The Artistic Gymnastics Newsletter N° 14 - April 2024

Dear friends of Artistic Gymnastics!

Exciting times ahead! We’re gearing up for an intense but rewarding couple of months. The first stop presents itself real soon …

This week, years of preparation will come together as we meet in Rimini for our masterpiece of the year, the European Championships. First, the men will compete, from 24 to 28 April, followed by the women, from 2 to 5 May, in the Fiera di Rimini. The exhibition hall will be transformed into a temple of gymnastics, offering the audience top-notch competitions, for both juniors and seniors. Not only continental glory is at stake, the event also serves as the last Olympic qualifier, with one ticket available for men, and one for women, for the highest eligible all-arounder in the qualification round.

From 26 July to 11 August, all eyes will be on Paris, as the French capital organises the Games of the 33^rd Olympiad!

In this newsletter, we’ll talk you through what to expect in Rimini and how to follow the competition. Furthermore, we’ll look back on the 2024 European Gymnastics Online Series in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics, powered by Elevien, and a fabulous Webinar by the successful WAG coach Joshua Richardson (GBR).

Of course, we’ll give you the latest updates about our annual summer Training camps too.

Read all about it below …

From Wednesday onwards, all eyes will be on Rimini! The 37 participating national federations will be represented by 174 seniors and 126 juniors. And the line-up is nothing short of spectacular!

Defending Champions Adem Asil (TUR - All-Around and Rings), Luke Whitehouse (GBR – Floor), Rhys McClenaghan (IRL - Pommel Horse), Artur Davtyan (ARM - Vault), Illia Kovtun (UKR – Parallel Bars) and Tin Srbic (CRO - Horizontal Bar) are all listed, in addition to reigning World Champions Artem Dolgopyat (ISR – Floor) and Jake Jarman (GBR - Vault), and legends like European title rings record holder Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE), vault & rings superstar Igor Radivilov (UKR), Samir Ait Said (FRA), Filip Ude (CRO), among many others.

We also welcome back some big names, like 2022 All-Around Champion Joe Fraser (GBR), the 2015 and 2017 winner Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) and 2022 Rings winner Ibrahim Colak (TUR).

Hosts Italy have their hopes set on Yumin Abbadini, Lorenzo Minh Casali, Matteo Levantesi, Marco Lodadio, Mario Macchiati and Salvatore Maresca. These guys won the team gold for the first time last year. Can they successfully defend their crown in front of a home audience? 

Do you wish to join us in Rimini? There are still some tickets available, so get yours now on ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS RIMINI 2024 (vivaticket.com)

Can’t travel to Rimini? No worries, we’ve got you covered! The senior competition will be streamed on the EBU platform Eurovision - Sport (eurovisionsport.com) in addition to being shown on TV throughout Europe. The junior competition will be streamed on SmartScoring’s Gymtv.online platform, for just € 8, you get to witness the junior men’s competition: qualifications, apparatus finals and all-around final. Get your subscription here: 2024 European Championships in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics - Europeangymnastics (gymtv.online).

You can find all information about this event on our website: 2024 Men's Artistic Europeans - Rimini (ITA) | European Gymnastics

From Thursday 2 till Sunday 5 May, the Fiera di Rimini will be the place-to-be for all Women’s Artistic Gymnastics fans. The 39 participating national federations will be represented by 157 seniors and 128 juniors.

Host Italy are sending their A-team: European Champions Alice and Asia D’Amato, Manila Esposito, Elisa Iorio and Giorgia Villa. Their main competition for team glory will come from 2023 World bronze medallists France (Morgane Osyssek-Reimer, Coline Devillard, Lorette Charpy, Marine Boyer and Ming Van Eijken), defending European Champions, World and Olympic medallists Great Britain (Ondine Achampong, Alice Kinsella, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Becky Downie and Ruby Evans), and the other Olympic qualifiers Netherlands (Vera Van Pol, Elisabeth Geurts, Tisha Volleman, Floor Slooff and Casey-Jane Meuleman) and Romania (Ana Barbosu, Lilia Cosman, Amalia Ghigoarta, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea and Andreea Preda).

Furthermore, Olympic Champion on uneven bars Nina Derwael returns to a Europeans for the first time since 2018, and after injuring her shoulder just before her home Worlds last year. The  Belgian superstar secured her ticket to Paris Olympics on beam at the World Cup series while 3 other Rimini participants, Austria’s Charlize Moerz , Bulgaria’s Valentina Georgieva, and Spain’s Laura Casabuena also clinched their Olympic entry tickets.

Another name to watch is former junior standout Helen Kevric, the 2022 junior European all-around and 2022 and 2023 EYOF Champion, as the German talent makes her senior Europeans debut, as are Denmark’s Camille Rasmussen, Spain’s Laura Casabuena and Alba Petisco, Poland’s 11 time national all-around champion Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Portuguese icon Filipa Martins, Slovenian vault legends Teja Belak and Tjasa Kysselef, Slovakia’s Barbora Mokosova, Ukrainian 2022 junior European beam Champion Anna Lashchevska, and many, many more…

All information about the women’s week is available on 2024 Women's Artistic Europeans - Rimini (ITA) | European Gymnastics

Of course, you’ll be able to watch this event. For seniors, on TV, thanks to our partner EBU, and livestreamed on their platform Eurovision - Sport (eurovisionsport.com). The junior competition will be streamed on SmartScoring’s Gymtv.online platform, for just € 6, you get watch the junior women’s qualifications and apparatus finals. Sign up here: 2024 European Championships in Women's Artistic Gymnastics - Europeangymnastics (gymtv.online)

Want to see all the action in person? Hurry up and get your ticket on ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS RIMINI 2024 (vivaticket.com)

 

Last weekend, 196 participants registered for our Women’s Technical Committee online for the first Women’s Artistic Gymnastics webinar of the year.

The topic? 'How to get a D-Score of more than 5.3 on Floor?'. Expertly led by Great Britain’s top coach Joshua Richardson (GBR), the course was very appreciated by the audience. He shared his own happy experience of coaching sisters Jessica and Jennifer Gadirova as well as other well-known gymnasts, and explained the steps to improve the Difficulty-score on floor.

After a test event in the framework of last year’s Congress, European Gymnastics decided to launch the inaugural European Gymnastics Online Series in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. Featuring 3 stages, on 2 March, 23 March and 13 April, the registered athletes got a timeframe to perform, record and upload their routine on one or more apparatus from the gym of their choice. Their work is then judged by a panel of Europe’s best judges, also from the comfort of their own home. And, fans could watch the action unfold on the Elevien app.

Plus, on each apparatus, the following prize money was awarded per competition: € 400 for 1^st place, € 200 for 2^nd place and € 100 for 3^rd place.

What’s not to like?

Our first training camp this summer will be the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics camp in Tirrenia (ITA). Planned from 9 to 19 July, this training camp is open to gymnasts born between 2012 and 2014, and their coaches, with a maximum of 2 each per federation. We are delighted to announce the following excellent experts invited to teach in Tirrenia: Orna Shai and Maria Cocuzza (supervisors-WTC), Donatella Sacchi (WTC/FIG president), Liliana Cosma, Ricard Crnjac, Nicolae Forminte, Zoltan Jordanov, Patrick Kiens, Ida Laakkonen, Adriana Pop, Nick Ruddock.

From 20 to 29 August 2024, the Men’s Technical Committee invites gymnasts born between 2008 and 2011 and coaches to Greece, with a participation limit of 2 gymnasts and 2 coaches per federation.

The annual men’s training camp will take place in Thessaloniki. Led by experts like Valery Belenki, Rossana Bonzi, Igor Kriajimskii, Sergey Vaisburg, Nicola Costa, Andrei Popov, Laurent Maertens, this provides a unique experience to train with the best, under excellent conditions.

All necessary information will be published on our website soon.

-----------------------------------------------------

See you soon in Rimini!

Anca Grigoras                                                                          Mario Vukoja

WTC President                                                                         MTC President