At the German Gymnastics Festival in Leipzig, numerous participants proved that the motto "Gymnastics always works!" really does apply to all age groups. Athletes in the 30 to 80 age groups competed in the German Senior Gymnastics Championships.
One of them was 82-year-old Lothar Reichenbach from Ponitz in the Altenburger Land region. He competed for the Universitätssportgemeinsschaft (USG) Chemnitz. He has been doing gymnastics since his school days, said Reichenbach. He still trains "twice a week if everything goes well". Recently, however, an injury slowed him down and caused him to take a five-week break.
Collected a whole gallery of medals
Reichenbach is always competing in competitions. He has also competed in national sports competitions and the Thuringia Cup. This has already brought him many medals, said Reichenbach. "I have a whole gallery." When asked about his best apparatus, he replied after a moment's thought: "I would say parallel bars."
According to the organizers, 16 gymnasts in the 80+ age group were registered for the German Senior Championships as part of the gymnastics festival. There were two women gymnasts in this category.
In total, the organizers expected 80,000 participants at the gymnastics festival. Almost 50,000 athletes have registered for the various competitions. The gymnastics festival runs until Sunday.
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