Germany’s top gymnasts competing at the Finals 2024
For five whole days, the Süwag Energie ARENA in Frankfurt am Main was a showcase for high-end acrobatics, athletics and elegance. The top gymnasts in the German Gymnastics Federation came together to compete at the Finals 2024. From 6 to 10 June 2024, this multisport event saw the German championships for rhythmic gymnastics, artistic gymnastics and trampolining.
Just two months before the Olympics begin, for many Federation athletes these title fights were a key competition in potentially gaining a qualifying place for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Rhythmic gymnastics
This gymnastics festival was kicked off on the Thursday (6 June 2024) by the rhythmic gymnasts.
Margarita Kolosov (SC Potsdam) is the new German all-around champion. In a tight head-to-head race that remained exciting right through to the finish, the 20-year-old with 140,800 points just beat Darja Varfolomeev of TSV Schmiden (140,500 points) to secure her first gold medal ahead of the defending champion from the previous year. The bronze medal went to Anastasia Simakova, also of TSV Schmiden, with 130,700 points.
The German championship all-around results also serve as initial qualification for the Olympic Games. The top eight gymnasts then compete at the subsequent second qualification round on 29 June in Schmiden. Germany will be taking two individual female gymnasts to Paris.
TV Dahn 1910 once again secured the German championship title in the all-around group event with 52,250 points. This was the fourth win in a row for Lana Busch and Marlene Kriebel’s team. TB 1889 Oppau won the silver medal with 46,450 points, whilst TV St. Wendel gained the bronze with 43,650 points.
In the four apparatus finals on the Friday (7 June 2024), five-time world champion Darja Varfolomeev lived up to her role as favourite and was able to claim three German championship titles with the hoops, clubs and ribbon, also earning a silver with the ball. Margarita Kolosov won the German championship with the ball and was runner-up with the other three hand apparatus.
The apparatus finals for the group competition saw changes compared with the previous year: after three years dominated by TV Dahn, this year TB 1889 Oppau managed to clinch the championship title with three balls and two ribbons. They scored a total of 23,750 points, followed by TV Dahn with 22,900 points and TSV 1846 Nürnberg taking the bronze with 20,900 points. However, TV Dahn were unbeatable in the five-hoop final and became German champions in this discipline for the fourth time a row.
All of the rhythmic gymnastics results
Artistic gymnastics – all-around competition
The all-around artistic gymnastics competitions took place on 8 June 2024 in front of nearly 4000 spectators in the sold-out Süwag Energie ARENA.
16-year-old Helen Kevric of MTV Stuttgart was named all-around champion at her first German championships, with a total of 55,500 points. Sarah Voss (TZ DSHS Köln) won the silver medal with 51,750 points and Karina Schönmaier (TuS Chemnitz-Altendorf) secured the bronze with 51,450 points. Kevric’s performances included a clean vault and an outstanding floor routine. Elisabeth Seitz (MTV Stuttgart) impressed on the uneven bars, boosting her chances of qualifying for the Olympics. The German championships also serve as an initial qualifier for the Olympic Games in Paris. Two of the places have already gone to Pauline Schäfer-Betz and Sarah Voss. The second qualifier in Rüsselsheim on 22 June will determine who gains the sought-after remaining women’s ticket.
For the men, Lukas Dauser of TSV Unterhachingen clinched the German all-around championship title with 82,765 points. Andreas Toba of TK Hannover won silver, and bronze went to Timo Eder of MTV Ludwigsburg. All three have thus made vital progress in their mission to qualify for the Olympics. Despite a difficult start with a pommel horse dismount, Dauser put in a strong performance on the rings and parallel bars, his favourite apparatus.
The championship is the first of two qualifiers for the Olympic Games. The second Olympic qualifier is on 22 June 2024 in Rüsselsheim, after which head coach Valeri Belenki will decide who gets a ticket to Paris.
Artistic gymnastics – apparatus finals
Saturday (9 June 2024) saw the gymnasts competing in the apparatus finals. There were a lot of close, exciting decisions, especially given the fight for Olympic places. These were the title decisions made during the course of the day:
Men’s vault: Felix Remuta of TG Saar became German champion with 14,025 points, followed by Tom Schulze (silver) and Maxim Kovalenko (bronze), also young TG Saar gymnasts.
Women’s balance beam: Sarah Voss secured the title with 13,975 points, ahead of Helen Kevric and Pauline Schäfer-Betz, who won bronze.
Men’s parallel bars: Lukas Dauser won gold in his favourite discipline, Andreas Toba silver, and Glenn Trebing bronze.
Women’s floor: all-around champion Helen Kevric became German champion on the floor, Karina Schönmaier won silver and Pauline Schäfer-Betz secured bronze.
Men’s horizontal bar: Andreas Toba outperformed his national teammate Lukas Dauser on his favourite apparatus, leaving Dauser in second place, with Carlo Hörr winning bronze.
Men’s floor: Pascal Brendel was named German champion with 14,325 points, Saarland native Daniel Mousichidis won silver, and Dario Sissakis bronze.
Women’s vault: Karina Schönmaier took the gold, Marlene Gotthardt silver and Sina Tittel bronze.
Men’s pommel horse: defending champion Daniel Mousichidis of TG Saar won the gold for the second year. Once again, the young Saarland native proved that he is one of Germany’s top young gymnasts and boosted his chances of heading to the Olympics. Timo Eder won silver and Andreas Toba bronze.
Women’s uneven bars: this saw the two top competitors for a women’s Olympic place – Helen Kevric and Elisabeth Seitz (both of MTV Stuttgart) – facing off against each other. Both put in impressive performances on their favourite apparatus. Seitz prevailed with 14,750 points against 16-year-old Kevric (14,400 points) and retained her German championship title. This was her 26th German Championships. Karina Schönmaier won the bronze medal with 13,200 points.
Men’s rings: the day was rounded off with the men’s rings final. The new German champion on the rings is Artur Sahakyan (TB Altendorf Essen) with 14,050 points. Silver went to Andreas Toba with 13,950 points and bronze was clinched by Nils Dunkel (SV Halle) with 13,825 points.
The next qualifier for the Olympic Games is in Rüsselsheim in two weeks’ time.
All of the artistic gymnastics results
Trampolining
To bring the Finals to a close, Monday (10 June 2024) saw the German trampolining championships at the Süwag Energie ARENA in Frankfurt am Main.
Aileen Rösler and Fabian Vogel of MTV Bad Kreuznach once again clinched the gold.
Aileen defended her title with a clean performance and secured her third German championships with 53,150 points. The silver went to the youngest of the finalists, Maya Möller (TG Dietzenbach). Bronze was taken by Lena Jentsch of SC Cottbus, with 50,650 points.
Fabian Vogel secured 57,300 points and thus celebrated his fifth championship title in a row. His next major event will be the Olympic Games in Paris. The runner-up was Vogel’s synchronised partner Caio Lauxtermann (SC Cottbus) with 57,020 points, and bronze went to Matthias Schuldt of TG Dietzenbach (55,670 points).
2024 German championship final results – women
2024 German championship final results – men
We would like to congratulate all of the Finals 2024 competitors on their exceptional performances. They have all demonstrated what can be achieved with dedication, discipline and passion. We are also crossing our fingers for upcoming Olympics qualifications. Keep it up!