Maxi Gnauck

Maxi Gnauck and Hannelore Sauer in an international gymnastics match between the GDR women and Hungary, May 12th to 13th, 1984 in Wismar

Maxi Gnauck (* 10. October 1964 in Berlin ) is a former German gymnast and Olympic champion .

Career

Gnauck became Olympic champion on uneven bars for the GDR at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow . In addition, she won another silver medal in the individual all-around and two bronze medals on the ground and in the team all-around. Between 1979 and 1985 Maxi Gnauck was six times world champion and five times European champion. At the 1979 World Championships, she created the "Gnauck-Kehre" named after her. She also developed new gymnastics elements on the floor and on the balance beam with her trainer Jürgen Heritz.

The readers of the daily newspaper Junge Welt voted Maxi Gnauck athlete of the year in 1980 . In 2000 she was the first German gymnast to be inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame . From 1993 to 2004 Maxi Gnauck worked in Norderstedt as head trainer of the gymnastics center in Harksheide , and since 2005 in the north-west Swiss gymnastics center in Liestal . According to the center's website, the employment relationship with the NKL was terminated in December 2011. Since 2012 she has been working as the head trainer of the artistic gymnastics division at the Gym Center Emme in Utzenstorf .

Awards

In 1984, Maxi Gnauck was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold in the GDR . At the end of her sporting career, she received the Star of Friendship of Nations in silver.