End of career at the age of 19: "What price are you willing to pay?"

Lisa Zimmermann would have liked to have entered the really big stage.

Showing her skills at the Olympic Games or World Championships has always been the dream of the gymnast from Roßdorf in southern Hesse.

But although the trainers confirmed her potential and the German floor champion of 2021 had already come very close to these high goals, she has now, at just 19 years of age, announced the end of her career.

The decision was not easy for her, says Zimmermann.

"I would have loved to have been at the Olympic Games." But she noticed that the way there was not good for her.

"That begs the question of what price you're willing to pay to get there."

Actually, Lisa Zimmermann really wanted to take off in 2022.

After graduating from high school in the spring, she planned to join the German armed forces so that she could concentrate fully on her sport.

Zimmermann was considered one of the athletes who could be trusted to follow in the footsteps of the current top gymnasts such as European Uneven Bars Champion Elisabeth Seitz or World Championships runner-up on the balance beam, Pauline Schäfer.

In 2017 she switched from her former training location in Frankfurt to the performance center in Chemnitz because she no longer saw any promising conditions at home after a change at the Hessian Gymnastics Association.

In Saxony, school and sport can be optimally combined, and so the multiple state champion rose further to the national top.

At the 2019 European Championships in Szczecin, the debutant reached the all-around final right away, and she particularly impressed with her strong performances on beam.

But the more she established herself in the elite, the more light-heartedness evaporated, and Zimmermann put too much pressure on himself.

"I always want to be as good as possible everywhere, in school as well as in sports, and to please everyone," she says.

Best friends quit

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the athlete has increasingly experienced mental crises.

Only the long break from competition that called the passion into question.

Then at the end of 2020 the affair about her then trainer Gabriele Frehse, who was suspended after allegations of abuse.

"I was always able to talk to her myself," says Zimmermann, "and she always supported me." But afterwards she realized "that not everything went well." She didn't want to blame her for her problems, "But it definitely played a part." She noticed the conflicts of other gymnasts with Frehse and didn't know how she should behave.

"I got along well with everyone and therefore tried to stay out of it."

In such difficult situations, Zimmermann increasingly missed her "most important reference persons".

The best friends gradually gave up gymnastics.

“Everyone always took good care of me,” she emphasizes.

However, she didn't have that much fun in the hall anymore.

To change that, Zimmermann switched to Schäfer's coach Kay-Uwe Temme in early 2022.

The trainer gave her a better feeling and a different attitude towards top-class sport.

“Before, I always tried to be a 100% athlete.” To do this, Zimmermann renounced a lot of things that other young people take for granted.

Temme explained to her that sport is important, but that you shouldn't neglect everything else.

Otherwise it is inevitable that the desire will be lost.

"I never questioned that"

She also had a say in planning the training.

"I think a lot has changed in German gymnastics overall." It is also important to teach the younger ones that they listen to their bodies and say so when they notice that they are not up to the challenge.

"For me it was always natural to stick to rules and regulations, and I never questioned that," says Zimmermann.

In retrospect, however, she missed the occasional "step back" and see whether what was planned was right for her or not.

Despite the new positive experience, Zimmermann once again took a break for mental health in the summer and came to the conclusion a few weeks ago that it would be better for her to say goodbye to competitive sports.

She lives again with her parents in Roßdorf and wants to study law in Frankfurt.

Despite everything, Zimmermann looks back on her career on the devices positively: "I've experienced a lot and had great experiences." Sometimes she wonders whether she would be at the same point if something had gone differently.

But if she could start all over again, "I would go the same way again".