The horizontal bar is popular, it is called the king’s apparatus, it is the winner of every gymnastics championship. The parallel bars are feared because of their pitfalls, but they are also demanding and spectacular. The vaulting table with its slamming diving board is also an eye-catcher because it catapults the gymnast into the heights. And the floor mat spreads out in the middle as a huge stage for acrobats, right next to it the rings scaffolding, which also looks proud and dangerous.
These are five pieces of gymnastics equipment, they are all spectacular. But – there was a sixth, small device? Oh yes, the pommel horse, in the back right corner.
It is still a problem child for the team of the German Gymnastics Association. The DTB generations avoided this device for a long time; high bar specialist Fabian Hambüchen once didn’t like it, and high bar gymnast Philipp Boy also had a hard time. Because it may look inconspicuous, but a young gymnast feels the effect very quickly. The arms are burning and it won’t stop unless the gymnast falls down – in other words, the horse throws him off in an act of mercy.
But now the Germans also have a horse lover. And he stays in the saddle.
Nils Dunkel from Erfurt is a little different than many colleagues from the German selection. He also masters all equipment, some better, some worse, but the horse is the best. He recently made his contribution to the successful Olympic qualification in Antwerp with a proper horse exercise. And at the end of the team competition at these World Championships, he may not have had a perfect performance, but one that brought coach Valeri Belenki’s team up one place; Japan’s team became world champions ahead of China and the USA, while the Germans came sixth. In addition, on Saturday in Dunkel, the DTB team once again had a horse gymnast in the corresponding individual final at the World Championships after a long time.
Slim legs, long arms – the most important requirements were met
Back then, as a young teenager, Dunkel was still open to everything. At some point his trainer noticed his stature, slim legs and long arms, and he immediately thought of the pommel horse. He taught him the basics, the strength training, the hardships of technique development – and he trained the crucial thing for these rotations: the sense of balance.
All of this was a lot of work, so why did Dunkel choose this hobby? The answer is probably typical for this special athlete: “I like doing gymnastics on the pommel horse because I have something in my hands,” he says: “Flying and jumping are great, but you give up control.” And precisely because his love of gadgets doesn’t appear soaring and spectacular, he sticks with it. He says: “There is the device, and there I am – and that provides security.”
Dunkel is a reflective and precise gymnast, so in a way he couldn’t help but learn the art on this horse. And he’s still there. What he has in his hand are two handles about 25 centimeters long, i.e. handles on which he balances upside down. Then a dance that is essentially absurd for humans begins. The pommel gymnast walks up and down the apparatus and back again, doing different variations, handstands, straddles, pirouettes, constantly fighting for his balance.
Even as a child, he was constantly balancing on curbs and tree trunks
Actually, he’s basically already done with that. Balance has long been a part of everyday life, at least in the dark. “Even as a little kid, I was always balancing on curbs or tree trunks or somewhere else,” he says. So you have to have a natural feeling for it, but also a great will.
What is mainly learned in horse school is how to overcome. Before the acrobatics are refined, i.e. the scissor movements of the legs with constant rotation, the basics are created. “It is simply forbidden to drop out early,” he was told at the time. “It’s important,” he quickly realized, “that you keep up the crossing.” Flanks are the continuous rotations with straight legs on this device without hitting anything. “You cross until you hit something and fall down, but it won’t jump off,” was the announcement.
That’s what he got out of it now, bruises forming on his shins, but yes, he felt himself now. At some point his school friends asked why he was doing this to himself, and he replied: “Because I like doing it. So I’ve always been important to my team because they know that he’ll pull through and score points.”
Like now, in the team final on Tuesday. Dunkel didn’t have the best day, he wobbled a bit, but he’d crossed and crossed and crossed long enough in his life, and that’s why he stayed up at that moment until the planned departure.
