The disappointment is very big.” That was Helen Kevric’s first sentence after her fourth place in the parallel bars final of the European Gymnastics Championships on Saturday. The disappointment was written all over her face as soon as she landed, she made the obligatory walk to the chairs in front of the television cameras and was still so much in her tunnel that she forgot to congratulate the gymnasts who had started in front of her.
In her exercise, after the Hindorff, a part of the flight that was extremely difficult, she was too close to the handlebar in the air and had to bend her arms, which resulted in deductions from her performance grade. The German had formulated in advance: “I want to show a very good parallel bar exercise and meet my standards.” The score of 13.866 does not correspond to Helen Kevric’s expectations. “I was pretty excited,” Kevric also said: “I know that I can’t afford any more mistakes now.”
“Maybe even win a medal”
Karina Schönmaier also reached a final at her first European Championships. The diving final was her declared goal, as she had recently learned a new, difficult jump. “I’m proud that I achieved this,” she said after her fifth place. She stated with relative satisfaction that she “went in without any pressure” and improved compared to her qualifications and then self-critically complained about what could be done better.
The 18-year-old, who has been training at the federal base in Chemnitz for around a year and a half, immediately formulated a concrete long-term goal: She knows what she has to work on and will work hard, “so that I can be in the finals next year and maybe even one can win a medal.”
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Incidentally, Helen Kevric’s performance could also be described as follows: In March, when she was just 16 years old, she reached the final of the eight best parallel bar gymnasts in Europe in her first international start at the senior level; Unlike, for example, Olympic champion Nina Derwael, who fell in qualifying during her comeback after shoulder surgery.
In this final, in which she was by far the youngest gymnast, she performed the third most difficult exercise in the competition. And she did it largely flawlessly and with her own very good momentum; unlike, for example, the British Rebecca Downie, who fell in the final. In the end, Kevric took a very good fourth place.
Helen Kevric’s own expectations have to do not least with her results at the junior level. Here she has been hard to beat over the past two years, becoming European Youth Champion and winning the all-around at the European Youth Olympic Games twice in a row. She was technically excellent, expressive and often presented exercises that were of a higher quality than those of the German seniors.
The time for young winners is over
Alone: In the two years in the international junior level you only compete against a different year group, but for the seniors you compete against the whole world or, in this case, the whole of Europe. The days when the winners were often just 16 years old are long gone. Rebecca Downie, for example, who performed the competition’s most difficult exercise in Rimini, is 32 years old. The expectations and demands of sixteen-year-olds naturally also have to do with the environment in which they grow up.
In the Stuttgart gymnastics center, where Helen Kevric trains under Giacomo Camiciotti and Marie-Luise Mai and where technically very well-trained juniors have been produced for years, the following tends to be the case: “If Hans doesn’t learn, Hans never learns”. Following this philosophy, the vulnerable phase of growth or puberty should only be bridged with as little injury as possible.
Helen Kevric only started on parallel bars in Rimini because she had recently been plagued by foot problems, which meant she had to cancel several planned starts in the spring. When asked what the problem was with the foot, Kevric in Rimini did not want to provide any information. After votes, the German Gymnastics Federation announced a statement from father Adnan Kevric, which said that after an “arthroscopic procedure” last November, his daughter was “still in the development phase” and: “But Helen is on the right track and the main focus is on Olympic qualification.”
“I’m proud that I achieved this,” says Karina Schönmaier after her fifth place.AFP
It’s already coming up in around a month during the German Championships. There is still a single quota place available. The main candidates are Helen Kevric and Elisabeth Seitz, who, curiously enough, commented on Kevric’s European Championship final in Rimini for television. After tearing her Achilles tendon, she successfully made her international comeback two weeks ago at a renowned tournament in Jesolo, Italy.
Karina Schönmaier will also be taking part in this qualification and would like to present another new jump. Her goal is also the Olympic Games, but Schönmeier again thinks long-term: “I’m still young and want to have a great career, the Olympics will be back in 2028.”
Italian dominance at the European Gymnastics Championships
There was no need to worry about the atmosphere at the last competition of the European Women’s Gymnastics Championships in Rimini. When Italy’s Manila Esposito opened the prestigious team final with a successful jump, the audience in the sold-out exhibition hall clapped, shouted or screamed, depending on their age and preference.
Manila Esposito, who comes from a suburb of Naples, had already entered the competition as a three-time European champion – all-around, beam and floor – and once again impressed with very beautiful and difficult gymnastics. Italian triumphs were certainly to be expected, but hardly anyone had expected the 17-year-old to win three times. “She is an absolute competitor,” said Italian head coach Enrico Casella.
The audience only reacted similarly enthusiastically to Alice D’Amato, who, however, has not been able to be happy about anything since Thursday, not even about defending her title on the parallel bars. Her twin sister Asia tore the cruciate ligament in her left knee during the qualification on the floor. It was her second cruciate ligament tear in the same knee within a year. Critics have been accusing Casella for years of putting Italian gymnasts under too much strain; Supporters of his approach point to the numerous medals won.
The German team made it through the final without falling and finished in sixth place ahead of the Netherlands and Sweden, who were in a team final for the first time ever. The young gymnasts were rightly very satisfied with their performance: “We did very well today,” summed up Karina Schönmaier and all her teammates nodded eagerly.
Helen Kevric did her Hindorff flight on the parallel bars a little better than in the apparatus final, Karina Schönmaier once again performed her new jump, the Omeliantschik, confidently and Silja Stöhr, who was only 15 years old, even kept her nerve when on the last apparatus, the balance beam. All eyes were on her for a short time. Shortly afterwards, Angela Andreoli secured the next title with the very last exercise on the floor. After 2022, Italy became European team champions for the second time, two points ahead of the gymnasts from Great Britain and France. (sans.)
