Onofriichuk, Spain new Champions of Europe

A fun-filled Saturday at Tallinn’s Unibet Arena saw the crowning of new European Champions in the individual and group all-around, in addition to the team competition.

First up, the best 24 senior individual gymnasts after the qualification rounds battled for the all-around crown. Performing all four routines, consistency was key as the combined scores determined the final ranking.

Already showing splendid form leading up to these Europeans, Taisiia Onofriichuk confirmed her fine shape today in Tallinn. Going into this final as the top qualifier, the 17-year-old Ukrainian star controlled her nerves fabulously, hitting routine after routine. Earning 29.950 for both her ‘Thriller’ hoop and her ‘Everybody dance now’ clubs performance, Onofriichuk excelled with ribbon. Performing to the Mary Poppins soundtrack ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’, Onofriichuk got the spectators on their feet in awe with the variety of skills and artistry presented. With the top score with ribbon, Onofriichuk secured the gold medal, the first European all-around title for Ukraine since 1997 when the legendary Olena Vitrychenko won.

Defending Champion Stiliana Nikolova held her head high in pursuit of a second title. Her ball set got the highest score for that apparatus today, while her hoop performance scored over 30 points. Ribbon made the difference this time, ending her quest just over a point behind Onofriichuk. Silver for Stiliana! The Bulgarian star now has a medal of each colour in the all-around: bronze in 2022 and 2023, gold last year, and silver today.

Competing in the first set of this all-around final, Olympic Champion Daria Varfolomeev (GER) made some mistakes early on with hoop and ball but got back into the medal race with the highest score of the day, a whopping 30.450 for her clubs routine. After a nail-biting wait, the final routines confirmed the bronze medal for the German icon, holding off a strong challenge by Italy’s superstar Sofia Raffaeli who posted the top score with hoop but struggled with ribbon. Teammate Tara Dragas finished fifth while Liliana Lewinska (POL), Vera Tugolukova (CYP) and Daniela Munits (ISR) round out the top eight.

Third last year, Spain truly was in a league of their own this evening. Competing in the last set of groups, Ines Bergua Navales, Andrea Corral, Marina Cortelles, Andrea Fernandez, Lucia Munoz and Salma Solaun rocked, taking in the massive support from their fans and turning it into magic on the carpet. Posting the highest score both with 5 ribbons and with 3 balls / 2 hoops, Spain ended the night with a total score of 53.800 for the European crown. This is only the second time Spain grabbed the top spot, and it’s over 30 years since that historic first title. Gold for Spain with an advantage of over 4 points over Israel. The host nation Estonia hoped for a historic medal after their group left their rivals behind with two entertaining exercises. However Hungary had their own eyes on that hardware, displaying their excellent Brazilian football-inspired routine to clinch the bronze medal.

For the third title at stake today, the team honours, all eight individual scores were combined with the two group scores. Courtesy of the excellent performances of Tara Dragas, Sofia Raffaeli, Alice Taglietti and the new senior group, Italy stepped onto the highest step of the podium. Onofriichuk led Ukraine to the silver medal. Israel and Germany tied with a total score of 270.150. In that case, the country with the highest total execution scores wins, which means that Israel clinched the bronze medal and Germany finished in fourth place.

Onofriichuk, Spain new Champions of Europe

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