Brilliant premiere for German gymnastics: Timo Eder and Karina Schönmaier won gold at the European Championships in Leipzig in the mixed team finale for the first time.
After an impeccable appearance, the duo from Ludwigsburg and Chemnitz prevailed against the top favorite Great Britain in the grand finale.
“It’s really just crazy. I have pure goose bumps, everything is still trembling. It is really just legendary what we did here together with Timo,” said the chemnitzer with the gold medal around her neck. “A dream came true.”
On the last of three devices, the more than 4,500 spectators for Eder on the bar accumulated 13.333 points and for Schönmaier 12.233 points on the balance beam and the total number of points 25.566. For the German Turner Association, it was the second medal for silver for the women’s team.
“We didn’t make mistakes. We won a gold medal, I can’t complain. That motivates me to do gymnastics again for the next few days and also takes a bit of the nervousness because everything is now only encore,” said Eder.
The British team won a total of 25.466 points on the same devices. Third was Italy, which prevailed with the overall grade of 27.966 points for bars and ground in the small final against France (25,699) for two floor lectures.
New competition at Olympics
In the 2028 games in Los Angeles, the mixed decision is part of the Olympic program for the first time. In the new competition, one woman and a man start per nation. The couple is automatically assembled from the two best of the qualification on the previously specified devices.
In Leipzig, this was soil, bars and bars among men as well as jump, bars and ground for women. 16 nations were qualified for the final. It is not yet clear how the mode and the format for Los Angeles look.
The starting fields were halved in three rounds until only a duel for third place and the final remained. The following applies: only one device was tied in every round, in the second a different one than in the first and the third device in the final round.
“It’s really cool to do gymnastics. I’m really excited,” said Eder. Men’s national coach Jens Milbradt also looked forward to the premiere with anticipation: “I think it will be a great competition.”
The way to the final
Eder and Schönmaier, both 19 years old, opted for the ground in round 1. With 13.433 points for the Ludwigsburger and 12,833 points for the Chemnitzer, the duo continued as the sixth.
The tactical move, to choose the supposedly strongest devices in the second round, went out completely: With 13.933 points each for their performances and a total of 27,866 points, the German gymnastics couple moved into the grand finale against Great Britain (28.366) and had silver before the exercises on the bar and on the beam.