Preview of the Artistic Gymnastics season

Welcome to this very exciting Olympic year 2020!

While the majority of the Olympic tickets have been distributed at last year’s World Championships in Stuttgart (GER), gymnasts still have a couple more opportunities to earn their right to participate in Tokyo 2020: by winning the World Cup series on one apparatus and by scoring in the top 2 all-around (not already qualified) at the 2020 European Championships. Furthermore, the top three countries in the all-around World Cup series also get an additional place.

Next week, the Apparatus World Cup series continues in Melbourne (AUS). Several big names are still fighting for their Olympic ticket, including 2012 high bar Olympic Champion Epke Zonderland and 2016 rings Olympic Champion Eleftherios Petrounias. In March, the 2 last events will be held in Baku (AZE) and Doha (QAT). Then we’ll know who won the series and is going to Tokyo! 

The first European Gymnastics event of 2020 will be held in the French capital Paris, at the AccorHotel Arena, formerly known as Bercy, and site of the 2000 Europeans as well. Then, Ludivine Furnon delighted the crowd with her floor gold. Now, all eyes will be on reigning European all-around and floor Champion Melanie de Jesus dos Santos and her French teammates. Russia's Angelina Melnikova is another big draw for fans worldwide. The schedule is finalised: the juniors open the competition on Thursday 30 April with their qualification round which also serves as a team final. On Friday the seniors attempt to qualify to the team and event finals. All finals take place in the weekend with the junior all-around and senior team final on Saturday and all event finals on Sunday. 

4 weeks after the women’s Championships, Europe’s best male gymnasts gather in the wonderful National Gymnastics Arena in Baku (AZE) for their Europeans. From 27 to 31 May 2020, both juniors and seniors will compete. The juniors have their qualification and team final on Wednesday. The seniors try and qualify on Thursday. On Friday the juniors battle for all-around glory while the seniors fight for the team title on Saturday. And last but certainly not least the top 8 per apparatus will compete in the finals on Sunday. Artur Dalaloyan and Nikita Nagornyy will be keen to continue Russia’s team success, in their final test before Toyko.

From 24 July onwards, the sporting world’s attention will be on Tokyo as the Japanese capital hosts the Olympic Games. In the men’s artistic gymnastics competition, we’ll see the teams of Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, Great Britain, Switzerland, USA, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Brazil, Spain and Germany. For the women, we’ll see the teams of USA, China, Russia, France, Canada, Netherlands, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Japan and Spain. Many individual gymnasts earned their spot as well and will be vying for the medals. Ones to watch, representing our 50 European member federations, are Nikita Nagornyy, Artur Dalaloyan, Angelina Melnikova (RUS), Max Whitlock, Ellie & Becky Downie (GBR), Melanie de Jesus dos Santos and Samir Ait Said (FRA), Nina Derwael (BEL), Ibrahim Colak & Ahmet Onder (TUR), Rhys Mcclenaghan (IRL), Roxana Popa (ESP), among many others! Of course, American superstar Simone Biles will be the one to beat as she aims to cement her status as Greatest Of All Time.

After the Olympics, we redirect our focus immediately to the future stars as we head back to Tirrenia (ITA) to hold our annual training camp. The women kick it off, from 10 to 20 August, followed by the men from 21 to 31 August. Boys born between 2004 and 2007 and girls born between 2008 and 2010 will enjoy these 10 days of intense training mixed with beach time and social and cultural activities. The participation is limited to 2 gymnasts and 2 coaches per camp per federation.

 

20 – 23 February	World Cup	Melbourne (AUS)
7 March	World Cup All-Around	Milwaukee (USA)
12 – 15 March	World Cup	Baku (AZE)
18 – 21 March	World Cup	Doha (QAT)
21 – 22 March	World Cup All-Around	Stuttgart (GER)
28 March	World Cup All-Around	Birmingham (GBR)
4 – 5 April	World Cup All-Around	Tokyo (JPN)
30 April – 3 May	Women’s Artistic Europeans	Paris (FRA)
14 – 17 May	World Challenge Cup	Varna (BUL)
27 – 31 May	Men’s Artistic Europeans	Baku (AZE)
5 – 8 June	World Challenge Cup	Cairo (EGY)
11 – 14 June	World Challenge Cup	Koper (SLO)
18 – 21 June	World Challenge Cup	Osijek (CRO)
26 – 28 June	World Challenge Cup	Mersin (TUR)
24 July – 9 August	Olympic Games	Tokyo (JPN)
10 – 20 August	Women’s Artistic Training Camp	Tirrenia (ITA)
21 – 31 August	Men’s Artistic Training Camp	Tirrenia (ITA)
1 – 5 October	World Challenge Cup	Szombathely (HUN)