Melnikova and Belyavskiy crowned European Games all-around Champions

Competition report of the Artistic Gymnastics all-around finals at the second European Games

12.000 enthusiastic fans cheered on their favourite gymnasts during today’s all-around finals. Men and women competed at the same time in the magnificent Minsk Arena.

In the women’s competition, France’s Lorette Charpy took the lead early on after her routines on bars and beam with top qualifier Angelina Melnikova trailing by half a point. On floor both produced 13+ routine, making sure the last event would decide the final ranking. Moving to vault, Melnikova had the advantage of having a more difficult vault which she fully utilised as vaulted a double-twisting Yurchenko while Charpy did a full-twisting one. With a score of 14.266, Melnikova posted a total score of 54.498 and overtook Charpy for the 2019 European Games title! The battle for bronze was tight too. The gymnasts placed 3 to 5 finished within 4 tenths of each other. Ukraine’s Diana Varinska edged France’s Aline Friess and Russia’s Aleksandra Shchekoldina for the bronze medal.

In the men’s competition, defending Champion Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) bounced back strongly from the qualification round. He counted a fall on his rings dismount but performed consistently on the other 5 apparatus. His highest score came on parallel bars, the event on which he is the Olympic Champion, where he posted a 15.100. With a total of 84.632, Verniaiev topped the leader board until the very last gymnast had to perform. Russia’s David Belyavskiy who qualified in first place, had already performed brilliantly on parallel bars. On high bar, the spectators attentively followed his every move and shouted out in appreciation when he stuck his dismount, and even more when the score flashed: 14.033. More than enough for the European Games gold medal! Vladislav Poliashov, Petro Pakhniuk and Artur Davtyan fought for the bronze, with Poliashov ultimately claiming the prestigious prize.

 

Congratulations to the medallists!

Men

1. David Belyavskiy (RUS) 85.465
2. Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) 84.632
3. Vladislav Poliashov (RUS) 84.464

Women

1. Angelina Melnikov (RUS) 54.498
2. Lorette Charpy (FRA) 54.166
3. Diana Varinska (UKR) 52.766

Find the full results on the UEG website: http://www.ueg.org/event/2019-european-games/results

The European Games conclude tomorrow with the artistic gymnastics event finals.