Highlights of #ACRO2019

The Israeli Gymnastics Federation lifted this event to another level with the fabulous hall, set-up and lighting provided in Holon’s Toto Arena! And the gymnasts returned the favour by showing off their fantastic skills in cool choreographies, truly giving the best of themselves, both during the European Age Group Competitions the first week and the following week in the junior and senior Europeans.

Here are our highlights! In no particular order of course …

 

Triple crowns for the stars

Only the gymnasts competing in the European Championships battled for three sets of medals. The triple crown is only won by the very best, the gymnasts who manage to keep their nerves under control in three finals and outscore their competitors not once but three times in as many days.

First, two Israeli junior units achieved this feat: women’s pair Almog Green and Maayan Zunenshine and women’s group Meshi Hurvitz, Nikol Aleinik and Inbal Zeitounei! After the last senior finals, two more units joined them: Belgium’s Talia De Troyer, Britt Vanderdonckt and Charlotte Van Royen, double European Games Champions, and Russian mixed pair Viktoria Aksenova and Kirill Startsev who stepped into the footsteps of their predecessors and compatriots Marina Chernova and Georgiy Pataraya, winners of the triple crown both in 2015 and in 2017.

Israel shines bright

Known already for years for their expressive style and original routines, team Israel was out in full force in Holon, claiming a total of 18 medals of which 11 were gold over the two competition weeks. The audience sang along the national anthem in delight.

After the retirement of European and World Champions Efi Sach, Daniel Uralevitch, Yannay Kalfa and Lidar Dana, and women’s pair Mika Lefkovitz and Roni Surzon, who were honoured by the Israeli Gymnastics Federation for the fantastic careers, the future seems to be secured.

History for Austria and Netherlands

What’s a competition without some truly historic moments? Nothing … so women’s pair Franziska Seiner and Eva Gasser delivered the best performance of their career so far by winning Austria’s first ever European medal!

‘I can do that too', Stef Van der Locht must have thought. Having previously announced his retirement after Holon, Van der Locht paired with Fenne Van Dijck, earning the bronze medal in the all-around for the Netherlands. What a way to say goodbye!

Increased participation

We were proud to welcome 18 countries in the senior competition, an increase of 5 compared to 2017! To all the European federations, keep up the great work. Acro needs to grow and be seen …

 

Shooting Stars … Tzlil Hurvitz (ISR) and Teodor Velikov (BUL)

Selected for their exceptional stories, Israel’s Tzlil Hurvitz and Bulgaria’s Teodor Velikov were awarded SmartScoring Shooting Star Award! Hurvitz suffered a career-threatening injury but fought back against all odds and made it to the European Games and these Europeans. Velikov came back to acro after a 7-year break to partner with Youth Olympic Champion Mariela Kostadinova and pursue their dreams.

A variety of medal winners

A total of 12 countries returned home with at least one medal!

Just check out the medal tables …

 

10th European Age Group Competitions in Acrobatic Gymnastics
	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Russia	4	2	2	8
Israel	4	1	1	6
Great Britain	1	5	4	10
Portugal	1	1	1	3
Netherlands	-	1	-	1
France	-	-	1	1
Germany	-	-	1	1

 

29th European Championships in Acrobatic Gymnastics
	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
Russia	8	11	4	23
Israel	7	1	4	12
Great Britain	5	3	5	13
Portugal	3	5	1	9
Belgium	3	1	2	6
Belarus	1	4	5	10
Azerbaijan	1	1	3	5
Germany	1	-	1	2
Ukraine	-	5	3	8
Austria	-	-	1	1
Netherlands	-	-	1	1

 

 

Thank you gymnasts, thank you Holon!