75, few words are needed to understand that I could be relatively close to an international medal,” she said combatively.