German gymnast Kim Bui has introduced her retirement after an extended profession in ladies’s gymnastics. However earlier than she hangs up her grips for the ultimate time, she can be competing one final time on the 2022 European Championships that are being held in Germany. It’s utterly comprehensible {that a} gymnast would wish to compete for the ultimate time in entrance of pleasant followers. The tactic of a gymnast deciding on a meet on house soil as the ultimate competitors of her profession is way from unusual.
However what makes Kim Bui’s case vital is that she is not going to solely be competing in entrance of house crowds, she can be returning to the very environment the place Bui produced the best win of her profession. That competitors in query was the 2011 European Championships which was additionally hosted by Germany. On the 2011 European Championships Kim Bui gained the one medal of her profession on the Olympics, World Championships, and Continental Championships degree.
The 2011 European Championships was not simply the spotlight of Bui’s profession, however one in all Germany’s strongest end in ladies’s inventive gymnastics (WAG) thus far. It’s an honor in itself for Kim Bui to complete her profession in entrance of a house crowd, however on the 2022 European Championships she could have the extra honor of finalizing her profession whereas with the ability to relive her nice accomplishment from 11 years prior.
The importance of the 2011 European Championships to German WAG historical past begins with the three legends who represented Germany at this occasion.
Kim Bui
Elisabeth Seitz
Oksana Chusovitina
Kim Bui competed for Germany from 2005-present and competed in a German lineup in Group-1 competitors (World Championships or Olympics) 11 complete instances.
Elisabeth Seitz competed for Germany from 2009-present and competed in a German lineup in Group-1 competitors 12 complete instances.
Oksana Chusovitina has competed from 1991-present, however from 2006-2012 to represented Germany and appeared in a Group-1 competitors below the German flag on 6 complete events.
Bui, Seitz, and Chusovitina are three of the best examples of longevity in WAG historical past and coincidentally, all of them occurred to belong to the identical nationwide program. The Bui, Seitz, Chusovitina trio symbolize three of probably the most precious WAGs Germany has ever had on account of their presence in so many crew lineups. They mixed for 29 complete appearances for the German program in Group-1 competitors.
However on the 2011 European Championships which have been held in Berlin, this trio of German gymnasts introduced Germany to new heights. Seitz gained a silver medal within the All-Round, Chusovitina gained a silver on vault, whereas Bui gained a bronze medal on the uneven bars. Earlier than then, neither Germany nor its West German predecessors had gained greater than a single medal at a European Championships.
Now Germany had three gymnasts stroll away with a medal in only a single European Championships.
However the success didn’t finish there. Later within the yr Bui, Seitz, and Chusovitina all returned to the German lineup for the 2011 World Championships the place they led the nation to a sixth place end within the crew standings. Aside from the 1984 boycott, the 2011 World Championships stays the perfect consequence Germany has achieved whereas competing as both “West Germany” or “Germany” since 1952 when this system completed fifth.
Be aware: Germany participated on the Olympics in 1956-1964 as a “Unified Group” however in WAG solely East German groups have been despatched as a result of they have been the stronger program.
Kim Bui’s longevity is known. She is a 3x Olympian whereas having the excellence of taking part in 4 completely different Olympic quads. Kim Bui made her senior debut in 2005 and was a part of an period liable for elevating the profile of Germany from a low rating program that regularly missed the Olympics, right into a notable participant that might qualify to Group Finals in any given yr.
Within the Seventies and for a lot of the Nineteen Eighties, West Germany had the strongest WAG program in Western Europe whereas East Germany was one of many high WAG powers on this planet. However beginning in 1987 each applications started to free fall. When Germany reunified in 1990, its two WAG applications weren’t able to put the muse for a brand new highly effective program.
Within the Nineties Germany would endure vital regression, whereas their Western European rivals have been demonstrating super enchancment. Even whereas German Olympic sports activities as a complete had remained sturdy within the speedy aftermath of the Chilly Conflict, in WAG the scenario was completely different.
It was Kim Bui and her era who pioneered that change right into a medal profitable program. In 2005 Kim Bui made her first look for Germany on the World Championships. It was proper round this time that German gymnasts started qualifying to Occasion Finals, and in some case win medals. In 2008 and 2016 German WAG would achieve profitable medals on the Olympics. The period from 2005-present is the place Germany has skilled all of its success below the German tri-color. Coincidently, that is successfully the Kim Bui period as effectively as a result of it was marked by her continuous presence.
Sadly, Kim Bui wouldn’t rise to develop into a extremely ranked gymnast. In Bui’s period there have been six different German gymnasts who efficiently certified to Occasion Finals on the Group-1 degree, however not Bui herself. However Bui was nonetheless one in all Germany’s leaders and she or he proved it within the remaining years of her profession.
When #GymnastAlliance overtook the game as gymnasts started talking up about abusive coaching environments, it was Kim Bui who spoke on the Bundestag, the German equal of U.S. Congress or British parliament to lift consciousness on the subject.
On the 2021 Olympics Kim and her teammates determined to put on unitards versus the normal leotard. Their purpose was to normalize the idea in order that different gymnasts wouldn’t really feel discouraged from sporting them. All year long German gymnasts rotated between several types of leotards and unitards. Proving they have been sporting leotards not as a result of it was their most well-liked selection, however as a result of they needed to reveal that gymnasts in all places had this selection.
The German gymnasts not solely succeeded on this purpose, however the unitard grew to become one of the vital talked about tales of the Olympics. It immediately led to the IOC strengthening its “portrayal tips” that each one tv broadcasters should abide by. These tips emphasize avoiding digital camera angles that compromise the athletes akin to pictures involving their butt or crotch space.
Kim Bui could not have been the perfect German gymnast of her period, however she may all the time be relied on to do the fitting factor, be a frontrunner, and she or he was a solider contributor to the crew rating for 17 years. In that point she witnessed Germany rise from a low rating program, to 1 that wins Olympic medals and has excessive hopes for its future.
That future is Helen Kevric, the 14 yr outdated German gymnast who can be competing alongside Kim Bui within the junior division on the European Championships. Helen is barely two weeks faraway from her success on the European Youth Olympic Pageant the place she gained medals on 6 of seven occasions. The seventh occasion (WAG usually has solely six) being a mixed-gender crew occasion. On the 2022 European Championships she has already gained the Junior All-Round title, a primary in German WAG historical past.
The presence of Kevric is a logo of all that Germany has gained up to now 20 years and what it is going to proceed to realize in future competitions. It can additionally function a chance for Kim Bui to move the torch to the following era. However most of all it’s laborious to disregard the connection between the 2011 European Championships and the 2022 European Championships that have been each held on German soil.
It’s a rarity for a gymnast to put in writing the ending to her athletic profession below such excellent circumstances. After 17 years Kim Bui will compete in a single final main competitors, in entrance of pleasant crowds, along with her teammate from all these years in the past (Elisabeth Seitz) competing alongside her, along with her inheritor obvious (Helen Kevric) additionally current, and doing so whereas invoking the reminiscence of the 2011 European Championships which was the spotlight of her profession.
For a gymnast who gave a lot to ladies’s gymnastics, it’s the ending Kim Bui deserves.
