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At the rhythmic gymnastics world championships in Frankfurt, reigning Olympic champion Darja Varfolomeev has lived up to her billing as the tournament favorite, though one apparatus proved problematic during competition.
Dominant Qualification and a Club Routine Mishap
According to reports from the event in Frankfurt am Main, the 19-year-old German standout secured her place in four apparatus finals, continuing a dominant run on the global stage. However, the club routine did not go entirely as planned, with the apparatus failing to cooperate cleanly during her performance.
Varfolomeev enters the Frankfurt competition carrying immense expectations as the face of the tournament. At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, she captured historic gold—the first-ever Olympic title for Germany in the sport—adding to her collection of 11 world championship titles.
Chasing History on Home Soil
Ahead of the home world championships running from August 12 to 16, Varfolomeev outlined the team’s objective clearly.
“We want to inspire the spectators in Frankfurt,” she stated regarding the host nation’s goals for the event.
Mental Conditioning Under High Pressure
To manage the heavy burden of being the focal point of the championships, the gymnast relies on mental conditioning. Working with a sport psychologist, Varfolomeev utilizes visualization techniques to prepare for high-pressure environments.
“I try to picture the hall in every training session so that I train just like in competition and the nervousness goes away,” she explained in an interview with SWR.
That psychological framework has long supported her routines. Describing her work with her sport psychologist, Varfolomeev noted, “When we are afraid, she tells us: Look, you have trained a lot and you have already had a lot of success, you can achieve anything.”
A Personal Tradition in the Arena
Alongside her mental preparation, Varfolomeev maintains a well-known personal tradition at major meets. When she moved from Russia to Germany alone in 2019 to pursue elite-level gymnastics, her father gave her a small toy turtle as a good-luck charm, an item she continues to carry into competition arenas.
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