Neues Deutschland. September 19, 1984. The gas station attendant knows exactly what we're talking about. "The best thing to do is drive straight through the entire town; she lives in the very last house on the left." "She" - that is Annelore Haupt, a reasonably well-known figure in the small municipality of Plessa (population just under 3,000) in the Elsterwerda district. To us, however, her maiden name - Zinke - is the more familiar one...
Nancy opens the door and chirps, "Mommy's upstairs." Nancy is five years old and the eldest daughter. Her sister Maja is only two and is "Mommy's favorite" - as Annelore Haupt readily affirms. This is who she is today: the 1974 world champion on the uneven bars - successor to Karin Janz, predecessor to Maxi Gnauck. She is now twenty-four years old - poised and self-assured - and takes great pride in the beautifully renovated apartment she occupies on the upper floor of her in-laws' home. Her calm, firm manner with her two children betrays her profession: she is a primary school teacher at the Rudi Arndt Secondary School in Elsterwerda, where she teaches Physical Education and Mathematics - with great enthusiasm and deep dedication.
When she talks about her work, she positively beams. "It's a brand new school with ideal conditions. I love working with children - it's simply fun." That's why the ten-kilometer bus ride to the district town and back doesn't bother her - especially since she often uses the Trabi whenever her husband, a mining engineer working a two-shift schedule, doesn't need it.
On the other hand, she enjoys the trust of both the children and the teaching staff - a fact attested to, not least, by her election as the school's Party Secretary. She is not the type of person who, once her school duties are done, devotes herself exclusively to her family. "That's just not me," she explains, pointing to her time as a competitive athlete and, in particular, to her subsequent studies at the Institute for Teacher Training in Grossenhain. "I have always enjoyed being around many people. That's why my four years of study - spent in a seminar group of thirty students - were such a wonderful time for me." Today, she leads the boys' gymnastics group at her school and also serves as an appointed member of the Commission for Youth, Physical Culture, and Sport at both the district and local levels in Plessa.
Naturally, she still maintains ties to her former sport - the one she left behind as a competitive athlete in 1975, following her win of the European vice-champion title on the uneven bars. Yet, her most recent medal to date was won in 1980. She became the student champion on the uneven bars, the balance beam, and in the all-around competition; she failed to win on the floor exercise only due to a peculiar circumstance: "Our team manager had already driven home before the competition was over - and had accidentally taken the tape recording of the music with her."
Just as the people in her home village of Gorden keep a watchful eye - wondering "whether young Zinken is still greeting people properly, or if success has gone to her head" - her students, too, are well aware of their teacher's athletic past. Through forums and slide presentations, Mrs. Haupt deepens the children's understanding of the development of our republic and of the world of sports. "But that often isn't enough; children want to know every single detai," she reports with a laugh. "So, I often have to demonstrate certain elements on the apparatus for them." This, in turn, works to her advantage, for "it enhances a teacher's authority and encourages the children to follow along and participate more actively when the teacher is able to demonstrate a great deal." And as a former world champion, she is certainly able to do just that - and in abundance.
W. RICHTER