The German squad won the bronze medal at the team final last Saturday and provided a historic moment. It was the first ever European Championship medal for a German team in this team competition.
The gymnasts with Kim Bui and Elisabeth Seitz from Stuttgart, Emma Malewski and Pauline Schäfer-Betz from Chemnitz and Sarah Voss from Cologne had to admit defeat only to Italy (165.163 points) and Great Britain (160.564 points) after a strong competition with 158.430 points in front of thousands of enthusiastic spectators in the almost sold-out Olympic Hall.
The team final took place in the "5-3-3" mode, which means that there are five gymnasts in a team, three of which go to the apparatus and each of the three scores counts. In the qualification on Thursday, four gymnasts each still went to the apparatus, and only the best three scores counted. Thus, each team could have the lowest score on all apparatus counted as a strike score. In the team final, however, every single score counted. Thus, no more mistakes are forgiven, especially on the well-known "trembling apparatus", the balance beam. In most cases, this apparatus also determines the final placings.
In the qualification, the German team was still in fourth place behind Italy, Great Britain and France. "We want to perform such a great competition again on Saturday. Then everything is open," said Pauline Schäfer-Betz with a view to a possible medal win in an interview with the German Gymnastics Federation. The goal was clear: They wanted to make it onto the podium. And they did.
The German team started on the uneven bars. Kim Bui, Emma Malewski and the former World Championship bronze medalist on this apparatus, Elisabeth Seitz, came through their exercises very well. With 40.833 points, this meant third place in the intermediate ranking for the time being.
In the second round, the competition from Great Britain, but especially France, showed weaknesses. The French team, which was on the balance beam at the same time as the German team, had to accept four falls and thus gave away valuable points. With every wobble, the spectators in the Olympic Hall held their breath and hoped that the German squad could keep its balance. The hosts mastered the balancing act on the balance beam brilliantly and successfully made it through this apparatus without falling. Emma Malewski as the first starter had some bigger problems, but Sarah Voss, who had fallen during the dismount in the preliminaries, and the World Championship silver medalist Pauline Schäfer impressed with sovereign and elegant routines, for which they were rewarded with high scores. The audience continued to push their own team and the German gymnasts themselves repeatedly called for even more encouragement with motivating gestures. After the second apparatus they could still defend the third place.
On floor the DTB gymnasts unfortunately didn't perform well and had to accept a fall. After a nice performance by Schäfer-Betz, Voss fell backwards and out of the area during her double somersault bent over in the last lane. Kim Bui impressed with her very last floor routine on the gymnastics stage. With tears in her eyes, she waved to the audience, many of whom honored the longtime national gymnast with a standing ovation. On Sunday, the 33-year-old said her final goodbye in the parallel bars final. After the third apparatus, Germany was still on the medal course behind Italy and Great Britain.
On the last apparatus, the vault, it was once again a matter of giving everything and defending the strong interim third place. Kim Bui and Elisabeth Seitz both performed cleanly on their vaults. The vault of Sarah Voss brought the decision whether it would be enough for a medal. The mood was very tense, because this last jump meant everything. She dared a difficult jump with double twist and when she stood it cleanly, there was no stopping in the hall. "I think you could tell I felt everything at once there: Relief, joy, excitement," the 22-year-old said in the interview. "From the first step to the landing, I felt like my team was screaming me through it and floating me across the table."
In the end, all the emotions rolled over: Tears flowed, there was cheering and the German gymnasts were overjoyed in each other's arms. The dream became reality: a medal in the team final, and that too at the home European Championships.
Text: Milena Kreber
Photos: European Gymnastics