The Absolute Best of the 2023 Aerobics Europeans

For the last European Championships of 2023, the gymnastics community gathered in sunny Antalya, on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, where Europe’s best Aerobics gymnasts offered a marvellous display of their impressive skills.

Rounding off a super busy year for the Turkish Gymnastics Federation, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Federation’s leadership and staff for the dedication and enthusiasm in organising this event!

Here are our 13 highlights, in no particular order!

Superstar alert

Hinting that this could be her last competition, all eyes were on Turkish superstar Ayse Begum Onbasi. The ‘Medal Monster’ previously claimed the World title in 2021 and silver in 2022. Competing here in Individual Women and Groups, Ayse poured her heart and soul into her performances, showing exactly why she is the Queen of Aerobics. No medals for her this time but on Instagram she confirmed she’s not done yet with the sport. Love to see you on stage, Ayse!

Magical Maelys

In a star-studded Individual Women’s final, 2021 junior European Champion Maelys Lenclos won a tight race for gold by virtue of the highest execution score. The French talent held off a challenge by reigning World Champion Anastasiia Kurashvili (UKR) and Borislava Ivanova (BUL) to clinch her first senior continental crown.

The Hunchback meets Elvis

Third in 2021 at home in Italy, top qualifier Davide Nacci stunned the audience with an incredible exercise to the theme of ‘The Hunchback of the Notre-Dame’, complemented by his beautiful matching outfit. His reward? The European title! In second place, Nacci’s best friend Francesco Sebastio who got the crowd on its feet courtesy of his Elvis Presley imitation.

Bulgarian beauty

We witnessed another tale of successful juniors turning into senior Champions in the Mixed Pairs final. Bulgarian duo Borislava Ivanova and Hristo Manolov embraced the spotlight, comfortably transitioning from 2021 junior Champions to 2023 senior European Champions. 2 tenths behind them, Italians Lucrezia Rexhepi and Matteo Falera gracefully grabbed the silver, while Romania’s Darius Branda and Daria Mihaiu were delighted with the bronze.

Trio, triomphe

France continued its winning mood in Trios, again with Maelys Lenclos in its ranks. Lenclos teamed up with Clara Lestruhaut and Victoria Trosset to produce a routine that earned a whopping 3.647 in difficulty, the highest of this final. Combine that with great execution and artistry, and the gold returns to France.

Combining efforts

In the Groups final, Sara Cutini, Davide Nacci, Francesco Sebastio, Anna Bullo and Matteo Falera (ITA) excelled, cruising to victory by acing their artistry and execution marks. Making a name for themselves here, Finland took the silver medal, courtesy of Nea Hukkanen, Nea Kivelae, Adeelia Koponen, Hilda Laaksonen and Nanne Teinikivi. Dora Akoshegyi, Fanni Csitkovics, Fruzsina Fejer, Zoltan Locsei and Andras Agoston Mikulecz combined their efforts to bring the bronze back to Hungary.

Romania’s roaring talent

The battle for the medals in the junior team competition had the audience waiting in suspense. Romania and Finland went head-to-head, each claiming two top positions. Romania topped the Trio and Group qualifications while Sampo Nousiainen and the Mixed Pair excelled for Finland. In the end, the second place in Aerobic Dance gave Romania the edge, and thus the 2023 junior European Team gold. Romania’s junior squad continued to impress by winning the three more titles: Trios, Groups and Aerobic Dance titles! The future looks bright for the powerful Aerobics nation.

The Portuguese edge

In the junior finals, the Individual Women caused immediate excitement. With the top 3 scores within 0.050 of each other, the delegations sat on the edge of their seat, watching the drama unfold. Posting the higher artistry score, Portugal’s Leonor Januario claimed the victory, edging past Italy’s Guenda Cherubini and Spain’s Martina Gil Olmeda.

Step it up

In Aerobic Step, the 5 participating nations battled it out for the medals. Hungary and Italy both posted the highest artistry score, 8.750. So the title decision came to the best execution score. And it was a tight race: Hungary earned a 8.650 while Italy got 8.600. Hungary is the 2023 European Aerobic Step Champion! Silver for Italy with a scintillating Spain clinching the bronze.

Grazie Italia

With the top qualification rankings per category determining the total team standing, Italy cruised to victory in the senior competition as they placed first in all but one category: Davide Nacci was the best in Individual Men, Lucrezia Rexhepi and Matteo Falera in Mixed Pairs while the Italian Trio and Group also claimed top honours. Add to that the second place in Aerobic Step, and Italy earned an almost perfect score to clinch the Team gold!

Dancing the night away

The Aerobic Dance final gave the gymnasts the opportunity to impressive the audience. Top choreography and intense enthusiasm on display and a perfect way to end a wonderful event. Hungary claimed the title, a tenth ahead of Romania, with Italy in the bronze medal position.

The Future is … Finland

Giving traditional Aerobics powerhouse Romania a run for their money in the junior team competition, Finland came to Antalya to impress. Clinching a fantastic team silver, the Nordic country showed the world its talent. Individually, Sampo Nousiainen earned the bronze medal. Immediately after, Nousiainen partnered with Jade Sirvioe in the Mixed Pairs final. Posting the highest difficulty and execution scores, the Finnish duo delighted the audience with their sparkling performance for the European title! More to come from them for sure.

The SmartScoring Shooting Star award goes to … Vasileia-Faidra Diamanti (GRE) and David Gavrilovici (ROU)

Vasileia-Faidra Diamanti started in Rhythmic Gymnastics at 4 as a way to consume her endless energy. At 8, her then coach sent Faidra to the Aerobics team. Times were difficult in Greece back then due to financial crisis. Faidra's father, with whom she had a special bond, left Greece when Faidra was only 10 years old. Her mother had to work long hours, go abroad almost every summer to work, so her grandpa was the one who drove her to training. After her first national championships, her coach decided that she should take part in a competition abroad. She did, and she won the silver medal, despite being the youngest participant. This made her believe in herself and work hard for the best possible result. Overcoming injuries and lack of resources, Faidra claimed the silver medal in junior Individual Women at the 2022 World Championships. In Antalya, she competed in the senior category for the first time. If you ask her today ''Would you do that again?'', she would answer without any doubt or hesitation that she would.

David Gavrilovici is a highly successful competitor with several European and World medals. Unfortunately, the Romanian star suffered a knee injury in May 2022 which required cruciate ligament surgery, causing him to miss both the World Championships and the World Games. The easiest thing to do would have been to retire, as he is currently studying for a Masters in Banking and Insurance and is also a coach, but he wanted to continue and show the world that he still has something to say as an athlete. After a very rigorous recovery programme, Gavrilovici is making his comeback at these Europeans, participating in no less than three categories: Trio, Group and Aerobic Dance.