First a relieving scream, then a very deep breath and a focused look at his family in the stands: Lukas Dauser can continue to dream of his first European title at his “EM dahoam”. The Olympic silver medalist from Unterhaching managed an almost perfect exercise on parallel bars, on Sunday the 29-year-old is right in the middle of the medal fight instead of just being there.
The 14.766 points on his flagship device also contributed to the fact that the German squad in the Munich Olympic Hall came in seventh place in the qualification and thus reached the team final on Saturday.
However, the hosts of the European Championships had nothing to do with the decision in the individual all-around. Joe Fraser from Great Britain secured the gold medal in front of the two Turks Ahmet Onder and Adem Asil. In the end, Dauser finished in ninth place.
“Hero de Janeiro” fails twice
However: The performance of the quintet of the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) was by no means perfect. Andreas Toba in particular did not have his best day. The veteran from Hanover had to support the landing of his jump with his hand. The “Hero de Janeiro” also seemed insecure on the parallel bars, but then complained about a bar that seemed not carefully fixed.
And the 31-year-old also missed the final fight on high bar after a fall. Last year Toba won the silver medal at the European title fights in Basel on the “Königsgerät”, his first international precious metal ever.
Dauser also didn’t look confident on all devices, but kept the German team on track in the crucial moments. Second German finalist will be Nils Dunkel on Sunday. The Erfurt earned his participation in the decision on the pommel horse by finishing sixth in the prelim.