Recap: Highs & Lows Of The Inagural European Games

Jun 22, 2015 by Rebecca Johnson

A very successful European Games have concluded in Baku. Many didn’t know exactly what to expect in this inaugural event, and based on the competitors who were present, not every country sent their top athletes. So as the Games continue in future years, the competition may become more fierce. However, this year’s Games provided a great opportunity for less widely known gymnasts to step up and enter the spotlight. Like any competition, there were highs and lows over the course of the week.

1. The Russians Reign

Both the men’s and women’s Russian teams secured gold in the team competition. For the women, it was a landslide win, with a margin of six points between them and second place Germany. The Russians came out of the Games with the most medals in Artistic Gymnastics, accumulating eleven total and four golds. The next closest was the Netherlands with six total and one gold.

2. Top Gymnasts Were Left Out Of Finals

In qualifications, the top 18 gymnasts moved on to the all-around final and the top six gymnasts on each event qualified for event finals. However, only one gymnast per country could qualify to compete in the all-around and event finals. Russia’s Aliya Mustafina, Victoria Komova and Seda Tutkhalyan finished 1,2,3 in the all-around on qualification day, however due to the rule, only Mustafina continued on to the final. Similarly, all three Russian gymnasts finished in the top six on bars and beam qualification, but only one had the chance to compete in finals. Nonetheless, Mustafina competed in her normal brilliant fashion throughout the Games—winning the all-around, taking the gold in the bar final and earning silver in the floor final.

3. Stepko Earns Crowd Favoritism

There’s no doubt Azerbaijan’s hometown hero Oleg Stepko was the crowd favorite during event finals, but he gave them a reason to cheer. Stepko led Azerbaijan to bronze in the team final and also took second in the all-around. The most special moment came when he secured the gold on parallel bars in an extremely tight competition, edging out Russia’s David Belyavskiy by just three hundredths of a point. As the crowd went wild, Stepko was hoisted in the air by his coach. He continued in the Games by earning silver in the pommel horse final and bronze in the vault final.

4. Beam Is A Beast

In a very shaky beam final for the women, every athlete had a hiccup on beam except the gold and silver medalists—Lieke Wevers and Andreea Iridon. Physical and mental fatigue could have been the result of a long week of competition, starting with two days of qualifications on Sunday and Monday, the team final on Thursday and event finals on Saturday. A couple gymnasts were still able to put up stellar sets, with gold-medal-winning Wevers being one of them.

5. Wevers Doesn’t Waver

Lieke Wevers of the Netherlands emerged as a very consistent competitor at the Games. While she doesn’t necessarily display the most difficulty, she performs her skills very precisely and with true artistry. Her floor routine brings us back to a focus on beautiful dance and the idea of telling a story with each movement. Wevers tore her ACL in 2009 and had surgery on both wrists in 2012, just returning to competition last year. These Games were a breakout competition for her, as she led the Netherlands to a third place finish in the team final and also earned the bronze in the all-around. In event finals, Wevers took the beam crown and the bronze on floor.

6. Steingruber Shows Her Stuff

Giulia Steingruber proved that she is a force to be reckoned with at these Games, finishing second in the all-around competition and having a spectaular showing in event finals. She took the titles on both vault and floor, and bronze in the beam final.