‘The European Gymnastics Podcast Episode 8: Heading to Funland’ is out now!

In episode 8 of ‘The European Gymnastics Podcast’, Olly Hogben and Blythe Lawrence focus on the upcoming TeamGym European Championships in Espoo (FIN) and the World Championships in Artistic Gymnastics in Rotterdam (NED).  

• Blythe recaps the gymnastics news, starting with the ever spectacular Paris World Challenge Cup where host France and neighbour Belgium divided the women’s titles, the World Cup in Szombathely (HUN) and the retirement of 2017 World medallist Bart Deurloo (NED).
  • Who won a European floor title with the music playing in the background?
• Olly looks back on his highlights of the recent World Championships, starting with Aerobics in Pamplona. Our last episode’s special guest Miquel Mane became the star of the event, retaining his World title, while Greece celebrated its first ever medal courtesy of Faidra Diamanti. At ACRO Worlds in Pesaro, Roni Cohen and Shiraz Sokolovsky (ISR) clinched the treble in women’s pairs plus team gold. Superstars Ivan Labunets and Yevfrosyniia Kryvytsa (UKR) secured two titles and the joy of the Azerbaijan’s women’s group after their dynamic win was simply contagious.
• It’s TeamGym time! Finland hosted the very first European event 30 years ago, and we return there this year. From 14 to 17 October, Espoo’s Metro Areena is the place to be for all TeamGym fans. Olly is joined by former Team GB athlete and European Gymnastics co-commentator Liam Gallagher and Swedish TeamGym coach Emma Göransson who discuss TeamGym’s unique format, the pace and the high stakes, the team spirit and the rivalry of the Nordic countries. Learn all about this spectacular discipline so you can follow the entire competition live on gymtv.online, with expert commentary by Olly and Liam!
• Ahoy to Rotterdam! Find out three topics Blythe is excited about for these World Championships before we speak to Italian great Manila Esposito about her success in Zagreb, her return to her childhood gym in Civitavecchia, the support of her family and a selfie with… Simone Biles.

So … did you guess the music? Let us know on social media!

 

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‘The European Gymnastics Podcast’ is a European Gymnastics original production, created by European Gymnastics in partnership with Olly Hogben and Blythe Lawrence. Started in February 2026, this podcast series aims to shine a light on the eight disciplines represented at the European continental gymnastics federation, its events, its stars & their skills, and much more.