Routines In My Sleep
By Maxi Gnauck
Freie Welt 25/1981
Thursday, 19 November. Moscow again. One year after the Olympics I have a second chance to be able to compete in front of a really knowledgeable group of spectators and experts in the number one gymnastics country in the world. I look forward to Moscow, to meeting with the Soviet girls and other gymnasts, and all of the friendly people. It's exciting in the big arena of the Olympic complex on Prospekt Mira. We have never competed in such a large arena with a high ceiling. We will accustom ourselves, re-orient ourselves. We landed in Moscow at 8:30 PM. We had a good flight, and the tourists "discovered" us. They came with the BZE, had seen our team photo, and asked for our autographs.
We are staying at the Hotel "Sport." It's located near the Olympic Village. The view brings back memories of the great days of the Olympics. At that time I won a gold medal on the uneven bars, a silver in the AA, and bronze on floor and with the team. How will it go this time?
Friday, 20 November. Right after breakfast we went to the hall for accreditation, then prepared for our first training on the podium. This means arranging things for the competition - straps, slippers, bandages. This training is called podium training, a kind of pre-contest where the judges are the most critical observers. You have to leave a good impression, because it can pay off later. At 11:30 AM we went to the arena, and warmed up and got used to the apparatus: the swing of the bar, the bounce of the floor - it must pass into our flesh and blood. We measure the length of our runs, rehearse dismounts from the bars and beam, orient ourselves in space. How big this arena is! You have to be oriented properly in order to be able to prepare well for landing somersaults and dismounts. At 11:30 our podium training session begins together with the teams from Hungary, Spain and West Germany, and we will be rotating in our compulsory competition order (UB, BB, FX VT).
We are at the hotel at 3:30 PM. After lunch, showering, and bathing, we get either medical treatment or a massage. The training evaluation has particular importance today, because we were on the world championships podium for the first time. There's a lot to discuss, analyze, and save for the next day - always from the perspective of the competition.
Dinner is around 8 PM, but it's quick because we eat only a little bit at night, especially fruit. Shortly after 9 PM, we go to bed. Steffi (Kraker) and I are sharing a room (#1516). We read a little, laugh and joke about the cartoon drawings in "Eulenspiegel." Good night!
Saturday, 21 November. It's our second podium training. Before warm-up we have 10 minutes to watch the Chinese gymnasts. Ma Yanhong, in particular, interests me because along with her I was the 1979 world champion on uneven bars.
11:50 AM we enter the competition hall, this time with the official marchers who are rehearsing: the delicate "sign" girls who graciously lead us up to the podium steps. The little girls are probably just as excited as we are.
1:20 PM we had a good workout and are satisfied. We watch the Soviet girls for half an hour - Davydova, Filatova and Zakharova are all good friends. We watch Ilienko and Bicherova, the smallest, and she makes a big impression on me. She is doing her routines incredibly well, as if she could never make an error.
The Soviet girls are doing their optional routines, which have not changed very much, but they do gymnastics with wonderful interpretation. That interests us the most. One thing is clear for me: they are the undisputed favorites. This fact is plainly seen.
Monday, 22 November. Today is the first day of competition, and the men are getting serious. We girls have two training sessions.
We go through the compulsory routines once. It's a difficult program with pitfalls, especially on beam and bars. Compulsories are getting more difficult - today's compulsory routines contain elements that the best gymnasts used in their optional routines years ago. For example, the compulsory vault is a handspring with full twist. Angelika Hellmann won the vault title at the 1973 European championships with this vault.
Tuesday, 23 November. Here we go, finally. Having to wait too long tugs at my nerves. Even in a light workout in the morning for 90 minutes, I practice some important passages on beam and bars.
Then lunch, 30 minutes before we leave for the competition arena - this is a tradition - we have our last team meeting and eat a small snack during the briefing. My snack is an apple.
Ninety minutes before the competition we go to the training hall to warm up. It's crowded because there are only 4 apparatus for 24 gymnasts.
Then the entry march - there are a thousand camera clicks, the red lights of the TV cameras. The gymnastics world with their million spectators is watching. We start on the uneven bars, an apparatus on which I never really had any problems. Steffi, too. But today she fell. I must remain calm. It went well for me, and a good start is always half the battle. All in all, we can be satisfied with our compulsory performance. After all, the power density in the team competition always makes higher demands on our nerves. We want to keep our current position - 3rd place - behind the USSR, so either China or Romania must finish behind us. This thought ticks in my head...at the moment we're in third.
Wednesday, 25 November. I slept peacefully. Today we have 2 training sessions. We place value on perfect execution of difficult elements, and especially stability. It's like dotting your "i"s.
Thursday, 26 November. In the morning we had a 2-hour training session to prepare for today's optional competition. 12:30 PM was lunch: pre-competition emotion reduces the appetite, and we eat very little: half a steak, salad, fruit juice. 3:15 PM is a team meeting with refreshments. The performance of our men's team has spurred us on and given us a fighting spirit.
We leave for the arena at 4:15 PM, and from 4:30 PM to 5:20 PM we warm up and get ready for the competition. There's a delay of almost an hour. We start on beam. Our goal is to maintain our 3rd place ranking, which will place a lot of demands on our nerves! So far, it's always been this way for me: once I get on the competition podium, I can concentrate fully and walk quietly to the apparatus...
I go to the floor, our second event. The music begins and suddenly, after my first tumbling pass, I feel severe pain in my foot. I try to continue, but it's not in my best interest. Obviously, the old foot injury has chosen this precise and crucial moment to reappear. I can't finish my routine and score only 2.5 points. On vault and bars, I am clenching my teeth because I don't want to let the team down. My scores are absolutely necessary. In the end, I'm incredibly happy with my performances (9.8 on vault, 9.9 on bars) - and we get the bronze, behind the Soviet and Chinese gymnasts.
Friday, 27 November. Today, we didn't have breakfast until 9 AM. We got to sleep later than usual. Then we took a stroll around Red Square in the fresh snow and -4 Celsius temperature. What a wonderful ensemble: St. Basil's Cathedral, Spassky Tower, a historical museum, and GUM. I bought some souvenirs for my parents and brother.
After an afternoon workout, we went to the arena to watch the men's AA. Finally, we were able to cheer and applaud our boys. And of course, the routines were performed under a microscope. Many of the new elements that the men dare to perform today will later be taken up by the women and implemented according to our capabilities. Yuri Korolev is a guy full of energy, a gymnast of elegance and risk. A deserved winner! But our boys left a good impression.
Saturday, 28 November. I slept well the night before event finals. I dreamed. Often I dream of doing a perfect routine. I do gymnastics in my sleep, and when I wake up, I do it. Will I succeed today? At 3 PM, we start to prepare for event finals. Besides me, Steffi Kraker is the 2nd GDR gymnast in vault finals. When our men's team, happy with 2 world titles (Michael Nikolay on pommel horse and Ralf-Peter Hemmann on vault) visit us in the warm up gym, I am spurred on. On the podium, I suddenly feel that my chances are very good. My heart is beating faster, but my concentration is increasing. I vault. Both of them go very well, and I beat Stella Zakharova to become world champion. The first part of my dream has come true. But only for a few moments can I relax. As soon as I leave the podium I must prepare for my next apparatus: the uneven bars. My greatest desire is to defend my 1979 world title. In 1980 I was Olympic champion on this event, and in 1979 I won the gold medal along with the Chinese Ma. She, Davydova and I have the same carry-over score of 9.9 points. I strive to perform a high-class routine that is the best in the world. Before my routine I see Davydova's score (9.85). I have to perform at full risk, and today I manage to do everything to the point. It's probably my most sophisticated bar routine, and I'm immediately aware of my secure dismount. Did the judges notice it? Hooray, a 10! A perfect score! The many East German tourists are very loud, cheering and clapping. Thanks for crossing your fingers for me! While Ma was performing, I just sat in a chair and placed my grips in my bag, and put on my gym slippers for the beam final. With one eye, I watch Ma. After my score, it's clear that I will be on the highest step of the podium. My coach Jurgen Heritz contributed a great deal to my perfect performance. I look over at him. He's similar to me. Even though we appear serious on the outside, inside, in our hearts, there is joy.
Now to the beam. I'm the last competitor, which means extra nervous tension. I follow the other competitors but I don't neglect my own preparation. The U.S. gymnast McNamara competed before me, but I didn't see her routine or her score. My mount - round-off on the board, flick-flack backwards onto the beam - turns out perfectly. I travel down the beam again, and prepare myself for a particularly difficult part of my routine. I manage everything, and my concentration continues through to my double twist dismount with a secure landing.
It's over. For the third time I climb to the highest step of the winners' podium. Thoughts are swirling in my head - the beam title is perhaps the most surprising. Three gold meadls. After my mishap on floor, my dreams still become a reality. It's a reward for everyone who supports me in my daily training - my coach at Sport Club Dynamo Berlin, my teammates, the national coach Hannelore Sauer, my parents, my brother. When I hear the anthem, the joy in my heart is its strongest. But I also understand that it will be days, weeks, even months, until I again will have such great success.