METERImagine the scenario: representatives from more than 70 countries gather in a large room, Armenians and Azerbaijanis sit together at one table, South Koreans and North Koreans sit at the next, and in a larger group are representatives from Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Iran. and so on in South Africa and don't forget: the tables with Americans and Cubans, as well as with Ukrainians and Belarusians, although the latter are not allowed to identify themselves as such.

everything happens cottbus And it is conceivable at least in theory, because all these nations will meet here at the World Gymnastics Championships that begin this Thursday. Tournament director Mirko Wohlfahrt is pragmatic: “We support anything that leads to friendly encounters and hope to show how people can get along with each other.”

Wohlfahrt believes that this is “also the task of sport.” The biggest challenge for him and his team, however, will not be the arrangement of the tables: “The logistics, the accommodation and the tranquility.”

the last opportunity

Stay calm, that is also the main motto of the majority of the 317 gymnasts, who came to Brandenburg to qualify for the Olympic Games. There are few starting places left for the gymnastics competitions in Paris and the World Cup series is the last chance, especially for equipment specialists.

Only athletes whose countries have not yet qualified as a team or have not reached the maximum quota of three individual starters may participate in this competition.

For them there is a specially designed points system: at the end of the four-part series (Cottbus is followed by stops in Baku and Doha), the points are added up and two athletes per team qualify for Paris. Curiosity: Although athletes are only classified based on results in one of the six men's and four women's apparatus, they can compete in the general competition in Paris.

After the first points were scored last weekend in the opening match of the World Cup in Cairo, things are already looking very good for some supposed outsiders: for example, Ahmad Abu al Soud of Jordan, who won with the horse with arcs and now has 30 points under his belt. name has. The same thing happened with the Cuban Diorges Escobar and the North Korean team: Jong Ryong II won in the rings, his partner An Chang Ok in the vault.

For Cuba and North Korea it was the first international appearance in the Olympic qualification, which has been taking place since 2022. This also applies to the three representatives of Belarus, who have been suspended since the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022. A few weeks ago The world association granted them “neutral athlete” status. Russian gymnasts will not participate. As team leader Valentina Rodionenko confirmed to Russian media, the gymnasts had not applied for this status.

Back to the surface

At the 47th Cottbus Tournament, founded in the GDR as the “Masters Tournament”, some old friends will also be on the field this year. Especially the Uzbek Oksana Chusovitina, who performed here in 1989, then for the Soviet Union. The 48-year-old, who won silver on vault for Germany at Beijing 2008, would like to take part in the Olympic Games for the ninth time.

In Cairo he did not reach the final among the eight best jumpers, but he also got some points in the competition for Olympic qualification. The former national coach also returns Ulla Koch Back on the field like Gabriele Frehse, whose unacceptable actions as head coach at the Chemnitz base sparked the abuse debate in Germany three years ago.

Until the Paris Games, Koch is the interim coach of the Belgian gymnasts, of which Olympic champion Nina Derwael hopes to qualify. Gabriele Frehse was hired last year by the Austrian association as national coach. Other nations use the World Cup series to test their form early in the year or to allow young talent to gain competitive experience on the international stage.

The series is also not relevant for the German Gymnastics Federation heading into Paris: the men qualified as a team for the World Championships last fall, the women exhausted their quota of three individual starters. The initially announced debut of Helen Kevric, the best junior in the world, who had been able to compete since the beginning of the year, has been canceled without giving any reason. Men's coach Valeri Belenki, for his part, nominated six gymnasts, among them the pommel horse, World Cup finalist, Nils Dunkel.