Maxi Gnauck

Maxi Gnauck
Maxi Gnauck in 1984
Personal information
Country represented	East Germany
Born	October 10, 1964 (1964-10-10) Berlin
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Medal record Olympic Games Gold 1980 Moscow Uneven bars Silver 1980 Moscow All-around Bronze 1980 Moscow Team competition Bronze 1980 Moscow Floor exercise World Championships Gold 1979 Ft. Worth Uneven bars Gold 1981 Moscow Uneven bars Gold 1981 Moscow Vault Gold 1981 Moscow Balance beam Gold 1983 Budapest Uneven bars Silver 1979 Ft. Worth All-around Bronze 1979 Ft. Worth Team Bronze 1981 Moscow Team Bronze 1983 Budapest Team European Championships Gold 1981 Madrid All-around Gold 1981 Madrid Floor exercise Gold 1981 Madrid Uneven bars Gold 1981 Madrid Balance beam Gold 1985 Helsinki Uneven bars Silver 1981 Madrid Vault Silver 1979 Copenhagen Vault Silver 1985 Helsinki All-around Bronze 1979 Copenhagen Uneven bars Friendship Games Gold 1984 Olomouc Uneven bars Gold 1984 Olomouc Floor exercise Silver 1984 Olomouc Team competition Bronze 1984 Olomouc Vault

Maxi Gnauck (born October 10, 1964 in Berlin, East Germany) is a retired Artistic Gymnast. With a total of 27 medals at the Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cups, and European Championships she is considered one of the most successful woman gymnast that Germany has ever produced.

Her parents were expecting a boy and they planned to name him Max so, when the baby turned out to be a girl, they simply added an i. When Maxi was 5, Her mother took her to a gymnastics centre in their area. By age 8, Maxi had won her first medals at the Kreisspartakiade. When she was 9 she transferred to the Club SC Dynamo Berlin, where she was coached by Jurgen Heritz. Considered one of the best Uneven Bars workers of her time, Maxi was also a super tumbler. She was one of the first girls to perform a triple twist on Floor.

In April 1986, Maxi officially announced her retirement and began studying to become a coach. During 1988, Maxi was severely injured while sliding down a waterslide while she was working as an aid at a children's summer camp by the Baltic Sea. Maxi broke her C5 vertebra and was nearly paralyzed. Three vertebrae were later reinforced with a metal plate.

Since 1993 Maxi has worked as a full-time coach at the Norderstedt Gymnastics Center in Hamburg. In 2000, she was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, She is the first German gymnast to be awarded that honor.

Results

Year	Competition	Placing(s)
1977	East German Children's Spartakiade	1st All-Around
1977	East German Juniors Championships	5th All-Around
1977	East Germany-Czechoslovakia Juniors Dual Meet	1st Team, 1st All-Around
1978	Chunichi Cup	4th All-Around
1978	DTV Cup	5th All-Around
1978	East Germany-Hungary Dual Meet	1st team, 3rd All-Around
1978	Junior Friendship Tournament	2nd Team, 3rd All-Around, 2nd Floor, 4th Bars, 6th Vault
1979	Cottbus International	1st All-Around
1979	European Championships	2nd Vault, 3rd Bars, 6th All-Around
1979	East German Championships	2nd All-Around
1979	East German Cup	4th All-Around
1979	East Germany-Norway-Sweden Tri-Meet	1st Team, 1st All-Around
1979	World Championships	3rd Team, 2nd All-Around, 1st Bars, 4th Floor, 6th Vault
1980	Cottbus International	1st All-Around, 1st bars, 1st Beam, 1st Floor
1980	East German Championships	4th All-Around
1980	East Germany-Hungary Dual Meet	1st Team, 1st All-Around
1980	Olympic Games	3rd Team, 2nd All-Around, 1st Bars, 3rd Floor, 4th Beam, 6th Vault
1980	World Cup	2nd All-Around, 1st Bars, 1st Floor, 6th Vault
1981	Cottbus International	1st All-Around, 1st Bars, 1st Floor, 2nd Vault, 2nd Beam
1981	European Championships	1st All-Around, 1st Bars, 1st Beam, 1st Floor, 2nd Vault
1981	East German Championships	1st All-Around
1981	East Germany-Norway-Sweden Tri-Meet	1st All-Around
1981	World Championships	1st Vault, 1st Bars, 1st Beam, 3rd Team
1982	East German Championships	1st All-Around, 1st Vault, 1st Bars, 1st Floor
1982	East Germany-Hungary Dual Meet	1st Team, 1st All-Around
1982	World Cup	5th All-Around, 1st Bars, 3rd Floor, 7th Vault
1983	Chunichi Cup	4th All-Around, 1st Floor
1983	Cottbus International	1st Vault, 1st Floor, 3rd All-Around
1983	Tokyo Cup	1st Bars, 1st Floor
1983	World Championships	1st Bars, 3rd Team, 4th Vault, 4th Beam, 7th All-Around
1984	Cottbus International	1st Vault, 1st Floor, 4th All-Around
1984	Friendship Games in Olomouc	1st Bars, 1st Floor, 3rd All-Around, 3rd Vault, 5th Beam
1984	DTB Cup	1st All-Around, 1st Bars, 1st Floor, 2nd Vault, 5th Beam
1984	East German Championships	1st All-Around, 1st Bars, 1st Floor, 3rd Vault
1985	Cottbus International	1st Floor, 2nd All-Around, 2nd Vault
1985	European Championships	1st Bars, 2nd All-Around, 4th Vault

External links

• Whatever Happened to Maxi Gnauck?
• A signed photo and list of competitive results
• Journal
• Maxi in Switzerland

Awards
Preceded by Marita Koch	East German Sportswoman of the Year 1980	Succeeded by Ute Geweniger