All-around Champion 2024 |
The 40th Anniversary European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships 2024 will be held in the Hungarian capital Budapest from 22 to 26 May. The venue for the competitions will be the Budapest Laszlò Papp Sportaréna, named after the 3-time Hungarian Olympic boxing champion.
Last year's bronze medallist, Bulgaria's Stiliana NIKOLOVA, secured the all-around victory with three best scores (except hoop) and 143.750 points, relegating former world champion Sofia RAFFAELI (139.750) to silver, just like last year. Bronze went to current world champion Darja VARFOLOMEEV (GER), who relegated defending champion Boryana Kaleyn to 4th place with a score of 138.450.
* On the final day, the four European titles with the hand apparatus went to top gymnasts from four nations:
Boryana KALEYN (BUL) with the hoop, Sofia RAFFAELI (ITA) with the ball, Daniela MUNITS (ISR) with the clubs and Darja VARFOLOMEEV (GER) with the ribbon, with Raffaeli and Varfolomeev successfully defending their previous year's titles.
* After the all-around victory of the Spanish group, they also won the group final with the combination routine (3 ribbons/2 balls. Group gold with the 5 hoops went to ITALY ahead of Spain and Israel. The Azerbaijan group was the last to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.
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♦ 40th EUROPEANS of RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS 2024
* PREVIEW --: After 1999 and 2017, the Hungarian capital will host the Europeans for the third time and welcome over 300 gymnasts from 40 European nations, including 203 elite athletes and 100 juniors for their Junior European Championships.
Bulgaria's superstar Boryana Kaleyn naturally wants to defend her all-around title from 2023 (Baku) if possible. She will not only have to contend with current world champion Darja Varfolomeev (GER), but also with former world champion Sofia Raffaeli (ITA) from Sofia (2022), 2022 European champion Daria Atamanov (ISR), top Ukrainian gymnast Viktoriia Onopriienko and certainly also Bulgarian starlet Stiliana Nikolova! Hungary's hopes as the host nation lie with Fanni Pigniczki and Hanna Wiesner.
Special attention will also be paid to the youngsters, with former juniors Liliana Lewinska (POL), Elvira Krasnobaeva (BUL) and Taisiia Onofriichuk (UKR), for example, competing for the first time at an elite European Championships.
* Exciting fights are expected between the 19 groups in the group competitions: Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Spain, Finland, France, Great Britain, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine.
* And it's not just about the continental titles: the last quota places for the Olympic Games are also at stake: one for singles and one for groups.
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♦ 40th EUROPEANS RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS
♦ JECh (Juniors), Qualifications & Team decision
& JECh App. Indiv. Finals ( → for more see below)
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* ECh-Qualifications, Friday, May 24
(Elite): Clubs & ribbon, AA completed
♦ ECh RESULTS TEAM Competition:
1. BULGARIA - 269,150
2. ITALY - 267,350
3. GERMANY - 265,500
4. ISR - 264,450; 5. HUN - 257,250; 6. ESP - 255,850
►► Detailed Results
* ECh-Qualifications (Elite):
► H o o p; ► B a l l; ► C l u b s, ► R i b b o n
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♦ ECh (Elite) - Indiv. ALL-AROUND FINAL (Saturday, May 25)
* Before the end of the final, Italy's former world champion Sofia Raffaeli was still leading with 139.750 (+1.3 points ahead) ahead of the current world champion Darja Varfolomeev (GER; 138.450) and Bulgaria's Borjana Kaleyn (135.550). In the end, however, Bulgaria's Stiliana NIKOLOVA came out on top with a super series of three best performances (except for the hoop) and pushed the last two all-around world champions of recent years, Sofia RAFFAELI (ITA) and Darja VARFOLOMEEV (GER), into the medal ranks:
♦ ECh - ALL-AROUND
1. NIKOLOVA, Stiliana (BUL) - 143,750
2. RAFFAELI, Sofia (ITA) - 139,750
3. VARFOLOMEEV, Darja (GER) - 138,450
... 7. KOLOSOV, Margerita (GER) - 133,400
►► Detailed Results
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♦ ECh - INDIVIDUAL APP. FINALS (Sunday, May 28)
* H o o p / Reifen
Starting off with hoop, Bulgarian star Boryana Kaleyn showed exquisite pivots and energetic dance movements as she held off her compatriot Stiliana Nikolova for the title.
1. KALEYN, Boryana (BUL) - 35,250
2. NIKOLOVA, Stiliana (BUL) - 34,950
3. ONOFRICHUK, Taisia (UKR) - 34,900
► Detailed results
* Qualification: ► H o o p;
* B a l l
20-year-old Sofia Raffaeli came into this competition as the defending Champion with ball and clubs. In the ball final, she lead the field, delivering a fabulous routine to successfully defend her title.
1. RAFFAELI, Sofia (ITA) - 35,350
2. PIGNICZKI, Fanni (HUN) - 34,850
3. MUNITS, Daniela (ISR) - 34,250
4. VARFOLOMEEV, Darja (GER) - 34,000
► Detailed results
* Qualification: ► B a l l;
* C l u b s / Keulen
Munits then went on to do even better. The 2022 junior European ribbon Champion handled the clubs effortlessly and with great style to secure her first major senior victory. Joining Munits on the podium was another enormously talented youngster, Liliana Lewinska from Poland. Crowned double junior World Champion last year, with clubs and ribbon, Lewinska earned the silver medal here, edging Boryana Kaleyn by just 0.050.
1. MUNITS, Daniela (ISR) - 33,400
2. LEWINSKA, Liliana (POL) - 32,950
3. KALEYN, Boryana (BUL) - 32,900
... 8. KOLOSOV, Margarita (GER) - 30,550
► Detailed results
* Qualification: ► C l u b s,
* R i b b o n / Band
How about ending these individual finals with some World Champion material, Darja Varfolomeev must have thought. The German quintuple World Champion entertained the audience with ribbon, scoring 34.400 to defend her title. Sofia Raffaeli added the silver medal to her fast-growing collection while another talented first-year senior, junior European and World Champion Elvira Krasnobaeva from Bulgaria, clinched the bronze.
1. VARFOLOMEEV, Darja (GER) - 34,400
2. RAFFAELI, Sofia (ITA) - 33,950
3. KRASNOBAEVA, Elvira (BUL) - 33,700
► Detailed results
* Qualification: ► R i b b o n
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♦ ECH (Elite) - GROUPS All-around
Spain raised the bar in the first group, showcasing two lovely routines for the early lead.
Big shots Bulgaria and Italy were still to come though. And defending Champions Bulgaria opened with a fantastic 5 hoops performance, reward with a score just shy of 40 points.
With mixed apparatus, Sofia Ivanova, Magdalina Minevska, Kamelia Petrova, Rachel Stoyanov and Margarita Vasileva earned another top mark, 34.850, to convincingly retain their European all-around crown (* Photo, right >)
The Italians were fabulous with 5 hoops but suffered some deductions with ribbons and balls. In the end, they posted the same total score as Spain. This tie was broken based on the highest execution score … silver for Italy, bronze for Spain.
* The last remaining Olympic ticket goes to the group of Azerbaijan, pending FIG confirmation.
* GROUPS ALL-Around Results
1. BULGARIA - 74,000
2. ITALY - 71,200
3. SPAIN - 71,200
4. Azerbaijan - 70,200 (qu OG)
►► Detailed Results
* Qualification: ► Groups-5hoops; ► Groups-combi
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♦ ECh (Elite) - GROUPS, App. FINALS
SPAIN proved to be the most successful group today.
Their 5 hoops routine earned 38.750. Enough for the silver medal behind the experience Farfalle from ITALY.
* ITALY - the best with a dynamic hoop routine!
Then Spain did one better, grabbing the last gold medal of these Championships, after a simply stunning 3 Ribbons & 2 Balls performance.
The group from Israel also won two medals: bronze with 5 hoops and silver in mixed apparatus. Ukraine returns home with the bronze for their ribbon / balls combination.
* FIVE HOOPS
1. ITALY - 39,350
2. SPAIN - 38,750
3. ISRAEL - 38,650
... 7. GERMANY - 35,750
►► Detailed Results
* Qualification: ► Group,5 hoops;
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* Spanish group with silver and gold - most successfully!
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* 3 Ribbons / 2 Balls (Combi Exercise)
1. SPAIN - 34,700
2. ISRAEL - 34,500
3.UKRAINE - 33,900
4. Azerbaijan - 70,200 (qu OS)
... 6. GERMANY - 32,150
►► Detailed Results
* Qualification: ► Groups, combi
♦ J E Ch - Junior Europeans 2024
♦ JECh Team Results: (Wednesday, May 22)
The first decision of the European Junior Championships was made on the first day of competition:
In the national competition, victory went to Romania and the medals to Israel and Azerbaijan.
1. ROU - 125,100; 2. ISR - 123,750; 3. AZE - 117,400;
4. BUL - 117,300; 5. ITA - 113,750; 6. EST - 113,350;
► Detailed Results
In total, juniors from 36 nations took part in this competition.
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♦ JECh Ind. Apparatus Finals (Thursday, May 23)
* H o o p
1. LICA, Amalia (ROU) - 32,850;
2. TAL FRANCO, Alona (ISR) - 32,750;
3. MASLOV, Olivia (POL) - 32,250;
► Detailed Results
* B a l l
1. SUMKIN, M.Maayan (ISR) - 33,550;
2. PIERGENTILI, Anna (ITA) - 31,250;
3. VALKOVA, Magda (BUL) - 31,150;
► Detailed Results
* C l u b s
1. LICA, Amalia (ROU) - 30,800;
2. PONIKVAR, Alja (SLO) - 30,550;
3. TAL FRANCO, Alona (ISR) - 30,450;
► Detailed Results
* R i b b o n
1. LICA, Amalia (ROU) - 30,950;
2. MALINOVA, Dara (BUL) - 29,600;
3. KAJAIA, Barbare (GEO) - 29,000;
► Detailed Results
* Individual App. Qualification (Wednesday, May 22)
► H o o p ; ► B a l l ► C l u b s; ► R i b b o n;