Results
The first day of competition concluded today in Sofia, Bulgaria and Russia won the junior team gold with a team score of 168.262. Great Britain placed second with a 165.005 followed closely by Romania who scored a 164.972.
This marks the eigth consecutive title for Russia's junior team and the first ever medal for the Great Britain junior team.
This competition also determined individual qualifiers for all-around and event finals. The top eight individuals on each event will compete in event finals on Sunday and the top 24 all-around gymnasts will compete in all-around finals on Friday.
All-Around Finalists
10. Sofia Busato (ITA) - 53.206
3. Laura Jurca (ROU) - 14.333
4. Amy Tinkler (GB) - 14.283
5. Angelina Melnikova (RUS) - 14.133
6. Sofia Busato (ITA) - 14.016
7. Desiree Carfiglio (ITA) - 13.883
8. Isa Maassen (NED) - 13.866
Team results below via UEG:
Senior Team and Individual Qualifications
Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland was the top qualifier on vault with a 14.674. Rebecca Downie of Great Britain lead the uneven bar qualifier with a 15.1. Aliya Mustafina of Russia also scored a 15.1 but Downie had a higher execution score, bumping Mustafina to second. Larisa Iordache of Romania had the highest score on beam and floor with pair of 15.0’s.
Release via Great Britain Below:
Great Britain’s senior women's artistic gymnastics team produced a sensational performance in the qualification at the 2014 European Championships in Sofia to top the team rankings.
Hannah Whelan, Rebecca Tunney, Rebecca Downie, Ruby Harrold and Claudia Fragapane all contributed faultless routines to the team total of 172.147 points which saw them sit proudly at the top of the scoreboard ahead of Romania (171.130) and Russia (170.621).
The mood was set starting off on beam, a notoriously nervy apparatus, where all girls showed fantastic composure which continued and strengthened throughout the competition. The team score was the main target for the girls but there were also outstanding individual performances that see gymnasts in to individual apparatus finals on Sunday.
16 year old GBR debutante Claudia Fragapane powered her way in to the floor (2nd scoring 14.766) and vault (3rd scoring 14.462) finals with Rebecca Downie 5th in the beam rankings (scoring 14.200) and top on bars scoring a magnificent 15.100. If it wasn’t for the two per country into final ruling GBR could have had three girls in the bars final, Rebecca Tunney joins Rebecca Downie placing in 3rd scoring 14.966 with Ruby Harrold missing out in 7th spot.
Hannah Whelan said, “We are all just so proud of that performance. We are a very close team and every girl produced for the team today. The support for the British fans in the crowd really spurred us on and we couldn’t have asked for much more – to be top of the rankings is an incredible achievement.”
Vault
Uneven Bar Qualifiers
Beam Qualifers
Floor Qualifiers
results via the All Around
Subdivision 3 Results
UPDATE: Switzerland still leads the way in the team competition after subdivision 3 with a 163.33. Giulia Steingruber's score of 57.765 is still the top all around score.
The Dutch team was victorious in subdivision three scoring a 161.788, putting them second overall behind Switzerland. Sanne Wevers’ gorgeous leaps and turns continue to impress on beam earning a 13.966. Noemi Makra of Hungary was particularly impressive in the session posting the third-highest all around total with a 54.741.
Day 2 of the European Championships are underway in Sofia, Bulgaria and after two subdivisions, Switzerland has the highest team score of a 163.633. Giulia Steingruber, reigning European champion on vault has the vault high of 15.133 and 14.216 and floor high of 14.566.
Teams are made up of five gymnasts and the top eight teams qualify for team finals which take place on Saturday, May 17th. The top eight gymnasts on each event qualify for event finals which take place on Sunday, May 18th.
The senior women’s team final of the European Championships took place this afternoon, and it was Romania that came out victorious, with a final team score of 172.754 and the gold medal. Great Britain followed with a 170.633to take the silver, and Russia claimed bronze with a 169.329. Fourth through eighth places went to Germany (166.796), Italy (161.488), Spain (160.921), Belgium (160.728), and Switzerland (160.397), respectively.
Romania kicked off their day with three strong DTY vaults to claim the early lead, which they maintained during the second rotation despite a form break and a near fall from anchor Larisa Iordache on a low-bar handstand. On the balance beam, Munteanu and Iordache wowed the crowd with two-foot bhs, tucked full tumbling series (earning scores of 14.533 and 14.7 respectively) to maintain their first-place rank. A strong showing on the floor, highlighted by Bulimar’s stuck double layout and full-twisting double pike, solidified their rank and secured them the gold.
After impressing the international community with their win in the qualification stage, not to mention the historic wins in the junior team and individual AA finals, the British squad came to the finals riding on the momentum of a stellar week. They started off with a clean set on beam but lost a bit of momentum on floor when Ruby Harrold sat down her third tumbling pass. Sitting in third place after two rotations, team GB performed three clean vaults to move ahead of the Russians. Three high-flying bars routines, capped off by Becky Downie’s 14.833, secured them the silver medal. The British team and fans alike were ecstatic with this outcome!
Russia’s Aliya Mustafina got her team off to a strong start on the bars, posting a 15.166 and placing them in second behind Romania after one rotation. However, things took a bit of a sour turn on the balance beam, where Spiridonova fell on her double tuck dismount and scored a disappointing 12.3. Mustafina performed a solid routine that got the team back on track and placed them just a few tenths behind Romania after the second rotation. She walked off of the beam podium with a bit of a limp but was back in action on the vault two rotations later, where she completed a successful if somewhat sloppy DTY. Solid performances on floor and vault were not enough to take the lead from the Romanians and British, however, and they settled for the bronze medal.
Germany suffered early setbacks with a fall from Schaeffer on the floor, but a strong recovery on vault and a beautiful bar set from Sophie Scheder (15.0) were enough to move them into fourth place after three rotations, where they finished the competition.
This marks the end of women’s team competition, but many of the gymnasts will be back in action on Sunday for event finals. The junior women’s competition begins at 9:30am EEST (2:30am EST), and seniors take the floor at 2:00pm EEST (7:00am EST). Check back for results following these events!
Results below via Sofia Gymnastics
