Athletic Activity Involving Flexibility & Agility - Olympic confrontation: Gymnast Seitz expresses her rage.
Winning her 26th German title attracted immediate challenges in the qualification for the last Olympic ticket. Months after recovering from an Achilles tendon rupture, record champion Elisabeth Seitz triumphed at Frankfurt/Main, securing 14.750 points. "With 14.750 points, it's easy to see that I may be close to a medal internationally," said the 30-year-old.
German Gymnastics Championships became a neck-and-neck battle with MTV Stuttgart club mates Elisabeth Seitz and Helen Kevric vying for the nomination to Paris. Kevric, the promising 16-year-old, garnered 55.500 points in the all-around, just a day before the decisive event, while Seitz earned 14.600 points on the uneven bars.
National Coach's Take:
"Helen is in the lead," national coach Gerben Wiersma commented immediately after the event. Based on nomination criteria where results from the previous world championships were considered, Kevric was projected to rank fourth, while Seitz would be fifth. He lamented, "It's disappointing that it doesn't count. I was only 0.166 points away from a medal in the forecast, and 0.8 in the all-around."
Battle for the Final Slot:
Seitz believed that the past years' underperformance was wrongly disregarded. "I'm not saying anything wrong, but I think the chances of success in an individual event at the Olympics are higher," said the 2002 European champion. It was more than just her opinion; she had it documented.
On June 22nd, the federation will hold the final showdown in Rüsselsheim. Only three starting places for Paris had been approved, with two already assigned to Sarah Voss (Cologne) and Pauline Schäfer-Betz (Chemnitz) based on their stellar world championship performances. The competition would be fierce and Seitz hoped to snag the third spot.
