Gymn Forum: Roland Bruckner Was The Most Successful Gymnast

Roland Bruckner Was the Most Successful Gymnast

Berliner Zeitung, 17 April 1978

The most successful participant in the gymnastics competition “Tournament of Masters” in Berlin, with participants from 12 countries, was Roland Bruckner from SC Dynamo. The 22-year-old Berliner won the all-around competition on Saturday, and also the floor, pommels, parallel bars and high bar in the event finals on Sunday afternoon, where he shared first place on pommel horse with the USA Olympian, Bart Conner. Lutz Mack from Halle had the upper hand on vault. On rings there was the victory by Andreas Hirsch, a young gymnast from Berlin, which is his greatest international success to date.

For the women, the all-around winner was also the most successful gymnast in event finals. Sigrid Trantow from Rostock won on beam and shared first place on uneven bars with Berliner Heike Kunhardt. Thirteen-year-old Maxi Gnauck from Berlin received much applause and won floor exercise with a difficult routine. There was a Soviet success on vault by 13-year-old Elena Naimushina. With 9.65 points each, Kunhardt on uneven bars and Trantow on balance beam received the highest scores.

Already on Saturday, GDR champion Roland Bruckner from SC Dynamo Berlin had won the all-around in a superior manner. With an internationally good 56.55 points, he relegated USA Olympic participant Bart Conner (55.45), his clubmate Michael Nikolay (55.35), Lutz Mack (55.15) and the Polish Olympian Andrzaj Szajna (54.75) to their places. Bruckner achieved the highest mark of 9.55 points on floor, vault and horizontal bar. Mike Wilson (54.55) was sixth out of 26 participants and underlined the progress that the USA gymnasts have made in the last year.

A trio of GDR gymnasts brought triple success. Sigrid Trantow had the upper hand in the group of 28 gymnasts, with 37.60 points, ahead of Berliners Heike Kunhardt (37.35) and 13-year-old Maxi Gnauck (37.20). The woman from Rostock presented herself on all four events with stable performances. Of the guests, the two Soviet gymnasts Elena Nikolaentseva (37.15) and Elena Naimushina (36.45) made the strongest impression as 4th and 5th. Naimushina even got the highest mark (9.65) for her harmonious beam exercise, which contained a wealth of difficulties.

Self Confidence

After the competition, we had the following conversation with Roland Bruckner.

BZ: Did you expect such a big success?

RB: I had already figured out my chances of winning. Such a clear success was not to be expected in advance, even if the big names from the USSR and Japan were missing. I’ve added a few new features to my program over the past few months, especially some new dismounts. They came off quite well this time. My routines are more stable which has given me more confidence.

BZ: A word about your competitors?

RB: The USA gymnasts attracted attention in particular. They’ve come a long way recently. The precision and security with which they do their exercises are impressive.

BZ: What is the way forward to the world championships in Strasbourg?

RB: The next tasks are the dual meets with the USSR and Romania in May in Cottbus and Neubrandenburg. Then, the GDR championships in Jena in June will be about getting a ticket to the world championships. By the time of the world championships, I want to add some additional difficulties to my main program and give some current elements even more stability.