Pascal Brendel safely got off the high bar, clenched his fists briefly and was then happily hugged by national coach Valeri Belenki and team veteran Andreas Toba. At his debut at the European Championships, the 19-year-old from Wetzlar immediately made it into the European all-around elite.
In Antalya, Brendel scored 81.164 points in the hexathlon on floor, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar and finished eighth. Adem Asil of Turkey secured the title with 84.965 points ahead of Brit Jake Jarman, who scored 83.463 points. Third was Illia Kovtun from Ukraine with 83.032 points.
Hymns of praise from the national coach
Cheered on by his teammates in the stands, Brendel performed his first two exercises on the floor and pommel horse with astonishing precision and security and was sixth in the intermediate classification. He then wobbled a bit on the rings, but fought his way back into the top ten with a solid jump. Team veteran Andreas Toba (Hanover) prepared the apparatus to support the parallel bars, but Brendel did not do a good enough gymnastics for a high score. On the final horizontal bar, he skilfully secured the top ten place.
Even the critical national coach is enthusiastic about Brendel’s potential. 81.732 points in qualifying and sixth place confirmed the 53-year-old’s view. “A new star is born,” said Belenki. And in his opinion, the Wetzlarer is far from finished, because he didn’t take any risks in the spirit of teamwork and only did safe exercises. “He can still increase the exercises on many devices,” emphasized Belenki. In particular, he sees a medal candidate in Brendel: “The boy has a future.”
Brendel himself also knows that he has not yet reached his potential. “I definitely know that there is still some room for improvement. I definitely want to go there,” emphasized the German champion on the pommel horse, who competed in gymnastics for the first time at a world championship in Liverpool last autumn. “That gave me motivation,” he explained.
Team training as the next step
He was brought to his current level by his father Matthias, who watched his son’s performance in the Antalya Spor Salonu from the stands and also supported him without being directly with him. “Of course it’s easier for me when he’s there and talking to me in front of the device. We talk a lot on the phone or write,” reported Pascal Brendel. “He is one of the greatest talents in Germany. We have very few such gymnasts. Great praise for the coach in terms of technique,” praised the national coach.
In Belenki’s opinion, if Brendel’s upswing is to keep up with his talent, there is no way around a change from individual training to a larger group in the long term. “As long as a gymnast develops well at home, I won’t force anyone,” said Belenki. But he has already spoken to the 19-year-old that it makes sense if he moves in strong groups during practice sessions, for example. The 1992 team Olympic champion is also thinking of taking him under his wing in Stuttgart. “It’s fun to work with him,” emphasized Belenki.
