Category Archives: European Championship

Women’s European Championship — Event Finals Live Blog

The final session of the women’s European Championship brings us all the senior event finals as the non-Italys somehow try to manage to do a winning.

We start with vault, where top qualifier Zsofia Kovacs will hope to fend off the DTYs from Asia D’Amato and Jessica Gadirova and the rudis from Friess and Vaelen. Gadirova, D’Amato, Friess, and Vaelen all come in with a 9.8 D for their two vaults, while Kovacs is on 9.6.

Introductions done for the vault finalists. No dancey dances when it’s just the individuals because that would be too scary.

Friess – FRA – VT 1 – handspring rudi is hit – medium bounce back, lands chest down, some leg crossing. 13.966. She’ll have been hoping to go over 14.

Friess – FRA – VT 2 – Tsuk full is solid, another hop back, not too large, cleaner leg form in twist than the rudi, some piking again. 13.233

13.599 average, down slightly on qualification.

The back on these waiting couches is too low. If you’re going to have a back, have one that you can lean against.

Raz – ISR – VT 1 – lands rather short on her DTY, large lunge to the side, chest down. 13.333. On the wild, wild planet called Vault Scoring, that was only .133 lower on execution than Friess’s rudi.

Raz – ISR – VT 2 – tsuk layout full is also some degree of landing struggle with a large lunge to the side and off the mat. 12.700

13.016 average and into second place.

Asia D’Amato – ITA – VT 1 – DTY very solid one, good distance and amplitude, another medium hop back, pretty solid in the twisting form, loses her knees a little at the end, good direction. 14.100

Asia D’Amato – ITA – VT 2 – dear dear dear, well short on landing her round off 1/2 on layout 1/2 and she’s down, grabbing her ankle. Landed it without a fall, but then went down.

Well, 13.333 for that and she’s into first place. But she’s having to be carried off the podium.

Jessica Gadirova – GBR – VT 1 – very high DTY, a larger bounce back than D’Amato had on hers – good twisting form, just some piking down at the end to try to control. 14.066

Jessica Gadirova – GBR – VT 2 – ro off 1/2 on pike 1/2 (we’ll see if they go layout), lands a little short but not in an inury kind of way, hop forward. 4.2 D score so they do indeed give it piked credit, which I agree with. 12.800

13.433 average is into third. D’Amato and her ankle injury retain the top spot.

Georgieva – VT 1 – BUL – DTY comes in pretty high on the table, can’t land it, sits it down, looked like she came into the mat underrotated and now she’s down and being looked at by her coach. And now the medical team.

What is this, a men’s vault final? 12.733 for her.

So, Georgieva has now been taken off after being treated, and we’re now going to have a re-warm up for the remaining three vaulters, which makes sense because that was forever.

Kovacs – VT 1 – HUN – DTY is quite strong, good distance and amplitude, relatively minimizes the hop back. 14.200.

Kovacs – VT 2 – HUN – handspring layout 1/2 is similarly strong – hop back, only a little pike, not quite the distance of her first vault. 13.666

13.933 average and into first place.

Rasmussen – VT 1 – DEN – lands a DTY successfully, scrappier leg form than the other DTYs we’ve seen so far, and a large lunge back, but a hit. 13.766

Rasmussen – VT 2 – DEN – Tsuk 1/1, a little flat coming off the table but OK, pike down on landing. 13.000

13.383 average into 5th.

Vaelen – VT 1 – BEL – handspring rudi, does well to control the landing again this time with a pretty minor hop to the side, some leg crossing throughout – 14.133

Vaelen – VT 2 – BEL – Tsuk 1/1 isn’t going to be up to the level of some of the other second vaults, fairly large lunge back and an extra step and a pike. 13.033

13.583 average and into 4th place, just behind Friess.

VAULT:
1) Kovacs – 13.933
2) D’Amato – 13.716
3) Friess – 13.599

Kovacs definitely the strongest of the group there, both in terms of her landing control and her position in the air. D’Amato gets rewarded for Kerri Struggling and not going down until after she saluted for a silver medal. Friess just does hang on for bronze after her two solid vaults in the first position. Chest position on landing gets Friess, but she did show solid control on her landings, while Vaelen and Gadirova were more out of control on their second vaults.

We’ll have to see what the ultimate word is on Georgieva because based on the landing and the reaction it did seem a serious knee injury, but also the amount of time the medical team was out there with her was unusual. But perhaps that’s just a matter of, “We actually care about these things now instead of just throwing you on the firewood pile.”

OMG, D’Amato is being treated so isn’t out there on the podium, so the coach is up there like he did it.


On to the bars final now. We open with Kim Bui’s final routine.

Bui – UB – GER – jaeger to pak, hit, legs apart on pak – maloney to bhardwaj, caught, some crossing – van leeuwen is clean – toe full to gienger, no problems today – FTDT, hit with a shuffle back. Good one. Did her normal, exactly what she could do for her final routine. 14.066

Villa – UB – ITA – tkatchev to pak to maloney to bhardwaj, very clean overall, just a small break in maloney – van leeuwen, hit – very short cast hs on high – front giant full to 1/2 to FTDT, small hop. Good one. 14.100 and just ahead of Bui.

A couple cast handstands very low will have taken the score lower than Q, but she has the leg form in releases edge.

Alice D’Amato – UB – ITA – maloney, good ampltiude into tkatchev – Stalder tkatchev piked to pak, legs together – van leeuwen, clean – gets her front giant full into double front, hop forward. 14.400 and comfortably into first place.

Poor Kim Bui, this squirrel she has to sit next to is ruining her life and mine.

Fenton – UB – GBR – Fenton to yeznova, hit, usual leg position in Yezhova – maloney to pak, legs togehter well, flxres feel a little on catch – van leeuwen, good legs together – clear hip – giant full – FTDT, nice control on landing, just a bit chest down, but she hit the low bar when swinging through, which will account for the lower score. 13.633.

Visser – UB – NED – Stalder Tkatchev 1/2 to yezhova, apparently she hasn’t been getting the 1/2 credit because she’s just catching in cross, tucking to try to save that in swinging through, hits mat – stalder full, good finish position – stalder shap to van leeuwen, hit well – short hs – toe full to FTDT, hop forward. 13.066.

Kinsella – UB – GBR – toe 1/2 to piked jaeger, a little low but catuch – Ricna, tucks swinging through so as to not hit the low, can’t cast out, stops against high bar – resumes with a pak – maloney to gienger is hit – toe full to double arabian – oddly jarring landing, overdid it, and hands down. 11.666

Charpy – UB – FRA – shap 1/2 – toe 1/2 to piked jaerger, yes you did! – piked hindorff to pak – van leeuwen, hit – toe full, holds onto it right on top – DLO, flings it out and looks like she has now hurt her ankle on her dismount and now just flops sideways down onto the mat after saluting. Lots of Strugging today.

14.166 and into 2nd. Sure why not I guess.

Seitz – UB – GER – stalder shap to Ricna, hit – jaeger, solid – Church to pak, good height – van leeuwen, small leg break – toe full to FTDT, step back. Nice one. That should medal.

14.433 is just enough to move ahead of D’Amato for gold. Germany’s like, “Oops, look how that worked out.”

BARS
1) Seitz – 14.433
2) Asia D’Amato – 14.400
3) Charpy – 14.166

Charpy is able to make it to the medal stand, so we don’t have COACH MEDAL PART 2. Darn it.


As expected, Maggio will go into the beam final in place of Asia D’Amato. She was originally 2 per countried out.

Villa – ITA – BB – loso mount, solid – round off back tuck and the safety decision doesn’t work out in the final, large leg up break and ultimately can’t save it, hops off – wolf turn is good – back extension to switch to split, lovely – double turn, a little under, puts her foot down behind her to save it – good side aerial – 2/1, hop to the side.

Her face says, “You TOLD me if I didn’t do the tuck full, I’d hit…”

12.166

Maggio – ITA – BB – switch mount, good – swtich, small lean into sissone but gets the connection – bhs loso loso, small step – switch ring, mostly secure – side aerial, no trouble – aerial, solid – side somi, huge break, massive save, insanity, leaned all the directions – double pike, short landing, large hop forward.  13.233

Malewski – GER – BB – loso mount, secure – side aerial loso, holds it well – switch to switch 1/2, check, some feet – aerial, lean arm wave correction, small – wolf triple, around – just a full dismount, a little off to the side, hop.

13.466 puts her into first.

Barbosu – ROU – BB – front tuck mount, large break, brings it back on with leg up to horizontal – fhs to front tuck, completely off the beam, only nudges it with one foot as the drives on past – resumes, side aerial is hit – switch, stops before switch 1/2, pauses again before Korbut – hits wolf double – split leap 1/2, secure – 2.5, crossover step. 11.566 for her.

Petisco – ESP – BB – loso mount immediate fall, she was REALLY far back on the springboard going into that – resumes with full turn – front tuck, secure with arm wave – split to wolf jump – bhs bhs loso, check – switch, back leg to switch 1/2, hitting pretty securely now – split jump 1/2 from side, solid showing the split after the 1/2 turn – side aerial – double tuck dismount, chest down, hit.

12.400 for her still puts her in 3rd place right now because only 2 people have stayed on.

Heduit – BB – FRA – switch mount, good – wolf double, little lean – onodi, hit, some knees, little check – side aerial loso, holds it, leg up, loses leg form – switch to sissone, nice position in switch – aerial, hit to split jump – double pike dismount, quite short, lunge forward.

Into 2nd with a 13.400. I would have had a problem had that gone ahead of Malewski.

Schaefer – BB – GER – switch to a balked combo, doesn’t switch leap again, just hops in the air – split leap – bhs loso, lovely position – switch ring, secure – think she ditched the double turn as well – hits the Schaefer, hop to the side – aerial to split jump to stag ring, nicely done – side aerial, secure – gainer layout, stuck. Well it was fantastic after her little Becky Cameron jump in her mount sequence.

But 13.200 will not medal here. Just a 5.1 D score.

Achampong – BB – GBR – aerial to split to straddle, nicely done – bhs loso loso, secure as well – side aerial, check – doesn’t try to connect to switch ring, which has some foot flexing – y spin – split 1/2 from side – bhs bhs 2/5, bound forward. Mostly secure work save for the side aerial sequence.

13.400, she’s into second, ahead of Heduit on execution tiebreak. Malewski will take the gold.

BEAM:
1) Malewski – 13.466
2) Achampong – 13.400
3) Heduit – 13.400

Well that was close. I do think Malewski had the strongest beam of the day, though. But seriously the top 5 could have gone in any order. Schaefer had the highest E score of the final but couldn’t overcome that 5.1 D score.

Floor final time!

Maggio – FX – ITA – wolf triple, around – DLO, just a bit short, small hop forward – front lay through to a high double pike, small bounce – shake weight choreography – split ring leap – switch ring 1/2 – FTDT is under control – double tuck, good control. Well, that should at least medal.

13.933, huge number. Already crying.

Barbosu – FX – ROU – wolf double, good – split leap 1.5, around, not quite to 180 – full in, small hop – 2.5 to front full, some leg crossing, hop to the side – switch full – double pike, bounce back. Double tuck, chest more down there, hop forward. Good.

13.633 is a HUGE number for her.

Visser – FX – NED – gets her 3/1 to front tuck combination again somehow despite being under the earth – I’d say the double y spin dropped early here – 2/1, bounce back – switch ring and split full are good – double tuck is very very short, large lunge forward.

13.133, into 3rd but also tells us how high scores are going today.

Kovacs – FX – HUN – a little deep in the double double today but fine with a slide back – popa – DLO, slide – switch to split leap full – back 1.5 and completely misses the punch into her combo, does about a tucked 3/4 to her side – double tuck, steps back. 12.533

Today has been Kovacs’ career in a nutshell.

Jennifer Gadirova – FX – GBR – DLO, bounce back – split jump full, really nice, great height – full in, somewhat out of control with a hop to the side but holds it – swtitch ring to split leap full – switch 1/1, pulls it around – front lay to double tuck, a bit deep, lunge back, keeps it in bounds.

13.466 is third place.

Osyssek-Reimer – FX – FRA – double double tuck, a couple steps in stumble backward but stayed in bounds – front layout through to double tuck, bounce back, that one did look OOB, multiple feet? – popa – split leap full, a little under rotated – double pike, lunge back – 12.666

Andreoli – FX – ITA – wolf triple – two whips to piked full in, pretty solid control on that landing – front lay through to double pike, small slide – switch, switch 1/1 is short of split – double y to illusion, will get credit there – full in, chest down but survived it – double tuck, hop to the side. For me, that would be in 2nd right now.

Almost accidental congratulations mouth kiss with Maggio.

She is, barely behind Maggio though on 13.866.

Jessica Gadirova – FX – GBR – does her Siliv-ish and it’s hit, bounce back – switch full, great height – DLO, gets it up there but pikes down at the end, bounce back – switch ring to split leap 1.5 – popa, nice position – front full to double tuck, a little forward, hop

14.000 is into first place! That won’t be controversial, not at all.

I thought she had given away too many landing bounces but she ends up with the top E.

FLOOR:
1) Jessica Gadirova – 14.000
2) Maggio – 13.933
3) Andreoli – 13.866

Women’s European Championship — Team Final Live Blog

Will Italy’s dominant performance in qualification carry through to a gold medal today? Is Germany a realistic challenger to France for the bronze? It’s time to find out.

Italy and #2 qualifier Great Britain begin on vault, France and Germany on bars, Belgium and Netherlands on beam, and Hungary and Spain on floor.

Start list surprises:
-Italy not putting Andreoli on any events, including floor where she made the event final.
-France not putting Friess on floor in favor of Boyer, who scored .433 lower in Q

Start list…not surprises but noteworthy:
-No Jessica Gadirova on beam after her fall in qualification
-Malewski on bars instead of Voss
-Netherlands is not using Shade van Oorschot

Rotation 1

Here, GB is supposed to have a slight edge putting up 3 DTYs while Italy has 2 DTYs and 1 Y1.5.

Jessica Gadirova almost tripped while turning around during the intro, which is the gymnast special.

Germany tried to add some choreography today, and I think Schaefer forgot to wave and then no one knew what was up. It’s not their style.

We’re starting with Louon on BB – hits loso mount – bhs loso series, very nice height, secure landing – L turn, drops ever so slightly early, good extension – aerial, some bending of the front knee – wolf double, hit – side aerial, pretty – switch to split, clear positions – 1.5 dismount, step back, a little short. Good start. 12.833

Maggio starts Italy with 13.633 on vault, a hair down from qualification. Today, landing a bit short with a step back.

Kinsella goes 13.466 for her DTY, which is also down on qualification and lower than Maggio’s 1.5 score. Larrrrgeee stumble back on landing, multiple steps.

Malewski – UB – GER – hits piked jaeger – pak to eote on toe toe full to van leeuwen, solid combination, legs togehter until the van leeuwen – struggles to land her double front dismount but does, large bound forward. 13.100

Asia D’Amato goes 13.833 for her DTY. Maybe one of these days we’ll see a vault live.

Friess went 13.266 on bars, a big increase from day 1.

Heduit – UB – France – weiler 1/2, legs into stalder shap to Ricna, hit – pak to pak, nice turnover in ray, som e leg sep in pak – toe full on low, recasts before van leeuwen, hit – double front, hop forward. 13.800

Achampong goes 13.900 for her DTY, good height, control the landing, small hop back with a pike down at the end.

Alice D’Amato leads vault thus far with a 14.100, good height and distance, bounce back.

Vaelen – BB – Belgium – punch front mount, step – switch to switch side, secure – bhs back tuck a little fraught in the air but hit it with a check – double turn, wobble – side somi, holds with a lean – front tuck, foot slips off and can’t save it, though it looked like she might for a second, fall – high 2/1 dismount, slide back. 11.833

Jessica Gadirova went 14.000 on vault.

Bui – UB – Germany – Jaeger to pak, nicely done – maloney to bhrwaj, slightly crooked on catch but fine – van leeuwen, legs break, hit – ahhhh toe full very late and crazy, has to add a giant swing after with all kinds of legs and elbows – FTDT, step. Just 13.433

Italy up 2 tenths on GB, which is an improvement for them over Q.

Charpy – UB – shaposh 1/2, hit – toe 1/2 to piked jaeger, somewhat close but fine – piked hindorff to pak, pretty pak – toe on past vertical – casts and hits van leeuwen – giant full – DLO, deep landing, pulls it out, bound forward. Some moments but survived.

Gadirova’s DTY was solid, but like Achampong she piked down at the end to find the landing and got hit for body position on landing.

13.266 for Charpy is also well down on qualification, but not as large an error as Bui’s.

So…….we’ve lost the stream???

So I’m back up on a VPN but missed Seitz’s bars in the process (fun!)

Petisco – FX – FTDT, hit – double arabian, just a tad short, step back – switch to split leap full – double tuck, deep, hop forward – wolf 2.25 – switch 1/2, some feet – double pike, jarred herself on a somewhat short landing, step forward.

Volleman – BB – Netherlands – front handspring, no connection – does kickover front and connects to a korbut to have her acro series – L turn, hit – side somi, holds it with a small squeeze – switch, short of split, arm wave and no connection aagin – now does switch to cat leap – full turn, hit – gainer pike full dismount gets troubling, short, large lunge to the side/forward

So we’re back up and running on the normie stream, and they have fixed it so that Olly and Blythe are now able to be heard. But was it worth missing Seitz on bars. Was it?

After 1 Rotation:
Italy 41.566 (+0.468)
GB 41.366 (-0.033)
Germany 40.833 (-0.667)
France 40.332 (+0.266)
Belgium 37.599
Spain 37.065
Hungary 36.566
Netherlands 36.466

Good news for Italy and France in rotation 1.

Rotation 2

Visser – FX – Netherlands – whip to 3/1 to front tuck, does pull out the front tuck but it is sideways and low with a leg break – double L turn to double turn, double y turn to illusion to get all her turn value – 2/1, comfortable, small hop – switch ring and split leap full, some feet – double tuck, a bit deep

Achampong – UB – GB – inbar to inbar 1/2, pause with legs – hits jaeger, slightly close – stalder tkatcehv piked to pak, catches close and has to stop against the bar for 15 hours – toe full, pretty late – stalder shap 1/2, legs – just a double tuck dismount instead of the FTDT, hop forward.

Achampong missed in qualification, but they didn’t pull her for Gadirova because her potential score is so much higher, but this will not improve on her miss from qualification.

Medina hits a FTY for Spain, hop, some pike.

12.433 for Achampong.

Malewski just 12.700 for Germany on beam after her 13.500 on Q.

Villa – UB – Italy – tkatchev to pak to maloney to bhardwaj, lovely – van leeuwen – a bit short on hs – front giant full is good, right to the end fo the bars – FTDT, slightly deep, slide back. 14.166

Now Heduit goes 11.300 on beam, which France very much did not need because Germany was giving them tenths upon tenths.

Voss – BB – Germany – loso mount, hit, small arm correction – side aerial to loso, high, hit, small check – split leap full, around – full turn, minor overturn – switch to switch 1/2 – some back leg on the switch 1/2 and subsequent split jump – aerial – 2.5, lunge to the side – solid work, minor checks only and then the lunge on dismount. 13.500

Good Y1.5 from Bacskay, stuck landing, some knees throughout.

Kinsella went 14.000 on bars.

Asia D;Amato – UB – Italy – Nabieva to pak, hit, legs apart on pak – toe full – maloney, legs into tkatchev, hit connection – shuffles across bar – short 1/2 turn – front giant full to double front, step back. 14.000

Kovacs good DTY, hop back.

Now Boyer just 12.866 on beam, which again gives tenths back to Germany.

Schaefer – BB – Germany – switch to switch, small pause before split jump, good elements – bhs loso series, very solid – switch ring, check – double turn, wobble, holds it – Schaefer, hits it, hop to the side – aerial to split jump to stag ring, good connection rhythm – side aerial, secure – gainer layout, hop back. 13.733

The race for bronze is back on.

Fenton – UB – GB – Fenton to yezhova, good one, some of her best leg form on that – maloney to pak, clean – van leeuwen, legs together – clear hip to giant full – FTDT, nearly collapses in depth there but pulls it out, hop back. Really one of her best ones until the dismount, but that wasn’t disastrous. 13.700, thought it would be higher.

Osyssek-Reimer – BB – check on switch mount – switch to split, hit, some back leg – ro back layout, good height, step back – aerial she’s well short on it and falls – switch 1/2, good lift – and it’s a second fall for her on a side somi – finishes double pike dismount, stuck.

Ayyyyyy. France with a full beam disaster.

Meanwhile, Italy got a 14.633 from Alice D’Amato to establish a 3 point lead on GB as they just need to vaguely stay on apparatuses at this point.

Just 11.766 for Osyssek, the second 11 of the beam rotation.

After 2:
1 Italy – 84.365
2 GB – 81.499
3 Germany – 80.766
4 Hungary 77.765
5 France 76.264
6 Spain 76.097
7 Belgium 75.565
8 Netherlands 75.465

France is well over 2 points down on its qualification score, while Germany is just 2 tenths down. The Germans have every ability to upset for a medal here now.

Rotation 3

Villa – BB – Italy – loso mount is nice – round off back tuck again, it’s more ginger than in q but hit again – wolf triple, comfortable – switch to split, good – double turn, corrects with a little extra 1/4 turn – side aerial, holds well despite being a little under – 2/1, bounce back. One beam down. 13.300

Verkest hits a FTY with a large bounce back

Boyer starts France with a 12.700 on floor. Visser hits her own FTY, clean in the air, with a bound back.

Schaefer – FX – Germany – double L to double turn, dropped the double L a little early – double front, lunge forward, keeps it in bounds – door creaking open music – triple turn, hit – front 2/1 is deep, lunge back to get the landing – good split leap full – front full, hop forward – split ring to switch ring – 12.433

Achampong goes 13.700 on beam, which is a very strong number.

Maggio – BB – switch mount – larger break with leg up to horizontal – switch to sissone combination – bhs loso, a bit rushed, leg up – switch ring, hit, only a msall correction – side aerial – aerial, leg up check again – side somi, forward, pulls it back – double pike, small hop to the side

A nervy one with a lot of balance deductions, but they just need to vaguely stay on most things at this point. 13.066

Vaelen vaults her handspring rudi, leg crossing in the air, but again good control on landing, small hop.

Jennifer Gadirova – BB – switch to switch 1/2, hit, a bit low on switch 1/2, breaks combo to back tuck, secure – aerial is way way short and off to the side, falls – split jump, pause before straddle jump, adds wolf jump to get her dance combination – straddle jump 1/2 from side, high – bhs loso, was right now, nearly fell working out of it but saves – side aerial – double pike, hop back. 12.500

Good Y1.5 from Van Pol, small hop to the side

Voss with just 11.266 for Germany on floor.

Kovacs – UB – Hungary – inbar full to stalder shap 1/2, excellent – inbar 1/2 gets crooked, still tried to go for the piked jaeger out of it but could not catch it – her coach trying to catch her nearly tripped over her – resumes with a clean finish and a stuck FTDT.

Osyssek Reimer – FX – France – double double tuck, hit, small movement – front loso to double tuck, chest forward, stagger back on landing – good popa – split leap full, high, slight stumble on landing – double pike, shuffle back – L hop full – switch 1/2 – 13.166

Asia D’Amato went 13.800 on beam, ensuring that all Italy has to do on floor is cough.

Kinsella – BB – GB – switch, holds it – aerial, hit – side aerial to loso, high, some knee form, secure – wolf double, lean forward to keep it together at the end – switch to switch 1/2, solid, a bit short on switch position – double pike dismount, much better, step back. 13.733

Bui – UB – Germany – wolf single and no dramatics today – split jump full – DLO, very solid – double tuck, bounce back – 2.5 to front tuck, leg crossing in the 2.5 – switch switch full – double pike, small bounce. Germany needed that one.

Standing ovation for her last floor.

13.033 for Bui takes Germany more than 2 points ahead of France, which is critical because France can definitely gain 2 points on vault.

After 3:
1 Italy 124.531
2 GB 121.432
3 Germany 117.498
4 Hungary 117.030
5 Netherlands 115.798
6 Belgium 115.698
7 France 115.096
8 Spain 114.396

Standings will be a bit misleading here because France still has to vault, which is a great event for them, while Hungary still has to go to beam, which is beam.

Would take some kind of natural disaster to shift 1-2 at this point.

Rotation 4

Jennifer Gadirova – FX – high DLO, bounce back, just does keep it in bounds – FTDT, solid, small hop – switch ring, split leap full, solid – switch full, pulled around – front loso to double tuck, super deep landing, a couple lunges back and OOB. 13.133

Bui – VT – a little flat on her FTY but fine, hop back. 13.266

Makovits – BB – Hungary – front tuck mount, step back – aerial, knee but secure – side aerial to bhs, hit – switch to split, connected, slightly short on split – side somi, held well – split leap – 1.5, lunge forward. A hit. 12.266

Dear dear dear Osyssek with just a 12.033 on vault. It has all fallen apart for France. We’re not going to get to see it because they saw France in 7th place and didn’t think that counted as close.

Seitz – VT – hits yfull, an overenergetic bounce up in place but she controls it with…I mean basically a balance check? 13.333

Maggio 13.733 on floor.

Kinsella – FX – 1.5 through to 3/1, steps back OOB – 2.5 to front full, step, some knees – wolf double, pulls it around – split leap full through to switch full – double pike, only small movement –

Heduit did get 13.800 on vault for France, but any glimmer of hope was gone after the Osyssek score.

Voss finishes vault for Germany adds back in the DTY and it’s excellent, small hop.

After the Bui error on bars, you didn’t think there was much hope for Germany, but they were excellent today and France had a nightmare.

Voss 14.333 to clinch the bronze.

Long long wait on Kinsella’s floor score. That was months ago.

Friess went 14.233 on vault, so France will finish about 3 points shy of Germany. Just a huge upset and huge result for Germany.

Alice D’Amato – FX – hits double y whip whip to 3/1 with a bounce to the side – double pike, very secure – wolf double – switch to split leap full, normal – front 2/1 goes awry with a lunge forward OOB – switch ring very nice –

13.333 extends Italy’s lead to over 4 points.

Oooh Nehterlands will beat France.

Gadirova – FX – her opening pass is all the shapes today – large bounce back and completely OOB on that – switch full – DLO, pike down just a bit, small control movement – switch ring to split leap 1.5 – popa – front loso to double tuck, good stick –

That will clinch the silver. 13.233.

Asia D’Amato needs a 9.

D’Amato – FX – DLO 1/1, good, slide back, small amount of piking – double arabian, little hop – popa, good – switch to switch 1/1, pretty solid split position – double pike, bounce – “let’s start the marching band” stomp – double tuck, slide.

That will do it easily of course. Another great competition for Italy.

FINAL:
1) Italy – 165.163
2) Great Britain – 161.164
3) Germany – 158.430
4) Netherlands – 156.464
5) Belgium – 155.530
6) France – 155.162
7) Hungary – 154.095
8) Spain – 161.695

(Kinsella’s score upgraded by 6 tenths to 13.366 and to its normal difficulty of 5.5)

Huge deal for Germany to get that bronze. I’m still unmoored at France’s performance. We didn’t see all the routines, but what was it 6 falls?

Germany throwing Kim Bui up in the air now. The biggest miracle is that no one dropped her.

Women’s European Championship — Qualification Live Blog

Today brings us the entirety of senior women’s qualification, which also determines all of the European places at worlds (by the end of the day, we’ll know everyone who qualified to Liverpool) and serves as the all-around final since this meet doesn’t have a separate all-around final this year. So it’s a lot.

STREAM: https://www.eurovisionsports.tv/europeangymnastics/

SCORES: https://results.mun.mev.atos.net/ECM2022/en/results/artistic-gymnastics/results-women-qual-000001-.htm

Subdivision 1

In this first group, we have the Netherlands, Germany, Turkey, Austria, Slovakia, Latvia, and Croatia. Turkey and Austria start on vault, Netherlands and Croatia on bars, Latvia and Germany on beam, and Slovakia on floor.

It’s helpful that Turkey and Austria are rotating together because the comparison between them (and their ultimate placement) will be very instructive about world championship qualification places. This first rotation is also important for the Netherlands since there are a couple potential bars event finalists on this team.

Introductions underway 6 minutes early. I love you, Germany.

Gymnasts walk out into the center circle to wave. A real missed opportunity to have it rotate like a lazy Susan.

Turkey waved. Austria has a choreographed introduction with steps and wrists. The Dutch have arms crossed and then a clapping point. A very different kind of intro for the Dutch. Less dancy, more eat my knuckles. Germany is like, “we are waving, and you’re lucky to have it.”

Olenova – BB – Latvia – opens with a candle mount, pretty solid – bhs loso series and falls, will get deducted for quite a bit of leg position there as well – front tuck, large break, keeps it on, bend at the hips – aerial, short, 2nd fall – switch to wolf, connected for composition requirement – full turn, overturns a bit – punch front lay dismount is hit we think as we’re seeing it from a blimp. 9.466

Kayisoglu opens with 12.066 on vault for Turkey.

Volleman 13.200 for Netherlands.

Usakova 11.000 on FX for Slovakia.

I love how much not routines we’re seeing. Definitely didn’t want to see Veerman’s bars.

Yildiz on 12.666 for Turkey in the second spot on vault.

Word on the street is that Veerman fell on her dismount. 12.800.

Kalamarova – FX – Slovakia – oooh a second routine! Tight pike position in double pike, lands chest well down with a lunge – 1.5 to front lay, some bent leg position – double Y spin attempt – nice elevation on wolf jump full – looks like she pulled around her double L turn – 2/1 dismount, very deep, did well to stay on her feet but a multi-stumble back. 11.066

We jump into Visser midway through but see her hit her tkatchev 1/2 into yezhova – stalder shap to pak is nice – van leeuwen, hit – toe full, good finish position – FTDT, small slide. Very good.

14.266 for Visser which really should be more than enough for the event final.

Locmele went 9.000 on beam for Latvia.

Van Pol – UB – Netherlands – straddle jaeger, hit – Ray, also hit – pak, all unconnected but hit – the handstand vultures are licking their lips – maloney to bail, a bit short, into toe shoot to give 2010 realness – hop full, tkatchev, very short cast hs – double tuck. A solid hit but won’t be a big number.

12.800, same as Veerman’s fall.

Ananjeva went 8.233 for Latvia in the third spot on beam.

Elbe – BB – Latvia – trying to finish the rotation with their first 10 – check before wolf double but gets the element well – shoulder roll, yes you did – side aerial, falls – lone bhs, knees – split jump to wolf jump, 2nd fall – tuck jump 1/2 from side, holds onto it, lean forward – gainer front full dismount is nice. 9.000

Netherlands 40.266 – they’ll have wanted a hit from Veerman for finals purposes but no worries yet for team.

Turkey 38.032 – we’ll know whether that’s good when we see what Austria does. Allegedly, Turkey should be the slightly stronger vault team.

Germany coming up in the second half of the first rotation.

Malewski – BB – Germany – loso mount is securely done – side aerial to loso, also well done, small check – switch to switch 1/2, feet in switch 1/2 but solid splits overall – aerial, check, leg up, some feet – wolf triple, pulls it around, slight hesitation in the third turn – round off just a layout full, bounce back. Good work. She’s largely on the team for beam so that they don’t have to use Seitz or Bui in TF, and she delivered on her most important piece. 13.500, great number. Huge actually.

Kroll starts vault with 12.566 for Austria.

Kickinger – VT – Austria – eye jewels – yfull is a bit of a struggle, pretty large pike down and a hop forward. But 12.733 will still help the mission to get ahead of Turkey.

Bui – BB – Germany – loso mount, also hit – bhs loso, secure landing, a bit tight in body position – side aerial, good – split to wolf jump, connected – straight jump 1.5 is strong – switch, pause before switch 1/2 no combination, but both elements landed with minimal deduction – gainer pike full dismount, small hop. You guys she’s basically a beamer now. 12.833, really good one for her.

Mader 12.333 on vault, C Morz 12.833. That means Austria will go 38.132, a tenth up on Turkey. So advantage Austria to start.

All three Croatians go in the 10s on bars. It could have been worse.

Kukuljan Frleta falls on a straddle Jaeger, very high though. You can see she has some natural swing and ability on bars, but every handstand finishing position is going to get torched.

We’re waiting on the score for Voss, who fell. 12.266.

Schaefer – BB – Germany – switch mount to switch, a hesitation afterward but lovely split elements – lone split leap is also clean – bhs loso, small check – switch ring, huge break, bend at the hips, stays on – double turn, another pretty large break, leg up – Schaefer is very strong, small arm wave hold – aerial to split to stag ring, more like it, no trouble there – side aerial, little foot slide – gainer layout, stuck. LOTS of shaky moments in there.

13.166 still gets her ahead of Bui for the #2 German score. But there are a number of people who can pass 13.166.

Germany goes 39.499 on beam, which is behind Netherlands, though that was to be expected given the events they were competing. Germany getting through beam without counting a fall means they’re on track and minimized the deficit there.

Rotation 2

Van Pol – BB – Netherlands – switch mount, good split – switch, bit of a pause before sissone if you want to be a dick about compsoition requirements – bhs loso series, large break, leg up, tight but held it – a safety-Rulfova, 3/4 Khorkina style – bhs 1/1 is hit, check – split jump 1/2 – 2.5 dismount is very strong, high and under control. 12.500

Turkey starts bars with 11.233 from Yildiz.

Latvians Standing Championships.

Ananjeva – FX – Latvia – double tuck is short with a fall – switch ring, good back flexibility – split leap full – front full, lots of knees – split jump full, dance elements are her thing – 2/1, bounce back. 10.800

We have a 10.966 from Van Oorschot on beam, so they’ll need to drop that one.

Looks like two straight misses to start for Turkey on bars. Tarhan goes 11.100.

Visser – BB – Netherlands – bhs mount, fragile, step back and a little lean – switch, pause before side somi, secure – split jump 1/1 from side, lean – straight jump full from side is hit – side aerial to bhs, turns to the side to save it but solid composure – double turn, check – split leap to sissone, lovely – ro bhs 2.5, hop forward. She stayed on and didn’t break into a thousand pieces. 12.233

Volleman – BB – Netherlands – bhs mount, a bit off line, check – fhs to kickover front, secure, some form – L turn, holds leg up at horizontal enough – illusion, hit – side somi, good height, well done – switch, back leg, into a cat leap – korbut – double turn and spins herself right off. It was going so well before that – gainer full dismount in laypuck shape.

Big advantage for Germany now in those comparative beam rotations.

Not helping things for Turkey, a miss from bars secret weapon Nazli Savranbasi for 10.333.

11.300 fro Volleman which will have to count.

Netherlands 36.033 on beam to Germany’s 39.499. So yeah.

Malewski – FX – Germany – split jump full, good – double tuck, pretty large bounce back and an additional hop – triple turn – switch ring – switch 1/2 – front full, knees – wolf double, pulls it around – 2/1, a bit crunched over but hit it. 12.466

Mader opens bars for Austria with a 12.066, already higher than all the Turkish scores.

Kroll – UB – Austria – blind to jaeger, good toes, a little close – pak, legs apart – maloney to bail, some elbows – toe on to clear hip, legs, into toe shoot – short cast hs on high – giant full, late – 2/1 dismount, hop. Second hit for them. 11.800

Does Schaefer’s routine start with a door creaking sound?

Derek – BB – switch mount, small check – switch to side somi, hit well – bhs loso, large break remarkable save – seemed certain she would go over, large lean pause and then steps to the side – aerial to split jump, good but breaks connection into bhs – switch 1/2 is high – side aerial, good – sissone to wolf jump, lovely sissone – gainer pike full dismount, high, step to the side. Still goes 12.666

Voss – FX – Germany – high split leap full – 3/1, hangs up there, a little stagger on landing – 2.5 to front lay, good rise in layout, small hop forward, leans to prevent herself from going OOB with another step – double L turn, dropped a tad early, but connects into full turn – back 1.5 to front full, small step – 2/1, bounce back. 12.100. Pretty low for her but she only got a 4.3 D.

Austria goes 36.766 on bars compared to Turkey’s 33.799. So that’s different.

Bui – FX – Germany – preposterous roll out of her double wolf turn that really should count as a fall but won’t because of he trailed off – DLO, bounce back – double tuck, good height, hop – split leap full – 2.5 to front pike, thought for sure she was going OOB on that but kept it in – solid leap passage – double pike, fairly deep, covers it well into a flourish.

12.866 is the top German floor score, but she can do better. The Netherlands will feel they can gain a little bit of ground on that, but enough to make up for beam?

After 2 rotations, Germany has an edge of 1.3 on the Netherlands.

Rotation 3

Yildiz – BB – Turkey – oh look Turkey exists – loso mount with a check – bhs bhs loso, bend at the hips, stays on, another check – switch – straight jump full from side, low but survived it – aerial, short but holds onto it – split jump, low back leg, into wolf – side aerial, secure – y spin becomes a disaster, falls – 2/1 dismount, hop back.

Volleman opened floor for the Netherlands with 13.000, which already beats all of Germany.

Visser – FX – Netherlands – whip to 3/1 to punch front Chinese tribute, some legs but hits it – double L turn to double turn, smooth – double y to illusion, overturns but no one cares in combinations – switch 1/2 – 2/1, easy and high, small hop – choreography of putting on her pants? – split leap full – double tuck, some cowboy, pretty solid landing. Well composed in terms of “this is slightly clunky and I know you’re not allowed to deduct for it” usage.

13.633 is a big number for floor.

11.866 on beam for Uctas Sanli.

Van Oorschot – FX – Netherlands – double y into illusion, a little sluggish but she got everything around – whip 3/1, small bounce – 1.5 to front tuck, solid, some legs – split leap full, good position – switch to switch 1/2 – split jump full, fine – double tuck, has to cowboy some, step back.

12.566 for her. Much lower E than her teammates.

Just 9.600 for Tarhan on beam.

Kayisoglu – BB – Turkey – grabs the beam on her mount – bhs bhs loso, another very large break, bend past horizontal, keeps it on – switch to split ring jump, some control but gets the back leg up there – aerial to split to wolf, gets the three combination – switch 1/2 is off line, and that’s a fall – side aerial hit – 1.5, lunge to the side. 10.766

Just a disastrous day for Turkey.

Netherlands goes 39.266 on floor to Germany’s 38.099, which is exactly the kind of significant ground they needed to make up to keep this interesting.

Kukuljan Frleta – FX – Croatia – OOB on a double tuck to start – 2.5, step – falls out of what would have been a double Y attempt but she’s committing to the choreography here even though it will be an E score apocalypse.

Bui opens with a 13.100 on VT for her Yfull.

Mader – VT – Austria – switch, check, lean – bhs loso, secure landing, knees – side aerial, again a small check, holds it – L turn, pulls it around – side somi, lean forward, pulls it back – y spin, check side to side – split jump is short, connected to sissone – gainer pike, hop forward. A hit. 11.866

Voss leads Germany on vault with 13.433 for her Yfull, nearly stuck, small hop in place. NCAA 9.875. That will keep them well ahead of Netherlands because vault, but Netherlands still has vault to come. Germany will, however, be able to counter with bars, their best event.

We see a replay of Seitz with a clean Yfull, bounce back.

We didn’t see Derek on floor (who would have wanted that???) but she goes 12.766.

Kickinger’s 12.233 is Austria’s top beam score.

Sulekic – FX – Croatia – wolf turn 1.5 ish – solid split leap full – double pike ejects herself backward with a shuffle – solid simple front lay – switch and switch 1/2, no problem – back layout full, step. 11.433

Kröll – BB – Austria – wolf double, solid – bhs loso, secure – switch to sissone, short of back leg positions – illusion, small arm wave correction – side aerial, good height, check – side somi, large break, another excellent save to stay on, leans backward and forward but holds it – 1.5 dismount, large hop back. 12.033.

Germany 39.633 on vault in rotation 3. Gain further ground on Netherlands.

Rotation 4

Visser – VT – Netherlands – clean enough yfull, just a little pike at the end, small slide. Good day for her overall, even with a shaky beam. 13.133

Volleman – VT – Netherlands – sticks her yfull very well – not as much distance or block as Visser and some more pike but good landing. 12.833

Ananjeva – UB – Latvia – front stalder to front stalder 1/2 – OK NOW – clear hip to toe shoot, not to handstand on the clear hip – giant full, late, can’t get over on the next giant and hops off – and now dismounts with a double tuck.

Veerman went 13.200 on vault

Van Pol – VT – Netherlands – finishes the day for NED, and it’s excellent – Y1.5, very clean position in the air, small hop forward. 13.566

39.899 for them on vault. Done on a 155.464 team score.

Kalamarova on beam hits bhs loso – large break on y spin – lots of y spins today – aerial to split jump – side aerial, small lean, overall more aggressive and confident than we’ve seen from the lower-ranked countries today – holds onto the side somi without giving away a check – bhs tuck full dismount, lunge. Good.

Floor scores have been a lot better for Turkey. 12.600 for Uctas Sanli. 104.929 for them coming into rotation 4.

Tarhan – FX – Turkey – split leap full, good height – DLO is short, hands down – switch to switch 1/2 – front pike through to 2/1, step back, just a bit of legs – double pike, again short, hands down, 2nd fall. That’s sort of the story for Turkey.

Turkey is done on 140.562.

Austria was on 111.064 after 3 events, so would need only 29.5 on floor to pass Turkey, or less than 10s. But they’ll have an eye on racking up the scores to get into worlds, which they are looking very solid for if they get through floor.

Kröll – FX – Austria – falls out of double y before completing, into full turn – double tuck, bounce back OOB – split jump full is strong – switch 1/2, good – front full to stag, some legs – 1.5, small movement – swithc ring, split leap full – 11.700

Germany is on 117.230 heading into this rotation, so will need to beat 38.234 on bars to pass the Netherlands on 155.464.That’s an average of about 12.750 for the hits.

Malewski – UB – Gemrany – piked jaeger, good – pak to toe on to toe full, good finish psoition, just some feet – van leeuwen, hit – blind, leg break into double front, very cowboyed, hop back. Good day. 13.100 that works.

Korent – VT 1 – Croatia – hs front tuck full, pulls it out, lands deep with a hop to the side.

Voss matched Malewski with 13.100.

Korent – VT 2 – Croatia – yfull, shuffle back, leg separation in the air. 12.816 average

Kickinger goes 11.666 on floor for Austria.

Bui – IB – Germany – jaeger to pak, smooth – maloney to bhardwaj, a little crooked but catches – van leeuwen, small leg break – toe full to gienger, nice height – solid 1/2 turn finish on high – FTDT, a bit deep, hits it, hop.

14.200, good number. 2nd behind Visser.

Seitz – UB – Hermany – stalder shap to stalder tkatchev, good – jaeger, clean feet – Church to pak, good legs togehter on pak – van leeuwen hit – toe full – FTDT, hop back. She’s back.

14.200 for her as well. Bui goes ahead of her on E score. Seitz in 3rd.

Gigantic 41.500 for Germany on bars. They’ll got 158.730, strong number.

Mader – FX – Austria – she’ll finish out the session – doubel L turn, definitely around – 1.5 to layout, looks like both feet landed OOB – double tuck, slightly short, hop – Y turn about 2.375 around – split jump full – finishes them out with a hit.

12.433 for her. Big E score.

35.799 on floor for Austria, and a final of 146.863. So that’s the mark that other nations will be trying to pass to feel good about getting into worlds.

Kickinger and Mader in as Austria’s top 2 AAers should team qualification not happen. Otherwise, Kayisoglu and Yildiz of Turkey are the top 2 in the AA for what currently look like the non-team gymnasts.

Team:
Germany – 158.730
Netherlands – 155.464
Austria – 146.863
Turkey – 140.562
Slovakia – 137.896
Croatia – 137.794
Latvia – 120.396

SUBDIVISION 2

And we’re right into subdivision 2! Hungary and Spain headline this one.

Eriksson – FX – Sweden – lovely movement quality – double tuck, step back, controls it fairly well – wolf double, around, good toe point – switch to split leap full, a little short – front full, somewhat low – popa, good – switch 1/2 – front lay, step forward. 12.000

Molloy 10.133 to start bars for Ireland.

Mäkelä – VT – Finland – hits a Y1.5, somewhat deep landing with a lunge forward, solid position in teh air.

13.266 follows 12.733 from Hautala.

Mäkelä’s second vault is a Tsuk back layout, a moment of nice open in there. Her average will go ahead of Korent.

Just 11.133 for Paulsson of Sweden on floor, and that will have to count because they’re putting up only 3.

Tanskanen went 13.100 for her Y1.5.

Slevin – UB – Ireland – toe 1/2, struggles to try to get it around – casts and pauses in cast, has to hop off. Resumes with Maloney to pak, really nice – van leeuwen, some legs but hit – jaeger, and a second fall for her, jarring fall as her hands peel off – resumes with her back 2/1 dismount, which is nice.

Not the start Ireland wanted for their worlds AA qualification hopes.

Kuusikko led Finland with a 13.333 on vault. 39.699 team total. Huge. Sweden went 35.433 on floor, which is a few tenths down on what Austria scored there.

Borg – BB – Malta – switch to split, secure – long pause before series, bhs to back pike, very solid – y spin, overturns it to correct but holds it – straight jump full and can’t hold it, fall – side somi, arm wave – large wobble in side choreography – side aerial, second fall – small hop on dismount. Really nice beginning. 9.5.

The good news for her is that she’ll get to worlds for a couple events from the world cups regardless.

Vella Clark – BB – Malta – single wolf turn, solid – aerial, good extension – side aerial, also solid – side aerial, small check – straight jump full from side, hit – long pause before series from her too, bhs bhs loso, only a small wobble – switch to split, connected – front layout full dismount, hop. EXCELLENT! 12.033

Slevin escapes bars with 10.133, which she’ll take given the 2 falls.

Makovits – BB – Hungary – hits front tuck mount, small step – full turn slightly tentative but fine – aerial and falls, came up a little short, tried to style it out with her leg up but was too short to save it – side aerial to bhs is nicely done – switch to split, some back leg – side somi, holds it – split leap – 1.5 dismount, step. Fine but they’ll want to drop because, you know, fall.

11.400

Paula Raya starts Spain off with a useful 12.700 on bars.

Fernandez – UB – Spain – maloney to gienger, some leg break on catch but small – blind with a leg hesitation to piked jaeger, hit – Ray, closeish but fine – pak, straddles it – hesitaties on cast, repeates with 1/2 turn – shoot toe high – giant full – back 2/1 dismount, small hop. 11.833

Mayer goes 12.833 2nd up for Hungary on beam, a strong result.

Kovacs – BB – Hungary – switch mount to switch 1/2 to korbut, great rhythm in combination – side aerial to bhs, only a very small check, good correction – aerial to straddle jump to split jump, great speed again – falls on double turn, it was going so well – side somi, almost non-ugly version, but a second fall – double tuck dismount, hop forward.

Still goes 11.900 for two falls. That’s how high she can score.

Casabuena goes 13.000 for Spain on bars.

Petisco – UB – Spain – clear hip to maloney to bail, some leg break, good toe point – stalder shoot to high – blind to jaeger, again form is nice – Ray, comfortable – giant 1/2, late – giant full – FTDT, deepish landing with a lunge.

Bacskay finishes with 11.133 for Hungary on beam. NOT the rotation they wanted for team final making hopes.

Spain 38.533 on bars, Hungary 36.133 on beam. Which actually does still beat the Netherlands beam score by a tenth. So there’s hope.

Meanwhile, Finland’s 39.699 on vault beat Germany’s vault score.

Rotation 2

Molloy – BB – Ireland – off immediately on her bhs mount – bhs loso and falls for a 2nd time – switch to split is hit – side somi, secure – split jump 1/2 from side, no check – back tuck, hit – well she got it together nicely but it took 2 falls to get there – 1.5 dismount, lunge. 9.466

Tanskanen starts Finland with 12.033 on bars.

Kuusikko – UB – Finland – shaposh to tkatchev to pak, a little out of control but hit – toe full on low – maloney to a backswing 1/2 turn to yezhova which you don’t see every ever – van leeuwen – DLO, nice landing.

Gigantic 13.466 for her.

Sweden will be counting an 11 on vault.

Slevin went 12.300 on beam, a solid recovery.

Paulsson – VT – Sweden – a lot yfull, just a little short, shuffle forward. 12.733 for her.

Hautala goes 12.633 on bars.

Makela – UB – Finland – clear hip to maloney to pak, a bit of legs in maloney but good – van leeuwen, solid leg form – blind to jaeger, comfortable – toe 1/2 is late – giant full – some elbows in giants – DLO, holds onto the landing.

Amazing rotation on bars for Finland. 12.866 for Makela.

38.965 on bars for Finland, which is stronger than Spain’s bars score.

Hilton – BB – Ireland – good loso mount – side aerial to loso series, step back, some feet, but good – full turn, check – switch, pause, breaks connection into switch 1/2, low, wobble – wplit to wolf jump, good – wolf double, holds it, arm waves about it – 2/1, shortish, hop forward. Useful hit. 12.033

Mordenti – FX – Luxembourg – nice split leap full – double tuck, small shuffle back – split jump full a bit under – 1.5 to stag – wolf double is around – switch to switch 1/2, no trouble – attempts 2.5 final pass, feet slip out from under her. Not her day so far.

Sweden went 36.599, which again drops ground to Austria’s pace.

Medina – BB – Spain – switch mount – aerial, secure – bhs loso and falls, a shame because it was delightfully high – L turn, wobble hesitation but holds onto it – side aerial is solid – switch to wolf jump, good switch position – double pike dismount, chest forward with a hop.

Still a 12.000, which based on today is useful.

Mayer – FX – Hungary – split jump full is strong – open FTDT, good, hop forward – double pike, only small movement – y spin 1.5 – switch ring and split leap 1.5 – back 1.5 to layout is a bit lower than her other work so far – double tuck, shuffle back, looks like she stayed in bounds. Impressive one, she was the one who hit beam too. 12.700

11.866 on beam for Emma Fernandez.

12.033 for Makovits on bfloor that will have to count because they’re only putting up 3.

Casabuena – BB – Spain – remarkable that she didn’t fall on her loso mount, saves it with about a thousand steps, all on the beam – bhs bhs loso RIGHT to the end of the beam, very nice – punch front, stays on, step – switch to switch 1/2 – wolf jump to split jump – aerial, check – side somi, hit – split jump 1/2 from side – double pike, overcooks it and sits it down. An aggressive, routine, always an inch from spinning out of control, and it finally did. 11.733

Martins – UB – Hindorff, struggles with her form swinging out of it but is able to cast, goes for the Martins and is way far away from the bar, falls – alas – resumes with Yezhova – tow fullon low bar, major arch but pulls it back into Maloney to Pak – van leeuwen is hit – DLO, hop back.

Kovacs – FX – Hungary – switch full, some feet – double double, good, bounce back – popa – DLO, no trouble, just a little pike down – – back 1.5 to front 2/1, such slow twisting on the 1.5 and so fast on the 2/1 – double tuck, solid.

Kovacs with a big 13.433 on floor to get Hungary to 38.166, which will do the job.

Alba Petisco goes 13.100 on beam to get Spain to 36.966, which given the beams today, you’ll take.

Hungary at 74.299 after 2. Spain at 75.499. Finland at 78.664.

Kuusikko – BB – Finland – starting with their best one – loso mount with a check – bhs loso, secure, some knees – switch to split, solid – wolf 1.5, a fight to bring that much around – aerial, larger break, bend at the hips – side aerial, holds it – 1.5, hop to the side. Some major breaks but a stay on. 12.533 is a big number!

E Westlund started Sweden with 11.700 on bars.

N Westlund – UB – Sweden – good first hs – maloney to pak, SUPER high – van leeuwen, some legs – clear hip to toe on to blind to jaeger, again good amplitude – giant 1/2, late – giant full – DLO, small hop. Very good one. 13.033

Tanskanen goes 11.033 on beam in the 2nd spot for Finland.

Paulsson – UB – Sweden – toe full to maloney to pak, some leg break, toe full was nearly a problem but ended up with very good finish position – van leeuwen, legs apart – blind to piked jaeger, nice amplitude- has to rush her 1/2 turn and then only does a flyaway dismount. Seemed intentional. 12.866

Borg vaults a Tsuk back pike with a step.

11.300 for Makela on beam, which will count for Finland.

Slevin – FX – Ireland – switch full – double tuck, jars herself back, looked OOB – back 1.5 to front full, hit, small hop – switch – split leap full – comfortable on the leap elements – wolf double – back 2/1

Finland has just 9.700 from Hautala on beam, so the pace has slowed here with a 34.866 beam score.

Finland is still on 113.530 after three events, which means they’re only looking for 33.333 on floor to pass the Austria mark, which is an 11.111 average for the three counting scores.

38.032 for Sweden on bars, so they’re on 109.864 after three events, which will mean they’d need an average of 12.3ish on beam to catch Austria.

Sobral – BB – Portugal – bhs loso series, off line and falls – check on wolf jump, has to improvise a maybe-sissone to try to get a dance series – aerial, falls again, looks like she stubbed her toe as well so that’s fun – side aerial, large wobble to save that one and does – switch side with a wobble – back layout full dismount, hop.

Lorena Medina started Spain with a 12 on floor.

Fernandez – FX – Spain – pulls around a nice wolf triple – 2.5 to front full, front full was underrotated but enough around for credit – double tuck, shuffle back – switch and switch 1/2 good positions – 2/1, some leg crossing, good landing – double pike, short saves it with a walk forward. 12.700

Kovacs’ first vault is a very comfortable DTY with only a small hop. That follows Bacskay’s 13.300 first vault score, so Hungary is looking for a big total here. 14.066 for Kovacs.

Kovacs vault 2 is a strong handspring lay 1/2, does pretty well to maintain the straight position, hop back.

Easily into first on vault.

12.733 for Casabuena on floor for Spain.

Petisco – FX – Spain – FTDT, holds the landing very well – double arabian and sticks it, seemed like she was coming in too lock legged and then she just didn’t move – double tuck, step back – double wolf turn with some intentional roll choreography – double pike is shorter with a lunge forward, but that should score very well.

40.299 for Hungary on vault brings them to 114.598. 38.366 for Spain on floor brings them to 113.865. And then Finland is on 113.530. All looking very comfortable to qualify to worlds.

Rotation 4

Makela – FX – Finland – double tuck, small movement – good L hop full – back 1.5 to front lay, hop forward and possible OOB – split jump full, good split position – double pike, around, low but holds onto the landing – switch ring. Hit. One down. 12.233

Paulsonn – BB – Sweden – shes up after a 12.500 from N Westlund, which is exactly what they wanted – I could watch her move around not doing skills in this replay loop all day long.

She goes 12.366, which continues to put Sweden right on track to pass Austria. Good comeback after starting in rough town on floor and vault.

Hautala goes 12.100 on floor for Finland.

Kuusikko – FX – Finland – DLO isn’t the highest but she pulls it around – front lay through to double tuck, a little forward with a step – 2/1, some leg crossing, hop to the side – wolf double, not quite around both turns – double pike, step. 12.866, nice total.

Emelie Westlund goes 11.266 on beam for Sweden, so they’ll need to drop that.

Bikinaite of Lithuania missed her feet on a toe on, tries to recast, but goes over.

Bachurina – UB – Cyprus – falls on her opening jaeger

Alva Eriksson also goes 11.266 for Sweden, so they’ll have to count one of those.

Sweden is done on 145.996, which will come up just short of the Austria total.

Finland goes 37.632 on floor for a total of 151.162, which is only a little more than 4 points short of the Netherlands total. Netherlands.

Now we’ll see how Hungary and Spain fare in their final rotations.

Parente – FX – Portugal – popa, solid – double tuck, large bounce back – switch and split leap full – switch ring, leaps are solid in this one – 2/1, step back – L turn single – front full.

Fernandez starts Spain with 12.800 on vault. Casabuena follows with a miss for 11.8, large lunge forward on yfull with a hand down.

Makovits starts Hungary with a big 13.066 on bars.

Medina brings it back for Spain on vault with a 12.933.

12.466 on bars for Szekely of Hungary would indicate a miss.

13.266 for Petisco on vault with a college stick on her yfull, so Spain goes 38.799 there.

Kovacs – UB – Hungary – inbar full to stalder shap 1/2, good – inbar 1/2 to piked jaeger – stalder tkatchev piked to pak – van leeuwen – FTDT and knee down! It was going so well, but then…

What a weird day for her. She’ll make vault and floor finals, sandwiched between 2 falls on beam and one fall on bars.

Spain is done on 152.664, which is 3rd place and only 1.5 ahead of Finland.

Well now 4th place after Hungary’s bars.

Kovacs 13.366 on bars.

Mayer finishes bars for Hungary with a hit routine, though lower in content. Flyaway dismount. 11.600 won’t count for them.

But, Hungary goes 38.898 on bars nonetheless, for a total of 153.496 and 3rd place.

That will wrap up the 2nd subdivision.

TEAM:
1) Germany 158.730
2) Netherlands 155.464
3) Hungary 153.496
4) Spain 152.864
5) Finland 151.162
6) Austria 146.863
7) Sweden 145.996
8) Ireland 140.929
9) Turkey 140.562
10) Portugal 138.764
11) Slovakia 137.896
12) Croatia 137.794
13) Latvia 120.396

I’d say the top 5 should feel safe right now, but no one else.

In the AA, the Swedes Nathalie Westlund and Tonya Paulsson and the Irish Halle Hilton and Emma Slevin are currently in the best position for those from teams that aren’t in a good position.

SUBDIVISION 3

This one should be an experience, with Romania and Ukraine the leading teams. Will Norway and Switzerland be able to challenge that Austria number?

In “christ on a crap stick” news, the live scores now have Sfiringu on every event for Romania and Stanciulescu on none. It was the other way around when the start lists were submitted. So we’ll see what this is about.

And Romania marches out with 4, sans Stanciulescu. #RomaniaGonnaRomania

Is it overreacting to say this compromises Romania’s scoring potential like 3-4 points?

Adalsteinsdottir – FX – Iceland – split leap 1.5, good height, brings it around – 2/1, bounce back – L turn double, leg around, heel drops toward the end – back 1.5, hop forward – L hop full – switch 1/2, a bit under – full turn to split jump full is fun – front lay, hop. 11.133

Neurauter starts Norway on vault with 11.900. 12.300 for Tossebro next.

Giubellini goes 11.300 on beam for SUI.

Rasmussen starts bars with 11.966.

Tronrud – VT – Norway – serviceable Yfull, good amplitude, some leg separation and pike, hop back. 12.866

Just 7.633 on beam for Siengenthaler.

Wildi – BB – Switzerland – punch front mount, hit – bhs loso loso, short on the final loso and comes off – looked like a split leap 1/2 attempt but short again and falls – side aerial nearly provokes 3rd fall but keeps it on, grabs the beam – y spin, wobble – switch, pause before switch 1/2, very short of split but stays secure – 1.5, lunge forward. 9.100 and it will have to count.

38.099 on vault for Norway. That’s about equivalent with Austria.

Lauritsen – UB – Denmark – clear hip to giant full, late – blind to jaeger, caught – bail, hit into toe shoot – double tuck dismount, step to the side. 11.633

Denmark 34.432 on bars.

Habisreutinger – BB – Switzerland – hits loso mount – side somi and falls – split jump 1/2 from side attempt, nearly an amazing save, but a second fall – side aerial to loso is fall #3 – switch – switch 1/2, short but it’s a hit skill – has another large check on a wolf jump – layout full dismount.

8.666

Disastrous beam rotation for Switzerland. There’s no coming back from that.

Iceland goes 35.399 on floor. Switzerland just 29.066 on beam.

Preda starts Romania with a 12.6 for a Yfull.

Gobadze – FX – Georgia – hits double pike, lunge forward – double tuck, hop back – switch – split leap full a little short of split – wolf single – 1.5, slightly fragile, step back – 2/1, shuffle forward

Duta goes 12.500 for her yfull.

Barbosu – VT – Romania – she hits a yfull, chest position forward which causes a step she does her best to control – 12.733

Kasianenko starts Ukraine on bars with 11.766.

Good opening beam score from Hribar for Slovenia with 12.366

Osipova – UB – Ukraine – toe full, good into stalder shaposh to pak, some leg break – maloney to clear hip, some muscling – toe 1/2 to tkatchev, low, hit – toe 1/2 again to front giant 1/2 to double pike, stuck landing. Good overall. 12.533.

12.066 for Trtnik on beam for Slovenia. Two 12s!

Sfiringu with the best vault score for Romania with her yfull, step back, fair amount of piking. 12.866.

38.199 for Romania on vault, which is 1 tenth better than Norway.

Hubareva 12.666 on bars in what is shaping up to be a good score for Ukraine.

Slovenia will, however, have to count a 10.200 on beam and goes 34.632.

Kozlovska – Ub – Ukraine – maloney to pak, straddle but catches it – van leeuwen, just gets it – some legs – jaeger, high – struggles to cast 1/2 out of it, well short of vertical – then struggles through a giant full to flyaway dismount. 11.433 will be the drop score.

36.965 bars score for Ukraine works, though, to keep them on track for worlds.

Minakovskaya of Azerbaijan sits her opening double pike on floor.

Her teammate Gahramanova will finish out the rotation on floor – double pike is around, short with a lunge – double tuck is landed in a full pancake but not a fall! – doubel L turn had nice horizontal position – front full, lots of legs, step – y spin 1.5 – gets wolf turn double around –

She goes 10.266.

Rotation 2

This rotation will bring Romania to bars. So, you know.

Sorensen – BB – Denmark – aerial is hit – sissone is low but gets connection into wolf jump with some arm finesse – bhs loso series and falls – side aerial is nicely done – switch, pause, switch 1/2, secure landings – punch layout dismount with a hop.

Neurauter started Norway with 11.200 on bars –

Wildi starts Switzerland with 12.333 on floor, so that’s better.

Toessebro – UB – Norway – jaeger, hit with feet – bail, short of vertical, connects to toe shoot to high – giant full – flyaway dismount, step. 11.200 for her as well.

Giubellini – FX – Switzerland – solid DLO, good contorl on landing – switch ring to split leap full, hop – front loso to double tuck, lands OOB, looked like both feet – switch 1/2 is hit – 2.5, a couple hops.

She has been the highlight for Switzerland so far.

Tronrud with just a 12.000 on bars for Norway, so they’ll be falling off the pace here.

Petersen – BB – Denmark – side aerial, solid – bhs loso, small adjustment – switch to switch 1/2 to split jump to straddle, low split positions but all secure – switch side – front lay dismount, step back

Siegenthaler – FX – Switzerland – wolf double is solid – 1.5 to front lay, small hop, a bit of soft leg position – split jump full, around – double tuck, secure landing – switch ring is nice, switch 1/2 low – 2/1, step. 12.333

36.199 on floor for Switzerland, which would be competitive if not for needing to make up so many tenths after beam.

Norway went just 34.400 on bars, which is great news for Austria and Sweden, who will know that Norway needs big performances on the remaining two events to get back on the necessary worlds pace.

Osipova – BB – Ukraine – falls immediately on loso mount – bhs loso series is strong – split leap full, pulls it around well! – side aerial, good – side somi, arm wave to hold it – aerial, keeps moving to connect to split and wolf – switch 1/2, check but not bad at all on position – switch – 2/1 dismount, hop. Good after the fall so should still score competitively. 11.400

Preda opens bars for Romania with a 12! It’s a miracel!

Georgieva vaulting for Bulgaria (after a replay of her warmup vault for some reason) – hits a very nice DTY first vault, small hop back. 13.766

Second vault is Tsuk full, more trouble on landing, large lunge back and additional step. She’ll go into 2nd behind Kovacs on vault with that.

Barbosu – UB – Romania – maloney to clear hip full, late – clear hip tkatcehv piked – tkatchev – pak, good bosy position – van leeuwen – toe on higgins to front giant 1/2 – FTDT, small hop. OK! 13.500!

Romania is good at bars now, everyone. 12.1 , 12.4, 13.5.

Savelieva – BB – Ukraine – bhs loso series, large bend at the hips, stays on – switch to sissone, well short on switch, hit – side aerial is solid – aerial, large leg up break, ultimately can’t save it and comes off – side somi – attempt at a split ring leap but will not get it – 1.5 dismount, hop.

Romania goes 38.000 on bars, which is may more than they needed in that rotation. Ukraine goes 35.399 on beam, which is…touch and go.

Rotation 3

Neurauter – BB – Norway – switch to switch, just hangs onto it, leg up wobble – split jump full, around – front handspring to a side aerial, large break bend at waist -different combination but doesn’t really generate rebounding speed in the way I’d like to see from an acro series – side somi, hit – front 1.5 dismount, hop. Stays on. 11.733

Hardardottir adventures trhough a bars routine for Iceland but does have nice amplitude on her jaeger. 10.100

Rasmussen – FX – Denmark – nice height on DLO, bounce back – popa, comfortable – front tuck trhough to back lay full – switch to split leap full, good – switch ring – double tuck, just a small hop in place. Switch side 1/2. 12.533.

Habisreutinger – VT – SUI – a fine Yfull, medium bounce back

So it’s 38.100 on vault for Switzerland, which is again solid but doesn’t make up any lost ground.

Solid control on a handspring pike 1/2 for Habisreutinger’s 2nd vault.

Tronrud – BB – Norway – switch to switch mount, bend at the wait – illusion, check – bhs loso, holds it, a bit of knees – split jump wolf jump, good amplitude – side aerial, some feet but secure – side somi, little lean – gainer full pike dismount. 12.900 is an excellent score.

36.433 for Norway on beam. That’s competitive. Now it’s down to a high floor score to bring things back from bars.

Preda – BB – Romania – bhs mount, hit – aerial secure – side aerial – bhs back pike, check, leg up – switch to split korbut, quick combination, a bit short it looked on split positions – full turn, overturns with a wobble – 2/1 dismount, crossover back step. One hit down. 12.466

Savelieva starts Ukraine with 11.666 on floor.

Hubareva – FX – Ukraine – up 2nd for them – doubel pike, stumble back and OOB – double L turn, gets around twice, some heel dropping – 2.5 to front tuck, small step – split leap full – y spin 1.5 – annnnnnd looks like we’re stuck in another routine loop like we were for Paulsson’s beam

Duta went 11.066 for Romania on beam, so they’ll want to ditch that number. 12.533 for Sfiringu will help erase that.

Hubareva 11.566

We’re checking out Kysselef on vault, hitting a Y1.5 with a small shuffle back and some knees in the air.

She hits her handspring tuck full second vault well, but it appears Teja Belak who followed her got injured on her first vault and scratched her second vault.

Barbosu – BB – Romania – front tuck mount, hit, little check – fhs front tuck, small wobble – sissone to full turn – side aerial, good – switch, pause before switch 1/2, pause before korbut, but hits each of the elements – wolf double, comfortable – split leap 1/2, secure – 2.5, hop to the side. She’s having a good day.

Osipova – FX – Ukraine – double pike, solid, small hop – front tuck through to 2/1, bounce back – doubel y spin, definite credit – double tuck, chest down, hop forward – 12.366.

It’s 38.232 on beam for Romania. A big floor could still get them into the team final.

36.065 for Ukraine on floor, and with vault still to come, they are in good shape to place 2nd out of this subdivision. The big goal on vault will be something like a 38.4-38.5 to pass Austria and be in super safe position, but it shouldn’t take even that to make worlds at this point.

Rotation 4

Leitner – FX – Norway – double tuck, step back and OOB – switch and split leap full look good – 1.5 to front tuck, gets it around – split jump full – 2/1, bounce back. 11.3

We also see a hit DTY in the background from Rasmussen.

Wildi opens bars with 12.133 for Switzerland.

Siegenthaler – UB – SUI – toe on to blind to jaeger, a little close but fine – pak, good height – misses her foot on toe on, redoes for maloney – saves a clear hip out of it with a large arch – giant full – DLO, small hop in place. 12.833. 7.933 E score for all of that too.

Tronrud – FX – Norway – double L turn, drops just a bit early, connects to double turn – double tuck, shuffle back – switch – pulls around split leap 1.5 well – front tuck through to layout full – double y turn looked like ti just got around – just a back lay final pass. 11.366

Petersen – VT – Denmark – tsuk back layout, definitely laid out, was a little worried she was going to hit those feet on the vault but disaster avoided. Barely.

Wu – UB – Sui – toe full, gets crooked but finishes it – maloney to clear hip to pak, straddled – van leeuwen is hit – blind to piked jaeger, feet but caught – 1/2 turn – double pike dismount, stagger backward. 12.200

It’s 37.166 for Switzerland on bars for a 141.531 final, which will just get ahead of Ireland.

Toessebro finishes up for Norway on floor with a solid double pike, small hop, similar double tuck, just a controlled step – switch to switch side – front tuck through to back full, under control.

Her 11.966 gives Norway 34.632 on floor. That’s enough for 143.564, which is going to go into 10th when all is said and done in this subdivision, which is unlikely to make it back for worlds.

Adalsteinsdottir got through a very solid beam routine for Iceland, which should clinch her a spot at worlds.

Preda – FX – Romania – double y turn to full turn, good – doubel pike, bounce forward – front full, step – double tuck a bit short, hop forward – 12.733

Ukraine has started vault with 12.700 and 12.566

Hribar – UB – SLO – toe 1/2 to jaeger, good amplitude – Ray and falls, couldn’t get dowels over – resumes with a pak – lovely maloney – bail short of handstand – giant full – double tuck, solid. 11.466

Ukraine goes 38.099 on vault, which will go in just behind Austria but ahead of Sweden, which looks like a pretty solid place right now.

King finishes the competition up for Slovenia with a hit bars, ending with a doubel tuck, a couple steps back.

Barbosu – FX – Romania – looks like she was up on the podium, but she’s after Sfiringu in the order.

Sfiringu – FX – Romania – not quite around on doubel y – double tuck is hit – rudi, piked over on landing – double l turn, close to around – l hop full – split leap 1.5, pulls the rotation through – hand down on the second turn of her double wolf, but as we know that doesn’t matter – 2/1 and she gets her feet crossed and trips over herself. Ends with a fall.

Romania was like, “Today hadn’t been very Romania so far, so…….”

10.066 for her, so they’ll be counting an 11.333 from Duta.

Barbosu – FX – Romania – I really wish that music that was playing as she got into her pose was her floor music – wolf double – also pulls around a split 1.5, short of split but around – FTDT, bounce back – 2.5 to front tuck, little hop – double pike, another bounce – double pike, hop. Lots of hops but that will work.

13.266 for Barbosu takes Romania to 37.332 on floor. That will be enough to pass Finland but not enough to pass Spain for 4th.

This broadcast is like, “There is one person I care about, and it is Joana de Freitas.”

TEAM – current top 13
1. Germany 158.730
2. Netherlands 155.464
3. Hungary 153.495
4. Spain 152.864
5. Romania 152.063
6. Finland 151.162
7. Austria 146.863
8. Ukraine 146.528
9. Sweden 145.996
10. Norway 143.564
11. Slovenia 141.862
12. Switzerland 141.531
13. Ireland 140.929

With GB, Italy, France, and Belgium still to come, expect them to knock out Norway, Slovenia, Switzerlnad, and Ireland from the worlds places. Then we’ll be waiting to see whether Czech Republic can knock out Sweden I suppose.

SUBDIVISION 4

Olly’s obvious disdain for this mascot and his love of puns are really having a grudge match here.

Ponizilova – BB – CZE – front pike mount, excellent – fhs, check – isolated back tuck, secure, no acro series there – wolf double, hit – side aerial, secure – side somi, large break but brought it back – switch to straddle jump, a bit tight – punch front lay full dismount, hop. Good one. 11.966

13.466 for Fenton to start GB on vault with her Y1.5

Louon starts bars for Belgium with 12.933.

Kinsella 13.600 for her DTY

Checking in Brassart on bars with her van leeuwen – giant full to blind to piked jaeger – toe on to pak, small leg break – van leeuwen, again a mslal leg break – toe tcuk 1/2 dismount, hop. Solid. 13.133

Jessica Gadirova 13.866 for her DTY, large bounce back

Second vault ro 1/2 on layout 1/2 – some piking, hop to the side. 13.533. She’ll go into 2nd in the vault standings.

Achampong – VT – GB – DTY – good height, medium step back, some chest down. 13.933

Vaelen 13.500 on bars for Belgium

Great Britain goes 41.399 on vault, the best of the day.

Enghels – UB – Belgium – toe full, a bit late but connect to stalder – stalder shaposh to pak, smooth – toe on to maloney, some legs directly connected into Ricna – double front, good form but it looks like she mistimed it, stumbles back and falls.

Belgium will still have 39.566 on bars, which more than does the job.

Maragkou finishes up for Greece on floor – double pike, lunge back – double tuck, secure – front lay, solid height, lunge – 2/1, step. 11.300

Czech Republic goes 36.098 on beam, which is about on pace with the Swedish team they’re trying to beat.

Greece goes 35.100 on floor, which is not bad at all.

Villa – BB – Italy – loso mount, strong – round off to just a back tuck, step – wolf triple is lovely – switch to a tentative split, doesn’t get to position and a leg up wobble – double turn is lovely – side aerial, strong – 2/1, hop back – a hit. Not her most difficult and one larger error, but a hit. 13.466

Boyer started floor for France with 12.366.

Heduit – FX – France – music problemssssss – full in first pas, little hop – double arabian, large lunge forward and OOB – switch ring and split leap full, shows 180 – y spin double, drops at about 1.5 – double tuck, bounce back – wolf double, pulls it around through body language – double pike, secure landing. 12.766

13.400 for Maggio on beam, just behind Villa.

Asia D;Amato – BB – loso mount, very secure – bhs loso series, right on – switch, small pause before split jump 1/2, larger break, leg up – side somi, lean check – switch 1/2, lovely lift – aerial, strong – full turn – double pike dismount, chest a bit down, hop. Will be a good score. Will it be top 2 in the country?

13.500! She goes ahead of Maggio by a tenth, so no beam final for Maggio.

Osyssek goes 13.200 on floor, which is 4th right now.

Friess – FX – France – double arabian, good height, step forward – front lay to front full, some feet – split leap 1.5, around, not quite t 180 – double L is around well – double tuck, a little short, hop – L hop full – switch full, nice elevation there. 12.800

We didn’t see Andreoli’s beam but she went 12.666 so we can guess what happened there.

SO. Great Britain’s 41.399 is the top vault so far. Italy’s 40.366 is the top beam so far. France’s 38.766 is the #2 floor so far behind the Netherlands.

But also we know no Maggio for beam final, no Friess for floor final.

Louon – BB – Belgium – loso mount with a little check – bhs loso, good extension and height, another small adjustment – L turn is a problem, overturns it with a bend – aerial, some knee but fine – wolf double, good – side aerial, secure – switch to split, hits positions – 1.5, hop to the side. 12.933 to start the team off.

Jessica Gadirova – UB – GB – piked jaeger, hit – tkatchev 1/2 to yezhova – maloney to pak, legs apart – van leeuwen, some legs – giant full – FTDT in full cannonball shape lands with at least a knee scrape on the mat if not a full knee down. 12.833 is friendly.

Achampong – UB – GB – inbar to inbar 1/2 to jaeger, hit – salder tkatchev piked to pak, comfrortable – toe full on low bar is very late – tries to cast out of it and does a horizontal cast – now stalder shap 1/2 – FTDT is low low low and this time it’s a fall, knee down. 12.233

Verkest – BB – Belgium – good loso mount – bhs loso, small adjustment – switch to split ring leap, switch was nice, good back leg, split ring got all split ring in the feet department and split department etc – aerial, break, small bend at the hips – wolf double, arm wave – switch ring is better – 1.5 dismount, hop. 13.000

Kinsella rights things on bars for GB with 13.966.

Fenton – UB – GB – toe piked tkatchev 1/2 to yezhova, hit – gets a little hung up on the yezhova catch but fine, can cast out of it – maloney to pak – van leeuwen, solid – clear hip – giant full – FTDT, hop forward. Good hit. 13.900 is below Kinsella! Hm.

Holasova – FX – CZE – y spin single – DLO, secure, just pikes down some at the end – back 1.5 to front pike, lunge forward – split leap full is comfortable – double tuck, hop back – switch 1/2 – double pike, bounce

38.866 for Belgium on beam, very good number.

A look back at Kinsella’s routine now – toe 1/2 to piked jaeger, a little low but solid – Ricna to pak, hit – maloney to gienger, some legs on catch, solid hs – toe full to double arabian, large lunge forward. And that was higher than Fenton’s.

36.766 for Czech Republic on floor. Again, it’s what they need to do.

Maggio – FX – Italy – wolf triple is solid – DLO, small hop forward – front loso to double pike, good height, little hop – split ring leap to switch ring 1/2 – FTDT, stuck landing, chest down – double tuck, bounce. Very good. 13.833! Big score.

Boyer starts France on vault with a nice Yfull in the air, larger bounce back. 13.200

Ossysek-Reimer – VT – France – hits her Y1.5, nearly finds the stick but just a little bit short, has to take a crossover back step. 13.300. Her second vault is a Tsuk full, hop to the side. That will take her to 6th place in the vault standings.

Alice D’Amato goes 13.500 on floor.

Asia D’Amato – BB – Italy – DLO 1/1, very nice, hop in place, just a little pike – double arabian, small hop – popa, clear split position – switch to switch side 1/2 – double pike, bounce back – double tuck, again just a small step. 13.566 and goes ahead of her sister.

Friess goes 14.333 for her rudi, which takes France to 41.433 on vault, just ahead of GB’s total there.

Andreoli – FX – Italy – wolf double – whip through to piked full in, pretty solid, just some chest position – front loso to double pike, bounce – double y, should get it – FTDT, hop – double tuck, solid.

13.633 which will get her into the final. 13.500 is dropped for Italy.

Italy goes 41.032 on floor.

GB, Italy, and France fully in charge as expected. Belgium also scoring quite well en route to the team final. And Czech Republic keeping it interesting with Sweden.

Rotation 3

Achampong – BB – aerial, small adjustment – split to straddle jump, good – bhs loso loso is very secure – side aerial, attempts the connection to switch ring – y spin, drops a little early with a check – split jump 1/2 from side, a bit of back leg – bhs bhs 2.5, deep landing, larger lunge to the side. 13.266

Into 5th and knocks Schaefer to 6th with the rest of GB and France still to beam.

Verkest starts floor for Belgium with 12.566

Peterkova on VT for Czech Republic with a Yurchenko back layout, bounce back. 12.200

Jennifer Gadirova – BB – switch – pause before switch 1/2 – back tuck – secure elements, not connected – aerial, short holds onto it, large leg up check – split and straddle very nice – straddle jump 1/2 from side, has the height to spot the landing, but kind of crucnhes as she does it – bhs loso loso, check – side aerial, large break, a couple leg-up issues – checken peck choreography – double pike dismount, hit. 12.900

37.933 for Czech Republic ends up being a very useful score. They need a 35.2 on bars to pass Sweden, which is very doable now.

Vaelen – FX – Belgium – a little under on split leap position – nice high double arabian, lands a bit short with a step back – FTDT, step – double wolf is solid – popa, nice height – double tuck, bounce back. 13.066

Jessica Gadirova – BB – GB – switch, pause before switch 1/2 to korbut – full turn with a check – aerial to split jump to straddle, solid connection – bhs loso loso flops her right off the beam, a jarring fall – she was off line and short on the middle loso and no chance on the final one – super high wolf jump full – side aerial, secure – double pike dismount, hop. 12.233

Louon will scratch floor for Belgium, so they’ll go 37.332 there.

Kinsella – BB – GB – switch mount, hit – aerial, check, leg up – side aerial to loso, high, some knees, hit – wolf double, a little uneasy – switch, pause before switch 1/2, holds it – double pike dismount, somehow manages to keep it to her feet but with 955 lunges back

13.033 is still the #2 british beam score, but Schafer breathes a sigh of relief for her beam final chances. Both of them got some gggiifffttts.

GB still on 39.199 for a kind of rough beam rotation.

Kinsella currently in 8th spot on beam with France to come.

Maggio – VT – Italy – Y1.5 – solid landing, small hop forward, loses her knee position a little toward the end. 13.666

Friess – UB – France – inbar, elbows – inbar shap to pak, large leg break – toe full is good – van leeuwen, clean – clear hip to blind to jaeger, a bit tight but fine – small hesitation in hop grip change – double front, well short, sits it down. 12.5

Asia D’Amato – VT – Italy – solid enough DTY, medium hop back, knees especially at the end. 13.766

D’Amato vault 2 is ro 1/2 on layout 1/2, good one, small hop back, small pike at the end. She’s into 3rd on vault.

Heduit goes 13.733 on bars for France. That’s 6th. A look back at it – weiler 1/2 to stalder shap to Ricna is solid – good hs – Ray, hit – pak – toe full, quick – very little connected in here – van leeuwen – blind to double front, small hop of feet togehter.

Charpy goes 13.833 on bars, which puts her ahead of Heduit.

Alice D’Amato’s DTY goes 13.666

Andreoli – VT – Italy – hits a Y1.5, good height and distance but lands short with a couple steps back. 13.133.

Italy goes 41.098 on vault, which is below GB and France there.

Andreoli’s second vault is ro off 1/2 on pike-ish tuck-ish front – that will not get her into the vault final.

Raz – FX – Israel – wolf double is hit – FTDT, solid, small hop – wolf double, for credit – switch 1/1, feet but good and high – front tuck through to double tuck, larger stumble back, OOB – finishes double pike, hit.

After 3:
Italy 122.496
GB 121.297
France 120.265
Belgium 115.764

And Czech Republic needs that 35.2 on bars to make worlds over Sweden.

It’s Maggio, then D’Amato, then Kinsella, then Heduit in the all-around.

Rotation 4

Achampong – FX – GB – whip whip to 3/1, hop back, some leg crossing and body position – switch 1/2 – frotn 2/1, a bit out of control, lugme forward – nice switch ring – split leap full, good – double tuck, jarring landing, bounces her back – split jump full – 2.5, hop. 12.666

Louon starts Belgium on vault with 12.700, Brassart follows with 12.966.

Marikova starts bars for CZE with 11.133, below the pace they need

Kinsella – FX – GB – 1.5 through to 3/1, hits it, hop back – 2.5 to front full, just does manage to get that front full to her feet, came out rather horizontal – wolf double is good – switch leap full – double pike, bounce

Big 14.200 for Vaelen on vault for her rudi, great control.

Peterkova goes 11.333 on bars for CZE and that will count.

Belgium goes 39.899 on vault, which will put them just ahead of the Netherlands on 155.663, in what will presumably be 5th place.

Czech Republic has a 10.40 from Ponizilova on bars that will need to not count. They would need a high 12 from Holasova to finish the rotation.

13.533 on floor for Kinsella.

Jennifer Gadirova – FX – GB – DLO, hit, chest up pretty well, bounce back – split jump full – nailed her full in, stuck landing – switch ring to split leap full, great height – switch full, good – front loso to double tuck, a little short. Very nice. Will be a huge score.

Another 13.533 but ahead of Kinsella on E.

11.500 for Holasova on bars will not be enough, and Sweden will advance to worlds as a team, which the Czech Republic will not.

Jessica Gadirova – FX – GB – double double tucked, ragged in the first salto – switch full, high – DLO, comfortable, hop back – switch ring, split leap 1.5, around well – popa, easy peasy – front full through to double tuck, stuck landing, excellent.

13.766 and into the floor final with her sister.

GB goes 40.832 on floor to finish on 162.129. That means Italy will need better than 39.633 on bars to move into first place. GB, France, Germany, and Netherlands have all gone over 40 on bars,.

Kinsella currrently first in the AA on 54.132

Heduit – BB – France – switch mount, good – wolf double, solid – onodi hit with some knees, leg up wobble – side aerial to loso, again secure, some knee position – switch to sissone, lovely back leg – aerial to split jump, connected – double pike dismount, lunge back.

13.400 puts her into 2nd AA, tied with Lisa Vaelen (!)

Villa opens Italy’s bars rotation with 14.200. Into 2nd place.

Asia D’Amato – UB – Italy – good first hs – Nabieva to pak is hit, legs apart on pak – toe full, hit – maloney, legs into tkatchev, very close but hit – inches along the bar – giant 1/2 is short – front giant full to double front, nearly holds the stick. Small step. Good day.

13.900 puts her in first place in the AA. 54.732.

Love that we got to watch Asia standing there not watching instead of Alice on bars.

Just a 13.000 on beam for Boyer, which will not make it back to the event final.

14.566 for Alice D’Amato will give first place in team qualification to Italy and make her the top qualifier for the bars final.

12.466 for Osyssek on beam. Alas.

Maggio – UB – Italy – Ray, strong into pak, high, legs apart – stalder full, good into maloney to tkatchev, well connected – bail, small leg break – toe full is late and she peels off. SHE WAS SO CLOSE. Resumes with just the dismount, double arabian, step back.

Italy goes 42.666 on bars to finish on 165.162, three points ahead of GB.

13.066 for Maggio will the fall still earns her AA bronze! And we don’t even get to see her find that out because we need Old Man With Microphone?

Meanwhile, France went 38.866 on beam to go ahead of Germany and into third.

AA Final
1) Asia D’Amato – 54.732
2) Alice Kinsella – 54.132
3) Martina Maggio 53.965

Team Final Qualifiers
1) Italy – 165.162
2) Great Britain – 162.129
3) France – 159.131
4) Germany – 158.730
5) Belgium – 155.663
6) Netherlands – 155.464
7) Hungary 153.496
8) Spain – 152.864

Vault Final Qualifiers
1) Kovacs – 13.816
2) Jessica Gadirova – 13.699
3) Asia D’Amato – 13.683
4. Friess – 13.616
5) Vaelen 13.616
6) Georgieva 13.433
7) Rasmussen – 13.366
8) Raz – 13.266

Bars Final Qualifiers
1) Alice D’Amato – 14.566
2) Visser – 14.266
3) Villa – 14.200
4) Bui – 14.200
5) Seitz – 14.200
6) Kinsella – 13.966
7) Fenton – 13.900
8) Charpy 13.833

Beam Final Qualifiers
1) Barbosu – 13.533
2) Malewski – 13.500
3) Asia D’Amato – 13.500
4) Villa – 13.466
5) Heduit – 13.400
6) Achampong – 13.266
7) Schaefer – 13.166
8) Petisco – 13.100

Floor Final Qualifiers
1) Maggio – 13.833
2) Jessica Gadirova – 13.766
3) Andreoli – 13.633
4) Visser – 13.633
5) Jennifer Gadirova – 13.533
6) Kovacs – 13.433
7) Barbosu – 13.266
8) Osyssek-Reimer – 13.200

I’m doing a separate post for the worlds qualifiers, so stay tuned for that in a second or two.

European Championship Preview

The goal

For both men and women, the top 13 teams from qualification will advance to worlds, as will the top 23 finishers in the all-around who are not part of the 13 qualifying teams. This will complete the world championship qualification process.

The schedule

Thursday, August 11
10:00am CET
4:00am ET
1:00am PT
Senior Women
Subdivision 1
Netherlands
Germany
Turkey
Austria
Slovakia
Latvia
Croatia
12:24pm CET
6:24am ET
3:24am PT
Senior Women
Subdivision 2
Hungary
Spain
Finland
Sweden
Ireland
Portugal
Individuals
(CYP, MLT, LUX, LTU)
3:28pm CET
9:28am ET
6:28am PT
Senior Women
Subdivision 3
Romania
Ukraine
Norway
Switzerland
Slovenia
Iceland
Denmark
Individuals
(BUL, GEO, AZE, MON)
5:53pm CET
11:53am ET
8:53am PT
Senior Women
Subdivision 4
Great Britain
Italy
France
Belgium
Czech Republic
Israel
Poland
Greece
Friday, August 12
12:20pm CET
6:20am ET
3:20am PT
Junior Women
Subdivision 1
Romania
France
Germany
Spain
Denmark
Bulgaria
Israel
Ireland
3:20pm CET
9:20am ET
6:20am PT
Junior Women
Subdivision 2
Great Britain
Switzerland
Norway
Turkey
Poland
Slovakia
Croatia
Greece
5:50pm CET
11:50am ET
8:50am PT
Junior Women
Subdivision 3
Italy
Belgium
Hungary
Czech Republic
Portugal
Latvia
Individuals
(NED, UKR, AZE, MLT SWE, ISL, LIE)
Saturday, August 13
2:00pm CET
8:00am ET
5:00am PT
Senior Women
Team Final
Top 8 from Q
Sunday, August 14
10:00am CET
4:00am ET
1:00am PT
Junior Women
Event Finals
Top 8 from Q
2:30pm CET
8:30am ET
5:30am PT
Senior Women
Event Finals
Top 8 from Q
Thursday, August 18
10:00am CET
4:00am ET
1:00am PT
Senior Men
Subdivision 1
Israel
Croatia
Bulgaria
Iceland
Ireland
Individuals
(SLO, POL, SVK, DEN, CZE, LAT, ALB)
1:53pm CET
7:53am ET
4:53am PT
Senior Men
Subdivision 2
Turkey
France
Netherlands
Belgium
Norway
Austria
Lithuania
Sweden
Finland
Romania
Portugal
Georgia
5:07pm CET
11:07am ET
8:07am PT
Senior Men
Subdivision 3
Great Britain
Italy
Spain
Germany
Switzerland
Ukraine
Cyprus
Hungary
Armenia
Greece
Azerbaijan
Individuals (SRB, MON)
Friday, August 19
10:00am CET
4:00am ET
1:00am PT
Junior Men
Subdivision 1
Italy
Germany
Belgium
Sweden
Greece
Georgia
2:00pm CET
8:00am ET
5:00am PT
Junior Men
Subdivision 2
Spain
France
Turkey
Armenia
Hungary
Lithuania
Austria
Romania
Portugal
Croatia
Azerbaijan
Luxembourg
5:30pm CET
11:30am ET
8:30am PT
Junior Men
Subdivision 3
Great Britain
Ukraine
Netherlands
Switzerland
Israel
Norway
Finland
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Slovenia
Individuals (IRL, SVK, ISL)
Saturday, August 20
2:45pm CET
8:45am ET
5:45am PT
Senior Men
Team Final
Top 8 from Q
Sunday, August 21
9:45am CET
3:45am ET
12:45am PT
Junior Men
Event Finals
Top 8 from Q
1:45pm CET
7:45am ET
4:45am PT
Senior Men
Event Finals
Top 8 from Q

The broadcast

The senior women’s and men’s competitions will be streamed on eurovisionsports.tv

The juniors will be relegated to smartscoring at gymtv.online

The Eurovision sports stream for finals will likely be geoblocked for Europeans whose countries have a TV network that has bought the rights.

The senior women’s competition

Let’s take this session by session.

Subdivision 1: Germany, Netherlands, Turkey, Austria, Slovakia, Latvia, Croatia

In the team department, Germany and the Netherlands are the class of the first subdivision. Both should qualify to worlds with ease and are favored to advance to the team final here barring an exquisite implosion. They’ll expect to end up in the 4-6 zone. A team medal would be a huge upset.

From qualification, Germany will also aim to put Elisabeth Seitz and the retiring Kim Bui into the bars final, Pauline Schäfer and Sarah Voss (or Emma Malewski) into the beam final, and perhaps Kim Bui and Sarah Voss into the floor final. The focus is always on Bui’s bars, but she has made two European floor finals and could make a third. The Netherlands will be hoping for bars hits from Sanna Veerman and Naomi Visser, which could be enough to put them into the event final out of this very bars-heavy first subdivision. If Visser performs the way she did at Dutch nationals, she’ll be a contender for three finals: UB, BB, FX.

As for the remaining team prospects in this first group, Slovakia, Latvia, and Croatia are not expected to challenge for world championships team places, but Turkey and Austria should be right in the mix for those last few spots of the 13 available, either just in or just out. Their scores will be the numbers that every other country aims to beat in the remaining subdivisions. If you place ahead of Turkey and Austria, you can start to like your chances to advance to worlds. Should Austria not qualify as a team, look for Carina Kröll (who now competes for Austria after previously representing Germany) and Jasmin Mader both to get to worlds as individuals. Similarly, Turkey would be favored to earn both of its available all-around spots should the whole team thing not work out. Theoretically, Turkey’s top all-arounder is Nazli Savranbasi, but she’ll be limited to only bars, so there’s an opening for Sevgi Kayisoglu, Bengisu Yildiz, and Bilge Tarhan—whichever two hit. 

Slovakia has not entered top all-arounder Barbora Mokosova on all four events, meaning she will not be able to qualify to worlds. That compromises Slovakia’s chances to get anyone to worlds, but they’ll be hoping perhaps Sara Surmanova can sneak into the top 23.

Similarly, Croatia has not entered Ana Derek in all four events, so she too cannot qualify to worlds. We’ll see if Nika Kukuljan Frleta or Petra Furac can get a qualification spot for the all-around, but it will be an uphill battle.


Subdivision 2: Hungary, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, Malta, Luxembourg, Lithuania

Keep an eye on Hungary’s potential to upend expectations at the European Championship this year, with scores in 2022 that have been stronger than those of more established team final contenders like Germany and Belgium. Even removing some suspect domestic scores from their records, Hungary would be in position to prance right into the team final here and would make worlds easily. Individually, Zsofia Kovacs should be among the top all-arounders in the competition and can reach multiple event finals (including vault if she elects to do 2), though bars is her strongest event and most likely final and potential medal. Csenge Bacskay should also like her chance for a vault final.

As for Spain, this is an underpowered Spanish squad absent the big names we’ve come to know over the recent quads like Roxana Popa, Ana Perez, and Cintia Rodriguez. Still, there should be more than sufficient quality here to advance as a team to worlds. Making the team final remains a possibility and would be a big win for this group, which does return Olympian Alba Petisco who finished 57th in Tokyo and should be the scoring leader this year. 

The potential competitiveness of the Scandinavian nations is the most significant open question in the race for the world championships team spots, and we have two of them in this subdivision with Finland and Sweden. Finland has been off the charts this year with scores they’ve never come anywhere close to as a country before—scores that actually are neck-and-neck with Spain and would comfortably qualify to worlds. But is any of that legit? We’ve been down this path before with domestic scores. Although this year, we have seen athletes like Maisa Kuusikko put up those big numbers at actual challenge cups, which is a significant difference. The content looks there. But they have to hit it. Of note, veteran Rosanna Ojala is on the team of five but not entered on the start list for any event.

On that topic, and in typical Swedish gymnastics fashion, Sweden has sent a minimum of athletes with four instead of five, which could compromise team scoring chances to some degree. Still, as long as Tonya Paulsson (who hasn’t competed since worlds last year) is in form, Sweden should be right on the borderline of the qualifying teams with a solid shot to make worlds as long as they outscore what Turkey and Austria do in the first subdivision. In the all-around department, both nations should be on track to qualify two to worlds if they don’t make it as a team, with Kuusikko looking like Finland’s frontrunner along with perhaps Michigan’s Kaia Tanskanen and Sweden boasting Paulsson and 2021 national champion Nathalie Westlund.

As far as the other nations in this subdivision go, the Irish team may come up just short in the scoring department but should have one of its most competitive squads in recent memory with both Emma Slevin and Halle Hilton—who is newly representing Ireland—bringing the routines necessary to make worlds. Hilton’s scores are among the best this year for those athletes whose teams rank outside the top 13.

Like Slovakia and Croatia, Portugal will be without its best shot for worlds qualification with Filipa Martins slated to compete only bars. The remaining AAers for Portugal may be borderline for worlds (especially now with several top contenders not on the AA start list), but Martins would have been a lock if she had been able to do all the events. Still, with Martins competing bars, she remains among the top contenders to make the bars final.

Meanwhile, watch out for Luxembourg’s Celeste Mordenti in the race for individual qualification, particularly because she has a sufficiently competitive vault that can carry her without having to rely on bars and beam to be hits on a given day.

Really all the other teams in subdivision 3 have at least one individual who could upset for one of the 23 individual worlds spots should she hit 4 events. We have Tatiana Bachurina of Cyprus who impressed with her bars form at Commonwealth Games, Ella Borg of Malta who did enough at world cups early this year that she should get to worlds for events even if it doesn’t work out here, and relative unknown Ula Bikinaite of Lithuania whose scores from Lithuanian domestic competitions would be high enough to qualify. If I’m ranking the 23 most likely all-around qualifiers, I’d say all three are just on the outside, but only just. They’re in the category of “just don’t fall apart on bars or beam for a 9.300, and it might happen for you.”

After the 13 teams qualify, there will only be about 40 athletes eligible for the 23 all-around spots because of 2-per-country, so LOTS of people are going to make it.


Subdivision 3: Romania, Ukraine, Norway, Switzerland, Slovenia, Iceland, Denmark, Bulgaria, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Monaco

The deal with Romania is that you really shouldn’t have to worry about this team. Even without Maria Ceplinschi (who was recently replaced on the roster by Antonia Duta), this team’s scoring potential should easily rank among the worlds qualifiers, with a solid shot to make the team final as well as a couple event finals with Ana Barbosu and Ioana Stanciulescu. But also it’s Romania, so they’ll first of all need to make sure not to count 6 falls. Not helping matters is that team member Silviana Sfiringu is slated to scratch every event.

Under normal circumstances, Ukraine would be an easy pick to qualify to worlds, but this year’s team is largely a mystery (without the likes of Diana Varinska, Anastasia Bachynska, Daniela Batrona, and Anastasia Motak) featuring several athletes who typically wouldn’t make a Ukrainian team but are currently in a position where they can do gymnastics, the primarily criterion for selection. Even with the team selected—led by some familiar names like Valeria Osipova and Yelizaveta Hubareva, along with new senior Yulia Kasianenko who won a beam world cup this year, and a couple unknown quantities in Marharyta Kozlovska and Diana Savelieva—Ukraine still has the gymnastic ability to qualify to worlds, but we shall see what we see when we see it.

Norway rounds out the group of bubble Scandinavian teams, hanging around with Finland and Sweden with a real shot to make it to worlds on a good day. Maria Tronrud and Julie Madsø are enjoying a banner year at worlds cups, recording some internationally competitive bars and beam results, so if they bring that level to Euros, they can lead this team into the top 13. By the time Norway competes, Finland, Sweden, Turkey, and Austria will have already gone, and beating all of their scores (or at least 3 of the 4) will be the goal. If team doesn’t happen, both Tronrud and Madsø have been scoring comfortably above the level likely needed to make worlds.

And what of Switzerland? A nation that would typically be situated among the comfortable worlds qualifiers, Switzerland has seen few competition opportunities this year and has not recorded scores that would rank anywhere near the top 13 teams in Europe. Without Steingruber, the expectations won’t be what they usually are, but leave the door open for the Swiss to improve on the scores we’ve seen so far and jump back up the European rankings led by Lilli Habisreutinger, who will be favored to make it to worlds one way or another. With Stefanie Siengenthaler out of the all-around, Switzerland is looking at Anina Wildi as its other hope for an individual spot.

When it comes to Slovenia, this is a nation with more individual event talent than a number of teams that will qualify to worlds, but they typically lack the depth of bars and floor scores to record a team total high enough to challenge. One of the start list surprises was seeing top all-arounder Lucija Hribar not listed for floor, so the only AA chance Slovenia will have to get someone to worlds is Zala Trtnik. But—Hribar, Teja Belak, and Tjasa Kysselef have already qualified to worlds for events, so Slovenia will have a hearty presence there regardless. At this event, Belak and Kysselef should both have a solid look at making the vault final. 

Iceland and Denmark would need to put together something unexpected to climb the team rankings, but the goal for Denmark will be to put their best-ever gymnast Camille Rasmussen among the worlds qualifiers, which seems very doable. Veteran Agnes Suto probably remains Iceland’s best all-around gymnast and best bet to make worlds, but really all the Icelandic gymnasts are close enough to each other that whichever two manage to stay on the most apparatuses that day will have a solid look at the 23 worlds places. 

Bulgaria’s new senior Valentina Georgieva has enjoyed a quality year so far, winning the vault title at the Osijek World Cup, which speaks well for her potential to advance to worlds and even make a European vault final.

Georgia’s Ani Gobadze and Azerbaijan’s Milana Minakovskaya are among those athletes—like a Bachurina of Cyprus—probably sitting on the cusp of top 23 right now and hoping the inevitable chaos that is the all-around race on qualification day ends up working in their favor. Which it might.


Subdivision 4: Great Britain, Italy, France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Israel, Poland, Greece

The final subdivision brings us the heavyweights and team medal contenders. Great Britain, Italy, and France are the top three countries in Europe right now and look poised to fight it out for the medals in the team final and wolf down most of the available spots in event finals.

Italy will aim to put Asia D’Amato in the vault final and two athletes in each of the remaining finals. I’d say Giorgia Villa and Alice D’Amato for bars, Villa and Martina Maggio for beam, and Maggio and Angela Andreoli for floor would be ideal if everyone hits, but Asia D’Amato will be lurking on every event and could very well make all four finals. 

For the British, the biggest event final goals will be Jessica Gadirova on vault and floor, Georgia-Mae Fenton on bars, and perhaps an Alice Kinsella post-Commonwealth beam comeback. They’ll hope to supplement those main medal contenders with a second beamer (could be anyone), perhaps Achampong on bars given her high D score, and Jennifer Gadirova on floor if she is in sufficient form.

France’s very biggest event goals will be Aline Friess on vault and Marine Boyer on beam, but they’ll also want a second beamer in Morgane Osyssek (or Carolann Heduit) and will hope to get some action into the bars final in a tough field—potentially from Lorette Charpy and Heduit, but Friess should be right in there. Floor is going to be a tough fight at the tail end of the qualification field, but you could definitely see Friess getting in there.

There’s not as much hubbub over Belgium’s team this year without Nina Derwael, but the three other Olympians do return to the squad in Maellyse Brassart, Lisa Vaelen, and Jutta Verkest. This remains a solid bunch that should be among the comfortable worlds qualifiers and will enter as a favorite to reach the team final. What out for Verkest on beam and Vaelen on bars.

I wouldn’t write off the Czech Republic when it comes to team qualification for worlds, but it may be an uphill battle to find the sufficient number of 12+ scores on bars and beam. At minimum, they’ll hope to qualify Aneta Holasova to worlds, though keep an eye on new senior Klara Peterkova who came through to win this year’s national championship and also should have the scores to get into the top 23.

Israel probably doesn’t have enough four-event depth to get a competitive team score, but both Lihie Raz and Ofir Netzer have the routines to advance to worlds and should be among the favorites to do so. Netzer has already booked her spot on vault through the world cup series but will be looking to qualify as an all-arounder.

After an injury in training, Poland’s top all-arounder Wiktoria Lopuszanska has withdrawn, meaning Poland cannot get a team score—but she also has a vault backup plan in qualifying to worlds so doesn’t need this result. Greece’s top all-arounder is probably Elvira Katsali, and on a good day she could get into that top 23.


Team Final:

Based on what we’ve seen this year, Great Britain, Italy, and France will enter the competition as the frontrunners for the three team medals. Beyond that, it should be a close one.

Italy’s best argument is having the highest scores recorded so far this year. Great Britain’s best counterargument to that is having the highest scores recorded this year if you eliminate the bonus-laden scores from Serie A competition. Italy’s best counterargument to that is Jennifer Gadirova got 14.6 on floor this year domestically and that’s the same nonsense as Serie A. Great Britain’s best counterargument to that is “I know you are but what am I?”

Meanwhile, France’s best argument is that they can score pretty close to both countries and what if they are the ones who hit? Theoretically, France has the best beam squad of the three countries. But you know what they say about beams and theories. 

The big question mark is the status of the Gadirovas. While we just saw the rest of the British team compete at the Commonwealth Games, and this exact Italian team has been bopping all over the world competing every second, we haven’t seen enough of the Gadirovas to have any kind of reliable sense of how they will perform. The British team is deeply reliant on big floor scores from them to have a shot at the title. Any edge that the British team has over Italy is almost always based on winning floor by a large margin. 

Even though Italy has competed a ton, there are still some secret weapons to be pulled out, namely what if Giorgia Villa actually hits beam Alice D’Amato who has not been at full strength thus far this year but has a bars routine and a vault she can pull out to increase Italy’s scoring potential. 


Event Finals:

VAULT – No Russians. No Steingruber. No Devillard. The door is open for a Jessica Gadirova, for an Asia D’Amato, for an Aline Friess. Come one, come all. Clap clap, bring me a second vault. If you’ve got a couple 13s, there’s a place for you, including some of our challenge cup athletes like Teja Belak who should be right in the mix.

BARS – Bars is the showcase event for this field. With Elisabeth Seitz and Kim Bui here, bars presents the best medal opportunity for the host nation, though a number of athletes will attempt to derail that mission—like Giorgia Villa and Georgia-Mae Fenton to name just a couple. Some of the best bars scores in Europe this year have also come from Sanna Veerman and Naomi Visser of the Netherlands, along with Zsofia Kovacs and Filipa Martins, who will all entertain the possibility of medals. The presence of many legitimate contenders outside the ITA/GB/FRA group makes this final so hard to reach.

BEAM – Alice Kinsella is the lone athlete in the field to have won a European championship on beam, but that’s not for lack of beam accomplishments in the group, with veterans Pauline Schäfer and Marine Boyer both coming in looking like compelling title picks. Basically, most of the French gymnasts looks like options if they stay on, and similar is true for Italy, where Martina Maggio joins Boyer as the only two returning beam finalists from last year’s competition.

FLOOR – The defending floor champion Jessica Gadirova should enter as the favorite this year, at least until we see her current level. That 14.6 she received in the event final at the British is 0.650 higher than the next-closest person—her sister from the same final. Beyond that, be on the lookout for the Italians. Maggio was 4th in 2021 and Andreoli has their highest floor score of the year (and one of the best floor scores outside British nationals along with Friess).