From 11th to 16th The European Gymnastics Championships will take place in Antalya, Turkey. For the German athletes, it’s not just about titles, but also about qualifying for the Olympics.
Actually, only the title fights in singles were on the plan. Due to the shorter Olympic cycle, qualification in the team competitions for this year’s World Championships in Antwerp will also take place in Antalya. The top 13 teams will go to the World Cup – there, in turn, the top 12 will qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
What disciplines are there?
In the women will Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam and Floor gymnastics, the men start on a total of six devices: vault, floor, pommel horse, rings, horizontal bar and parallel bars.
In contrast to the World Championships and the Olympic Games, there will be no individual all-around decisions in Antalya – but this year, as an exception, there will be decisions in the team all-around competition. There the best teams from the qualification compete against each other. Five gymnasts each go to the apparatus, but only four of them are included in the evaluation.
The German men’s team
Both the German women and the men still have to buy their team ticket to Antwerp or Paris. In order to do that, they have to finish in the top eight in Antalya and thus reach the team final. At the last European Championship it was enough for the men to finish seventh. The German men are led by Andreas Toba – we complement the team with Nils Dunkel, who came third at the European Championships last year, Lucas Kochan, Nick Klessing and Pascal Brendel. Milan Hosseini starts as a single starter on different devices. For World Championship runner-up Lukas Dauserit is not enough for the competitions after a shoulder injury.
The German women
At the European Championships in Munich in 2022, the German women won a bronze medal as a team. Just like back then, the two European champions Elisabeth Seitz and Emma Malewski are also at the start this year. Sarah Voss, Lea Quaas and Anna-Lena König complete the German squad of gymnasts. Former world champion Pauline Schäfer-Betz had to cancel her participation due to injury.
These are the favourites
In the team classification, Italy and Great Britain can be expected for both men and women. Both nations have already bought their World Cup ticket at the last World Cup in Liverpool as a team – the British women managed the silver medal at that time, the British men got bronze.
Great Britain also has several title contenders in the individual decisions. Floor World Champion Jessica Gadirova is back in Antalya, as is her teammate and defending Vault Champion Jake Jarman.
What are the German chances?
German gymnastics fans can hope for medals, especially for women. Elizabeth Seitz, the won gold on uneven bars at the European Championships in Munich last year, and Emma Malewski – defending champion on the balance beam – could end up in the top places again this year. Whereby Emma Malewski in particular didn’t seem really confident on the bar this year, even fell at the DTB Cup in Stuttgart.
Nils Dunkel, who somewhat unexpectedly took bronze on the pommel horse in Munich, could cause another surprise in Antalya. Because many nations are resting their best athletes for the World Championships in autumn, the Erfurt from Erfurt is able to do a lot with his flagship device.
what happens when
The men will start on Tuesday (April 11) with their respective qualifications. Two days later the men’s team final takes place. The women have their competitions on Wednesday (qualification) and on Friday (final team).
It will be exciting in terms of individual decisions at the weekend. The men’s medals will be awarded on the floor, pommel horse and rings on Saturday. The women start in vault and on uneven bars.
On Sunday – the last day of competition – the men’s decisions in vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar will take place. The women do gymnastics on the balance beam and on the floor.
