Darja Varfolomeev comforts her team-mate immediately after the gold triumph
Germany has its first Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics. Darja Varfolomeev meets high expectations in Paris. The Potsdam gymnast Margarita Kolosov also performs top, but misses a medal. Then comes a big moment.
At the moment of her historic triumph, Darja Varfolomeev first rushed to her disappointed teammate. While the 17-year-old had just become the first German Olympic champion in rhythmic gymnastics, Margarita Kolosov narrowly missed the podium. "That's mega unfortunate because she gave her all," said Varfolomeev: "But I told her there are still the next Olympic Games, which we hopefully will attend together, and then we'll show what we can do again."
Does she have the Summer Games of 2028 in Los Angeles in mind? "Yes," said Varfolomeev briefly after winning gold in the Paris La Chapelle Arena. Kolosov, however, left her future open: "I'll take it year by year." Having qualified fifth in the preliminaries, the 20-year-old from Potsdam was in the running for a medal in the all-around final. The mistake of five-time world champion Sofia Raffaeli from Italy, who eventually won bronze, went unnoticed by Kolosov: "I thought it would be fourth place. Then they show the mistake in slow motion. The hopes went through the roof. And then I still became fourth."
"The place that hurts the most"
Varfolomeev felt for her. "The fourth place is always the one that hurts the most," said the six-time world champion: "I knew she gave her all. She trained so hard with me. I know how it is for her because I've been with her all the time." Kolosov also seemed to know exactly what her teammate was going through. "It's so hard to deal with the pressure when you know you can win," said the German all-around champion about Varfolomeev: "That's why I'm really proud of her and glad she made it. Because I can imagine how hard it is."
Varfolomeev triumphed in Paris in the all-around with hoop, ball, clubs, and ribbon with 142.850 points and burst into tears after the scores were announced. "I'm just glad I showed four clean routines and stuck it out until the end," she said. "Then the emotions hit that I did it." The only medal for Germany in rhythmic gymnastics so far was in 1984 at the Summer Games in Los Angeles, when Regina Weber, mother of football national player Leroy Sané, won bronze. Varfolomeev has now achieved the big breakthrough.
Even in the qualification the day before, she had a shaky performance. During the hoop routine, the apparatus slipped away and rolled across the floor, forcing her to use a replacement hoop. A knot in the ribbon, which she skillfully untied, also cost her valuable points. In the final, however, there was no sign of these uncertainties. Highly concentrated and with seemingly playful ease, the expressive gymnast presented her routines filled with highest difficulty. After three apparatuses, she was already 2.3 points ahead of second place. After the final ribbon routine, she relievedly hit the floor and received a warm hug from her coach Yuliya Raskina.
Varfolomeev expressed her empathy towards Kolosov, saying, "The fourth place is always the one that hurts the most, she gave her all." Later, during an interview, Varfolomeev mentioned, "I have Paris in my mind, just like the Summer Games of 2028 in Los Angeles."
