After dealing with the scandal, Chemnitz has once again developed into the top location for German women’s gymnastics. Before the World Cup in Jakarta, the double European champion explains why that is the case.
Once a week, Karina Schönmaier goes on a dream trip with her training colleagues. Then the gymnasts from the Chemnitz Performance Center make themselves comfortable in the hall with their eyes closed and mentally follow the paths that their coaches Tatjana Bachmayer and Anatol Ashurkov give them with words.
The ritual serves mental health and is intended to reduce pressure and possible fears.
Schönmaier welcomes this break from the intensive training sessions. “We talk about it a lot,” she says. But even in everyday life, the 20-year-old has been finding it difficult for some time to understand what she experiences as reality.
As a double European champion, the native of Bremen traveled to the World Championships in Jakarta, which begin this Sunday. At the continental title fights at the end of May in Leipzig, after silver, she also won gold with the team in the new mixed competition and on vault.
“I’m living my dream,” says the German all-around champion.
Gymnastics: surprise element for the World Cup
Three years after she made her debut at the World Cup in Liverpool and immediately made it into the final of the 24 best all-rounders, she is one of the favorites on her showpiece. “She can win a medal,” says Ashurkov, who also looks after his athlete in Indonesia.
To achieve this goal, the two of them have prepared a new, even more difficult element on the diving table. “That’s a surprise,” says Schönmaier.
She has the most experience in the trio that the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) is sending to the World Championships, which are held without a team decision, in the post-Olympic year. In addition to Silja Stöhr from Mannheim, Jesenia Schäfer, who is only 15 years old, is also working on the devices in Southeast Asia.
She is also part of the strong Chemnitz training group. “We push each other,” says Schönmaier. “And we have the best coaches in the world. Without them I wouldn’t be able to do any of this.”
The return of Pauline Schäfer-Betz
While three trainers and one trainer were suspended at the bases in Stuttgart and Mannheim after allegations of physical and psychological abuse by several gymnasts in the past twelve months and staff gaps opened up, Chemnitz has become a model location.
Former balance beam world champion Pauline Schäfer-Betz also joined Ashurkov and Bachmayer a month and a half ago.
In November 2020, the now 28-year-old, who is currently in advanced training after a hip operation, initiated the first wave of accusations when she publicly denounced her former Chemnitz trainer Gabriele Frehse for abuse of power and harassment.
The public prosecutor later closed the investigation. Frehse had always denied the allegations and successfully defended himself legally against termination by the Olympic base. She has been working with the Austrian national team since 2023.
Ashurkov stepped into the breach in Chemnitz in 2021. “Tadi and Anatol want their gymnasts to be proactive,” explains Schäfer-Betz. “This is the only way female athletes can develop.”
Talent Jesenia Schäfer adds: “You can always talk to them both, even if everything gets too much for you.” Then we look for solutions together. “The coaches are racking their brains about how they can help us,” says Schönmaier. This applies not only to sport, but also in private life.
Dealing is “honest, direct and open”
“It is important that the gymnasts enjoy what they do every day,” says Bachmayer, who worked in Karlsruhe until 2024. That’s why she and the former Belarusian gymnast Ashurkov communicated intensively with the athletes and also invested a lot in “mental work”.
Every Wednesday, the issues that concerned both sides would be discussed with each other. “Honest, direct and open,” says Bachmayer. “Sometimes it hurts.” Not only are the gymnasts given feedback, “they are also allowed to evaluate our work.” A lot of trust has arisen from this cooperation.
When Schönmaier came to Saxony three years ago because the conditions in her northern German homeland were not good enough for her level, she had not given any thought to the previous scandal there. “I knew Anatol from courses in Frankfurt, and that was the deciding factor for me to try it there,” she says.
The fact that they both speak Russian helps. “I felt comfortable with him from the start,” says Schönmaier. The situation has improved thanks to Bachmayer. What happened before doesn’t matter for the newcomer: “That’s the past, and we’re making the future now.”