A wave of enthusiasm could sweep many young gymnasts into the gymnastics clubs. If only there were enough clubs and enough coaches. Instead: waiting lists and empty cash registers. “Gymnastics affects us all,” says Alfons Hölzl, President of the German Gymnastics Federation, “and rhythmic gymnastics is its sporting arm.” In addition to the prospect of titles and medals, rhythmic gymnastics can secure and increase the proportion of girls and women in sport .
People talk about iron, but gymnast Darja Varfolomeev and the gymnastics association show that it is gold that has to be forged while it is hot. The now seventeen-year-old gymnast won five titles and five gold medals at the World Championships in Valencia in August. Gold is only hotter when it comes from the Olympic Games like those coming up in Paris next year.
The athlete’s out-of-the-blue success and the prospect of more of the same have wiped away any misgivings about this sport that children must begin at age three if they ever want to succeed, and in which they become obsolete as they grow up. The forecasting instrument PotAS would have ranked the discipline in 99th place; the success is a sensation.
Training abroad is too expensive
Her mother was a gymnast, Darja Varfolomeev told the sports committee of the German Bundestag on Wednesday in a quiet voice, and like her, she also fell in love with this sport. “Very elegant, a lot of music, interesting to look at,” is how she describes her profession to the MPs, who greeted her with applause.
She casually shows what discipline she has by appearing almost casual in a white blouse with a pearl collar, without the layer of make-up that is usual in competitions and without a tight hair bun, but during the hearing, which lasted almost forty minutes, she sat so high that her back was not once touching the back of her comfortable chair.
A good five years ago, the eleven-year-old child fell to the gymnastics association when her parents decided that her future did not lie with them in Siberia, but rather in the Schmiden performance center in the Rems-Murr district near Stuttgart. The girl, or rather her successes, revived a discipline that had fallen into twilight just four years earlier when the German champion Katerina Luschik reported that she had been forced to starve in Schmiden and had been humiliated by the trainer. The association then only wanted to compete internationally in the team competition, but no longer individually.
Less than ten years have passed since then, and Isabell Sawade, the team leader for the discipline, caused consternation among the MPs when she reported that the best could not afford training abroad, that they cooked themselves at the base to save money and that The best would have to bring around 8,000 euros to take part in the World Cup. Next week, the budget committee will decide on sports funding for 2024. The gymnastics association cannot muster a more glamorous lobbyist than Darja Varfolomeev.
Michael Reinsch Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2 Michael Reinsch Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5 Michael Reinsch, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4
Despite the gold shine, a bit of polish is necessary. “They work closely with experts,” says Sawade, in response to a question about mental health and nutrition. They maintain contact with the families and a psychologist is available at the Olympic base: “We have learned from bad experiences and are careful.”
