After a collective dip in form on the pommel horse, the European Gymnastics Championships in Rimini for the men of the German Gymnastics Federation have come to an end. The team had four falls on the pommel horse in the qualification. Previously, national coach Valeri Belenki’s athletes were still on course for the final after five out of six devices; The team seemed to easily pass the qualification even without the ill parallel bars world champion Lukas Dauser.
But what followed was an unprecedented fall on the blocks, which were difficult for balance, possibly the new German fear device. Even Nils Dunkel, the European Championship third place on the pommel horse, from 2022 couldn’t hold on. “To be honest, I’ve never experienced anything like that,” said national coach Belenki. He speculated that the uncertainty in the team grew from fall to fall until the nerves could no longer withstand the situation – in the end they were missing 0.1 points. Belenki’s protégés also failed to qualify for all individual competitions; the German gymnasts missed all of the apparatus finals on Friday and Saturday. Only Dunkel, who qualified tenth, is the second runner-up on the parallel bars, has vague hopes. The team has qualified for the Olympics thanks to fifth place at the 2023 World Cup, and now there is still a lot of work to do.