Even the start of the day is crucial for Lukas Dauser: Don’t get up on the wrong foot first! With a dash of superstition, routine and, above all, trust in his own abilities, the 30-year-old and his colleagues are tackling the mission of Olympic qualification on Saturday at the World Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp.
“It’s still the same quirks. The most striking thing is that I stand up with both feet at the same time so that I don’t get up on the wrong leg, and that my flip flops always have to be parallel when I go to the machine,” says the Unterhachinger in the Interview with the German Press Agency.
Just in time for old strength
After a long injury break, the Olympic and World Championships silver medalist found his old strength on parallel bars in time for the most important competition of the year. Because of a torn muscle in his shoulder, Dauser had to miss the European Championships in April in Antalya and also had to cancel the start at the German Championships in Düsseldorf in July. “I’m physically fit and looking forward to the next two weeks,” he confirms, which he recently demonstrated with his World Cup victory on parallel bars in Paris.
“The boy is in a good mood. He is pulling the team forward,” says national coach Valeri Belenki. The 54-year-old has his team with Dauser, all-around champion Pascal Brendel (Wetzlar), Nils Dunkel (Halle/Saale), Lucas Kochan (Cottbus) and Nick Klessing (Halle) – who replaces veteran Andreas Toba, who was out for a short time due to a knee injury – completely geared towards the team all-around competition at the World Championships. In Antwerp, the team of the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) is aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris. This requires at least twelfth place. “This is probably the most important competition in the cycle,” says Dauser.
Confident Dauser
At the last major events since the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the DTB team has always been in the top ten. On a confidence scale of 1 to 10, Dauser gave the highest score that the quintet will succeed again. “We are a super balanced team. We are better positioned than in recent years,” he explains his verdict. Now we have to bring that to the podium on Saturday. “For us it’s important that we do our exercises, that we don’t have any wrong scores, that we always have three correct exercises per apparatus. If we can do that, I’m sure we’ll be in the top 12 and have our five Tickets for Paris,” says the native Bavarian.
Paris is the current longing destination for Lukas Dauser. On the one hand, his 30th birthday in June made him think about the end of his career. “That also put a bit of pressure on me. That’s why I worked on the matter with my mental coach. My plan is Paris, which isn’t even eleven months away,” he admits. Until then, he wants to “do everything, train well, be passionate and have fun.”
On the other hand, Dauser got married in the spring and misses living with his wife Viktoria. After studying dentistry, the 28-year-old was transferred to Hanover via the Bundeswehr, while he lives in Halle an der Saale and trains there with Hubert Brylok together with Dunkel and World Cup substitute gymnast Nick Klessing. “Unfortunately, we’ve been in a long-distance relationship since the beginning of the year, which was a big change for me to live alone again after ten years of living together. The first six months of the year were really difficult for me, especially with my injury phase. I was in a big low Loch. I’m glad that I’ve fought my way back now,” says Dauser.
His wife will be tied to the location until mid-2024. For Dauser, this fits perfectly with Paris: the Olympic Games take place there from July 26th to August 11th. “Then I hope that after the Olympic Games I will be a little more flexible in terms of my location and that we will have mastered this challenging time well,” he says looking ahead.
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