AERONEWS! The Aerobic Gymnastics Newsletter N° 9 - July 2019

Dear Aerobics friends

After the impressive competition put on by Europe’s leading gymnasts at the European Championships in Baku, Aerobics sparkled again in Minsk during the European Games where the mixed pairs and groups showed their worth. Find out all the highlights of these two important events below …

We just finished our annual training camp. It pleases me so much to see what a pool of talented and dedicated youngsters we have. I hope the valuable experience gained in Latina will motivate them even more.

On an official note … I’m delighted to announce that the 2021 European Championships will be organised in Pesaro (ITA)!

With both juniors and seniors battling for continental glory in the Individual Women, Individual Men, Mixed Pairs, Trios, Groups and Aero Dance categories, the three competition days at Baku’s National Gymnastics Arena provided much excitement for the crowd in the beautiful venue and the fans watching online.

Russia topped the medal rankings with Italy, Hungary, Romania and Azerbaijan also claiming top prizes. Hungarian star Daniel Bali, the 2017 European Champion, decided not to defend his individual title, focusing instead on his mixed pairs (with Fanni Mazacs) and trios (with Mazacs and Balazs Farkas) performances. Winning gold in both, the gamble paid off. Roman Semenov and Ekaterina Pykhtova won the individual titles while Romania successfully defended their group title. Last but definitely not least, to the delight of the home crowd, the Azerbaijani Aero Dance outperformed their Russian rivals to claim their first medal at a European Championships, and it was immediately gold!

All routines of the finals plus the full replays have been uploaded to the UEG’s Youtube channel!

In a packed Minsk Arena, 8 mixed pairs and 8 groups gave the best of themselves to show what a wonderful discipline Aerobics truly is.

Italy’s World Champions Michela Castoldi and Davide Donati produced a stunning exercise on the tones of Celine Dion’s ‘My heart will go on’, mesmerising the audience. They surpassed Romanians Andreea Bogati and Dacian Barna and Russians Tatiana Konakova and Grigoriy Shikhaleev to claim the European Games title, a nice upgrade from the silver they won in Baku four years earlier. In the groups’ final, Russia upset European Champions Romania who had to settle for bronze behind Bulgaria.

Relive all the action on our Youtube channel!

A big crowd descended under the Italian sun for a week of intense and fun training at our annual training camp in Latina. We welcomed 24 coaches and 74 gymnasts from 11 countries. Guided by experts like our Technical Committee members Vladislav Oskner (RUS) and Lefki Ferentinou (GRE); internationally renowned Marianna Mezei (ROU), Christophe Devillaine (FRA) and former European and World Champion Sara Moreno (ESP); and assisted majestically by Monika and Antonio Barone, the camp provided a positive atmosphere for the gymnasts to work on their skills while making new friends.

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With my best wishes,

Cristina Casentini

AER-TC President