“It’s extremely crazy” – Helen Kevric wins World Championship silver after a serious injury

When she managed to get off the uneven bars perfectly and the audience in the Rotterdam gymnastics arena cheered, Helen Kevric barely showed any emotion. No scream, no gesture, no smile. For the 18-year-old, who was sixth out of eight athletes in the uneven bars final of the World Championships, the wait for the ranking began.

What was their world-class performance worth? The scoreboard created facts: 14,833 points and therefore second place for the time being behind Olympic champion Kaylia Nemour from Algeria. Kevric dared to smile, first timidly, then relieved and happy. And when the last gymnast in the final had shown her routine and Kevric was still on silver rank, all the tension seemed to fall away from the student from Stuttgart. With the German flag around her shoulders, she celebrated her outstanding World Cup debut under the spotlights of the arena.

Kevric, who had already won the European Championship title on the uneven bars in August, went into the final as second best in the qualification. A medal had been the hope and the goal. Fabian Hambüchen, 2016 Olympic horizontal bar champion, had previously said: “On the world stage, the air is pretty thin at the top, but Helen can fight for the medals.” The fact that it actually worked out in the end is remarkable and sensational, especially given her long period of suffering after a serious injury.

Kevric only had to give way to the Olympic champion, who was the first starter in the final with 15,333 points. Bronze went to American Skye Blakely (14,600), who had celebrated all-around gold the day before. "It's just extremely crazy. I can't really believe it yet. Somehow it all happened really quickly. This shows me that I took the right path after my injury, that I put my foot down - and now I'm standing here and I'm vice world champion. That's very crazy. I'm really happy," said Kevric immediately after the competition.

The last German gymnast to date to win a World Cup medal was Pauline Schäfer-Betz five years ago. At that time she won silver on the balance beam. Now Kevric followed up. The 18-year-old also won the first and only medal for the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) at this World Championships.

Kevric has long been considered a huge talent and first caused a stir at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris - firstly as the youngest athlete in the entire German team and then by participating in two finals. With eighth place in the all-around and sixth place on the uneven bars, she already showed what great potential she has.

But then the setback: In May 2025 she suffered a serious injury to her left knee at the home European Championships in Leipzig, had to undergo surgery and fought for her comeback for more than a year. Mentally it was even harder than physically, she said in an interview with WELT before the World Cup. "I'm super grateful that the people around me gave me so much strength. It wasn't easy to be able to trust my body again."

She then made her return this summer in an impressive way: first two titles at the German Championships in July in Hanover, then gold at the European Championships in August in Zagreb - and now success in Rotterdam.