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 An examination at the end of last year
then revealed that the pain was being caused by six bone
chips, which had come loose during the spring, and had latched
on to the ankle-joint. Schweigert had surgery on January
11 and returned to London, England, where she goes to school,
two days later. While the operation was successful, it cost
her three to four weeks of training: " We had originally
planned for her to have surgery before Christmas but that
didn't work out and so she had to return to London on crutches.
She took the tube on crutches and went to school on crutches.
She is healing well, but it takes time", her mother
commented, "bars are going ok, and she is working out
on beam as well. Birgit hopes to be able to compete all
four pieces at the European Championships. Bars -and maybe
beam- earlier. Her coaches are confident she will be fit
in time." On Saturday, Schweigert competed bars only
in a dual meet against Slovakia which her team won by over
six points.
 19-year-old Brigit Schweigert has consistently
been Germany's top performer over the past few years, placing
24th AA at the 1999 World Championships and 27th in 2001.
Originally form Bergisch Gladbach near Cologne, she spends
a large part of the year in England where she studies and
trains. Coached by Zhanna Polyakova at the TTT Köln
club in Cologne, her training in Britain is supervised by
Vladimir Aksyonov, mentor to former Soviet great Olga Mostepanova.
Schweigert was recently named athlete of the year by her
local sports federation, a rare honour for a gymnast in
Germany. In addition to her sporting ambitions, she is also
facing the challenge of passing her A-Levels in Britain.
nbb
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