Germany's rhythmic group may have been disappointed with only 14th place at the World Championships, held in New Orleans, USA July 12-14, but they nearly didn't make it to the meet. And their ride there was more than bumpy. Even a day before the team was scheduled to leave for the USA, their participation literally rested on the hip of 16-year-old Veronika Kraus, the group's physiotherapist Andrea Drissler, a former international competitor and national champion in artistic gymnastics, told Gymworld. "Veronika injured her hip in training in Wattenscheid, where the group trains together permanently, and was sent to see Dr. Lohrer in Frankfurt not long before Worlds," Drissler said. "Her parents were unfortunately unable to accompany her, so Veronika travelled to Frankfurt on her own by train. It was clear that the participation of the entire team depended on Dr. Lohrer's diagnosis. If he hadn't given Veronika the green light, the entire delegation would have stayed home."

The final decision was only made after the group's last training session on Saturday with their departure scheduled for the following morning. "She could walk alright after training, so they phoned me and said 'ok, we're going after all!", Drissler recalls the bizarre situation. "It was weird for me too, because I wasn't really getting that much information. There were some medical details that would have been good to know for me to do a better job." At the airport, the group had to face the next shock when their assigned doctor, Dr. Mavridis, was unable to board the Chicago bound plane. A Greek national, Dr. Mavridis did not have the necessary visa for the USA (German nationals do not require one). Head coach Livia Medilanski had not been able to make the trip at all due to a broken leg.

Fourth, and most successful representative of the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) in the Sydney Olympics, Germany's group has struggled since. With a high fluctuation among group members, coach Carmen Weber has at times been hard pressed to field a team as strong as before. Only Anja Baake, the Sydney reserve, had remained with the squad, and with the situation as difficult as it is, Weber called backed Annika Seibel, another Olympic groupie, who learnt the new routines in a few weeks. Drissler, who worked with the Sydney team as well, says their has been a noticeable change since the new Code of Points came in: "Ever since the girls have been training and competing under the new CoP, I have noticed a big rise in injuries among the gymnasts, "she says, "it's very, very hard for those countries that can't or won't train under the same conditions and with the same methods as the Eastern European nations." According to her, most of the current team are already considering retirement. "They all have some sort of injury, and most of them are long term ones."

nora schuler