On 1 December 2012 Philipp Boy of Germany announced the end of his gymnastics career at the age of 25.
Reasons
Boy named a serious fall from the high bar, suffered a year earlier in Stuttgart, as one of the main reasons. High bar had been his strongest apparatus, and he said he could not continue towards Rio without a realistic chance of reaching the top places. Germany’s head coach Andreas Hirsch and the German federation’s leadership said they regretted the decision but respected it.
Career highlights
– World all-around silver medallist in 2010 and 2011. – European all-around champion in 2011, at the home championships in Berlin, which he described as one of the greatest moments of his career. – European team champion in 2010.
Legacy
Boy belonged to the generation that, with Fabian Hambüchen and Marcel Nguyen, made Germany one of the leading men’s teams in Europe around the London Olympics.
Related: our archive entry on the 2012 men’s Europeans in Montpellier.
