September 15, 2017, 6:19 am | Read time: 3 minutes
It was a moment at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro that touched millions of hearts: With a torn ACL, gymnast Andreas Toba still competed on the pommel horse, enabling the German team to advance to the team final. A year of rehab and three knee surgeries later, the hero is back. FITBOOK was granted the rare opportunity to take him away from his World Championship training camp for a few hours.
Flashback to Rio: After the third pass of his floor exercise, the shock–Toba’s ACL tears. For him, it’s over, but to save his teammates’ chance to reach the final, he pushes through the pain 15 minutes after the accident–without painkillers–and completes the pommel horse routine, earning the necessary points. Since then, Andreas Toba has held hero status.
“When a Gymnast Says He Can Compete, He Can Compete”
“When a gymnast says he can still compete, he really can still compete,” Toba explains in the FITBOOK interview (see video above) about his decision. But anyone who has had an ACL tear or has seen soccer players carried off the field with pain-stricken faces knows the heroics of Toba. Because with a torn ACL, you can hardly do anything, let alone perform a high-difficulty routine on a piece of equipment.
But what does that matter when you’ve dedicated your whole life to the sport, trained for four years for this moment, and don’t want to disappoint your teammates? Toba suffered for the team, “because it made sense for me and the others,” as he explains to FITBOOK. Discipline, perseverance–the major themes of his life.
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“I Was Always the Worst!”
Andreas Toba wasn’t born a prodigy; he worked hard to develop his skills. In the video interview, he shares how his dad–also a successful gymnast–brought him to the gym as a kid. “I was always the worst,” he reveals. That’s exactly what motivated him. Toba’s story shows that it’s worth not giving up when things might not go well at first and everything seems difficult.
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Everything in Toba’s Life Revolves Around Sports
How much Andreas Toba prioritizes sports becomes clear when he says things like: “Since I was little, there’s nothing in my life that isn’t related to sports.” Or when the 26-year-old shares that he’s only been to a concert with friends once (at 20, seeing Bushido in Hanover) because: “No time.”
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Andreas Toba on Embarrassing Gymnastics Outfits
Despite his immense ambition and self-expectations, Andreas Toba can laugh at himself and his sport, for example, when he talks about the gymnastics outfit. “The funny thing is, most people don’t know that we wear a bodysuit under these leggings.”
Thirteen months after his ACL tear at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro–and three knee surgeries that led to a lengthy rehab–Toba is back. He recently celebrated a successful comeback at the World Championship qualification in Stuttgart. Top scores on the pommel horse and rings. “An incredibly awesome feeling,” the 26-year-old cheered. He immediately secured his ticket for the World Championship in Montreal in early October, and perhaps for a new heroic feat–but this time, hopefully without injury.