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Budapest produces the Rhythmic Experience of a Lifetime
June 2, 2017News
The Hungarian capital Budapest warmly welcomed close to 300 gymnasts and their coaches, judges and officials for an action-packed 3 days of competition at the highest level. With the absence of Yana Kudryavtseva, Margarita Mamun and Ganna Rizatdinova, the playing field opened up to a new generation. And they didn’t disappoint!
Out of the many highlights we have chosen these 7…
The Double Averina show
Competing in their first European Championships, twins Dina and Arina impressed from the moment they stepped onto the carpet in training. Their difficulty is out of this world and they perform with such ease. Head coach Irina Viner remarked:
The surprise for me was that I chose Dina from the twins to perform with three apparatus and I should have chosen Arina, especially that her ribbon routine would have been performed to Hungarian music, czardas.
The 18-year-olds won 2 individual titles each and combined to win the team title too and apparently pocketed their tickets to the World Championships in Pesaro (ITA) at the end of August. Not bad for a first big assignment, right?!
Italian emotions run high
Italy’s junior group upset Israel to take the silver medal. The look on their faces and their reaction when the score flashed delighted the audience, it was pure gold
During the qualifications we have made mistakes, we were over excited, but in the final everything went perfectly. We are very happy, we didn’t expect to win a medal. We are all very proud to be in this team, we believe in each other like sisters. It was great to perform in this wonderful venue.
First-year seniors Alexandra Agiurgiuculese and Milena Baldassarri capped off a promising showing for the Azzuri. They competed in the ball and ribbon final respectively.
Hungarian magic
The hugely anticipated performance of the Hungarian girls Alexandra Kis, Fanni Pigniczki and Mira Varay gave goosebumps to the many spectators in the Papp Laszlo Sports Arena. The girls show tremendous potential, something the Hungarian fans and media caught on to immediately. We hope to see them shine again soon!
Sasha’s hairstyle
At the Rio Olympics the Russian group dared to step away from the traditional rhythmic hairstyle but compatriot Aleksandra Soldatova took it even further, showing off a beautiful braided style that had all media in awe.
Luigi charmed by Rhythmic gymnasts … or was it the other way round?
Our mascot Luigi excelled in the company of all these wonderful people in Budapest. Taken under the wings of several volunteers, Luigi learned how to take professional photos, got a ride on the crane camera, improved his ribbon skills with Azerbaijan’s top gymnast Marina Durunda and was held tight by Mira Varay while watching her teammate Alexandra Kis perform. And at the banquet, Luigi couldn’t get enough of shaking on the dance floor, guided by the fantastic rhythmic gymnasts!
Gala
An extravagant gala show worthy of an Olympic Games closed this brilliant 33rd European Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics. The participants showed the development of Budapest in eight grand scenes that involved not only the rhythmic gymnasts of the Hungarian national team and stars like Aleksandra Soldatova and Neviana Vladinova, but also highlighted other great sporting and cultural achievements.
Missed it? Don’t worry, we have uploaded the entire Gala so you can watch it again and again!
Let’s meet in Valladolid!
From 1 to 3 June 2018, the 34th edition of the Rhythmic Europeans will take place in the Spanish town of Valladolid. Scheduled to compete are the junior individuals, the top 24 –based on the all-around results of Budapest 2017- senior individuals and the senior groups!
We leave you with this amazing slideshow by our photographer Volker Minkus. Enjoy!
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