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A balance beam is only ten centimeters wide - a damn fine line.
Pauline Schäfer has a very special feeling for keeping the right balance.
But the way to this perfection was long and hard.
Again and again, her trainer drives her and her sister Helene, who is four years younger, to the top.
Helene Schäfer / gymnast, 19 years
“I remember very well that before I went to training, I was very afraid of going to the gym. Because I knew very well that as soon as I start to train, the pain is back and is so severe that I couldn't actually move, but still had to do gymnastics. "
Pauline Schäfer / gymnast, 23 years
"We weren't hit, but there was so much pressure on us that we just had to keep functioning."
And Pauline worked: In 2017 she won a historic gold medal at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Montreal.
The first woman to become world champion for the German Gymnastics Federation on the balance beam.
Pauline Schäfer / World Champion from 2017
“Through my story I want many girls who may have experienced the same thing, I want to encourage them. And also ask these girls to speak, because only when you talk about something can you process the whole thing. And that's why I use my voice to just make it transparent. "
Pauline becomes the figurehead of a sport in which discipline plays a major role.
And in which scandals have repeatedly come to the public in recent years.
The reports of gymnasts from Switzerland, England or America are similar: a culture of fear and constant humiliation seems to be common in international gymnastics.
Up to now there are no public statements from active gymnasts in Germany about negative experiences during their careers.
Until now.
Pauline was 15 years old when she moved to the Olympic base in Chemnitz.
This is where it should be decided whether or not she will manage to pursue an international artistic gymnastics career.
Far away from family and home in Saarland, the gym becomes the center of life for teenagers.
Pauline Schäfer / World Champion from 2017
“The climate was very intimidating right from the start. It was a big deal, so far from home. A strict training plan: to school in the morning, then to training, then back to school, then again to training. You just noticed that it's not just about sport, but about competitive sport. "
In artistic gymnastics, strength and elegance are equally required on the four gymnastics equipment for women: uneven bars, balance beam, jump and floor.
Girls' bodies have an advantage over women's bodies.
Pauline Schäfer / gymnast
“Because gymnastics is about looking as light as possible and as beautiful as possible, weight was always an issue for me and played a major role. Then there were sayings that when I see you I have to cry, no wonder it doesn't work, you're just too heavy. To be confronted with it every day is difficult, especially at that age, in puberty. And also does not lead to good self-esteem. Many who do not have the emotional and familial support of the family simply perish. "
In 2013, Pauline's younger sister Helene also moved to the high-performance center in Chemnitz.
She was years old then.
The two teenagers give each other support during this time.
Helene Schäfer / student
“I've always struggled with my body, had a lot of injuries. The worst injury was my hip. I was in severe pain for a year and a half. At first it could not be clarified where they come from. And because of the training and the strain, it just got worse. As a result, I was of course no longer as productive. I knew then that my body was actually telling me to stop. But I myself was in the situation that I didn't dare to go to my trainer because I then knew very well that she would be angry or angry with me again because I couldn't train. That was just not accepted. "
From 2013 to 2016 Helene won eight medals at German youth championships.
It has great potential, but the pain doesn't stop.
Helene Schäfer / student
“Then my trainer suggested I try tilidin. She had been prescribed the painkillers herself by her doctor at the time, because she had a hip operation herself. I thought this was a good idea at first because I thought there were pain relievers like ibuprofen too and maybe that will help me. Without it, I couldn't compete anymore. It then went so far that I could no longer sit normally, I could no longer lie normally because my hips simply hurt too much. And with the pain I had to do split jumps, do all the elements, do competitions, and that for nine months. "
Tilidine is a pain reliever opioid and can be physically addictive.
Helene and Pauline's trainer at the time does not want to speak to SPIEGEL.
In a letter from her lawyer to SPIEGEL, however, the latter emphasized that the statements of third parties contained a "multitude of untruths and baseless accusations".
She is still in office and still looks after the next generation of gymnasts in Chemnitz.
Helene's ordeal continued until a doctor finally diagnosed a hip malposition in 2017, which had to be operated on quickly to prevent long-term damage.
Meanwhile, Helene can train mostly pain-free, she no longer has any big goals in gymnastics.
She is graduating from high school next year and will then stop doing gymnastics.
Helene Schäfer / student
“I wish that the young women and girls don't have to go through what we went through back then. I would like that the human interaction with the athletes will be in the foreground again and that they will not be seen as objects or just as hopes for the next medal.
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The two sisters continue to train at the performance center in Chemnitz, but with a new trainer.
Pauline would like to take part in the Tokyo Olympics next year before she also quits gymnastics.
Pauline Schäfer / gymnast
“
Nobody can tell me that they think what's going on in the hall next door is good.
I would like more transparency in sport.
That many people are made aware of what it means to walk this path.
Above all the parents who send their children to support centers and who supposedly feel that they are in good hands.
That gymnastics in general needs to be rethought. "
At the moment, Pauline Schäfer cannot imagine a life without gymnastics.
For them it is now about finding the fun of training again.