Romania's Catalina Ponor won her fifth European title on beam this Sunday. Photograph: Catalina Ponor/Facebook
The event finals of the 2017 European
Championships were held on 22 and 23
April in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
They were two days of fierce competition, high intensity, big emotions,
stunning victories and heart-breaking defeats. Eight different nations medalled in four event finals, a
sensational result for smaller programmes, as well as exciting news in general for
the future of the sport.
Vault final
The vault final was won by France’s first-year-senior Coline Devillard, who performed a Rudi
and a DTY, both with a big step back, for a total of 14.467 (14.633/5.8 and 14.300/5.4). Second was Great Britain’s Ellie Downie with a 14.350. Downie scored a 14.400/5.4 for
her DTY and a 14.300/5.2 for her Lopez. Hungary’s Boglarka Devai was third with a 14.317 and also competed a DTY and a Lopez (14.400/5.4 and 14.233/5.2).
The Olympic silver medallist from Rio 2016, Russia’s Maria Paseka finished just outside the
medals in fourth place (14.283).
Paseka was the only gymnast to perform the Amanar
vault, but her execution was really messy, and her Lopez was wild in the air
and in the landing.
It was a historic victory for
Coline Devillard, who is the first French female gymnast to win a European
vault title, as well as the first female gymnast to win a European title since
2005.
Uneven bars final
History was made also on the
uneven bars, when Nina Derwael
became the first Belgian gymnast to win a European title on this apparatus.
Derwael hit her intricate bars routine, which included a super difficult
stalder Tkatchev with half turn linked to an Ezhova, for a score of 14.633/6.1. Second was Russia’s Elena Eremina, who also showed great
difficulty, including a Nabieva linked to a Pak salto, for a score of 14.300/6.0. Tying for third place were Great
Britain’s Ellie Downie, who was on
fire, and Germany’s Elisabeth Seitz,
both with a 14.133/5.9.
The competition was marred by Becky
Downie’s elbow injury, falling on her Gienger. She was able to walk away on
her feet, and hopefully it is not too serious. It was also sad to see France’s Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos failing to
deliver her bears set, after competing beautifully in qualifications and in the
all around. Her lines are exceptional, she could have fought for a medal.
Balance beam final
The balance beam final was a bundle of nerves and emotions. Romania’s Cătălina Ponor delivered a beautiful
set to win her fifth European title on
balance beam (14.566/6.2). For Ponor, this victory was special because it
happened in front of her home crowd, and when the score came out, she burst out
crying…and kept crying all the way through the competition and the award
ceremony. The announcer rightly introduced her as ‘the queen’: Ponor mounted the beam aggressively and did not have
one single wobble, until a big step on her double-pike dismount.
Second was the Netherland’s Eythora
Thorsdottir, who finally (finally!) hit her beautiful routine for a 14.066/5.6. It was nice to see the
ever-poised Eythora release her body tension and happily punch the air at the end of her routine! Her balance beam work is
charmingly elegant, she is the only gymnast to actually dance on beam –
amazing!
Third was an emotional Larisa
Iordache for Romania (13.966/6.0).
Iordache had a beautiful, confident and wobble-free routine until the dismount,
when she over-rotated her triple twist and had to take a few huuuuge steps
back. She looked defeated and
heart-broken, this competition clearly meant so much for her. Her tears
during the award ceremony were a sign that a bronze medal was not what she had wished
for, but the crowd sweetly cheered her on, and hopefully this will motivate her
to overcome the difficult moments and keep working hard.
The 2016 balance beam Olympic champion Sanne Wevers from the Netherlands finished fifth after some
significant wobbles in her routine (13.341). Too bad also for France’s Marine Boyer, who had a fall on her
acro series (she would have medalled for sure without it), and for Germany’s Tabea Alt, who suffered two falls. Alt,
however, was forced to withdraw from the all around final a couple of days ago
because of illness and was probably still a bit under the weather.
Floor exercise final
The floor final was stellar, with eight hit routines and big smiles (almost)
all around – the women were on fire. Russia’s Angelina Melnikova, after a rough week, found somewhere in her
heart that fighting spirit only real
Russian champions have, and
delivered a beautiful routine, to win her first individual European title (14.100/5.4). She was so happy at the
end of her routine that you could be cheer for her! Second was Great Britain’s Ellie Downie (14.066/5.4), who has had the championships of a lifetime, with five
medals and 12 out of 12 hit routines – impressive! Third was the Netherland’s Eythora Thorsdottir with a routine the
announcer introduced as ‘kind of an art’
– so true! Thorsdottir stepped out of bounds on her triple twist to punch
front, but the rest of the routine was gorgeous and she deserved her bronze
medal. The rest of the competitors’ scores ranged from Elena Eremina’s 13.466 to Kim
Bui’s 13.566, which shows the depth of European floor workers.
Too bad only for Claudia
Fragapane, who over-rotated her double Arabian and finished out of bounds. The
rest of the routine was as good as it could get, and her new dance is superb –
next time!
Final considerations
Overall, European gymnastics is in a great spot right now. France and Hungary had an amazing championships, gaining two medals each: France won gold on vault with Coline Devillard and bronze in the all
around with Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos,
and Hungary won silver in the all
around with Zsófia Kovács and bronze
on vault with Boglarka Devai. Great
Britain found in Ellie Downie a
great champion and their best ever all arounder. Their other gymnasts, both
those in Cluj and those at home, have great potential as well, and team GB will
most likely consolidate its position as one of the top teams in the world this
quad. Belgium also found its
champion in Nina Derwael, who is set
to become one of the top bars workers in the world, and the Netherlands showed once again that
artistry produces medals too, as Eythora
Thorsdottir won silver on beam and bronze on floor.
On the other side of the spectrum, however, the two European
powerhouses, Russia and Romania, struggled to find their
depth. For Russia, it seems more a
question of confidence, time and health. Melnikova,
Eremina, Paseka, Kapitonova, as well as Spiridonova, Tutkhalian and others, all have the potential to be
world-class athletes, as long as they stay healthy and control their nerves. I
particularly hope that Melnikova’s floor title will make her regain that
confidence she had until spring 2016. If she does, she will be a big contender for
world medals this quad. For Romania,
things are a bit more complicated. The Romanian team is still relying on its
veterans Ponor and Iordache, while the new generation of
gymnasts does not seem to be able to break through. In Cluj, cameras followed
attentively Nadia Comaneci’s moves
as she sat among the public. It was a proud reminder of the past greatness of
Romanian gymnastics. Hopefully, the Romanian federation will soon start
dreaming also about the future, rather than just about the past, and will be
able to produce new talents, and make us dream as big as Nadia again!
By Talitha Ilacqua
