“We can’t do much better” – German women before reaching the final

The German women have created a good starting position for reaching the team final at the World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam. In the first of ten qualifying rounds, Helen Kevric (Stuttgart), Karina Schönmaier, Lea Marie Quaas, Emma Malewski (all Chemnitz) and Madita Mayr (Jetzendorf) presented a hopeful 158.661 points.

Only the USA was better at the start of the women's competition with 164,529 points. The decision as to whether the German Gymnastics Federation will reach the team final will not be made until late on Monday evening. “We did extremely well as a team,” said Lea Marie Quaas. Now it’s time to “cross your fingers and wait”.

Kevric convinces, Schönmaier falls

"The team performance was very strong. I don't think we can do much better," praised national coach Gerben Wiersma. The Dutchman rated his performance on the balance beam as “great” and his performance on the uneven bars as “very strong”. On the uneven bars, European champion Helen Kevric once again impressed with an outstanding 14.766 points.

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Karina Schönmaier was the unlucky person in the German team. The European Championship silver medalist unexpectedly missed the final she was aiming for after falling on the second jump. She accidentally did half a turn too much. “I got a little lost in the air and that was very annoying,” said the European champion on this 2025 device.

After defending champion Angelina Melnikova from Russia was eliminated due to a visa not being granted, Schönmaier was considered Germany's hope for a medal. “I set myself a very big goal and perhaps put myself under pressure,” the 21-year-old tried to explain her mistake.

Weak on the ground: No team final for German men

On Sunday afternoon it was already the turn of the German men. After a solid start on the parallel bars and the horizontal bars, the DTB team had their sights set on the team final despite preparations that were affected by various health problems. But no one made any mistakes on the ground. Timo Eder, Radomyr Stelmakh and Lucas Kochan even crashed. After that, the team final could no longer be saved with concentrated presentations on the pommel horse, rings and vault.

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For Stelmakh, Kochan, Eder, Nils Dunkel and Glenn Trebing it was only enough for 15th place out of 24 teams with 235.928 points. The best team was Japan with 254.529 points. For the team final on Tuesday, at least eighth place would have been necessary. As the best of the German team, the former mixed European champion Eder reached the all-around final on Thursday.

“If you don't do a floor exercise and the best score is a 12.0, then you simply don't have a chance anymore,” said national coach Jens Milbradt and spoke of a “sticking point”. We are currently a long way from being among the top six teams in the world. “We have to be honest and say that at the moment we have no place in the final of the top eight.”