World champion Dauser is out of the game, frustrated and leaving Olympia for good.
Olympic champion on the horizontal bar, Lukas Dauser, failed to win a medal at the Games in Paris on his specialty apparatus. Forty-four days after tearing a muscle bundle in his right biceps, the 31-year-old turned in a high-level final but made mistakes, finishing seventh.
Lukas Dauser grimaced. Frustrated and marked by his disappointment, the German Olympic champion left the Paris podium. Dauser missed his hoped-for Olympic medal on the horizontal bar, scoring 13.700 points in the final, which was only enough for seventh place.
"I don't like stories without a happy ending, but I have to swallow the pill. I'm still proud to have been here," Dauser said in an interview with ZDF. He didn't want to blame his injury. "The biceps wasn't the reason why it went wrong. The reason was rather that I couldn't do as many exercises as I wanted to beforehand. I lacked a bit of routine."
The Olympic champion in the Bercy Arena in Paris was crowned in the morning by the Chinese Zou Jingyuan, who scored 16.200 points. Silver went to Ilja Kowtun from Ukraine (15.500), and the Japanese all-around Olympic champion Shinnosuke Oka secured the bronze medal with 15.300 points.
"Shit"
Dauser put in a flawed performance on the Bercy podium, touching the bar early and having to grab it with one hand. A small hop after landing ultimately cost him the dreamed-of medal. Additionally, the difficulty score of 6.0 points was not enough to enter the realms for a medal. With a pained smile, he waited for his score, grimaced, and said audibly: "Shit."
Fabian Hambüchen, speaking on Eurosport, called it a "crazy final. Too bad for Lukas. He took all the risks, gave it his all, and can't blame himself. The fight he put up in the last six weeks is unique. He didn't let himself hang for a second, was always fully focused. Crazy," said the Rio Olympic champion on the parallel bars. Even the bandage Dauser borrowed from Hambüchen for the Paris competition didn't help.
Last Olympic competition
Before that, he had entered the arena as the seventh starter, confidently waving to the audience but looking fully focused. "These are the best eight gymnasts in the world," he had said before the final. "Everyone can do their routine. It's about who can do it best." Dauser, who had placed fifth in the qualification with 15.116 points, couldn't do it in the final.
Dauser had won the world championship on the horizontal bar last year, but he had to suffer a setback on his way to Paris at the end of June when he injured his right upper arm at the national Olympic trials. For a long time, it was uncertain whether the Bavarian, who had celebrated Olympic silver on the horizontal bar in Tokyo in 2021, would be able to participate in the Games. Dauser couldn't implement the originally planned increase in difficulty due to his injury.
Dauser's horizontal bar performance in Paris was his last Olympic competition, and he won't be competing at the Olympics again in 2028. He said so in an interview with ZDF. Whether it might also be his last international competition, the soon-to-be father in advanced gymnastics age left open. "I will make a decision at the end of the year," said Dauser.
Lukas Dauser had aimed to defend his title on the horizontal bar at the Olympic Games in Paris, but his injury prevented him from doing so effectively. Despite competing in Paris, Dauser's last Olympic competition took place in Paris.
