The Shooting star award goes to … Filipa Martins (POR)

After the senior apparatus finals of the 2024 European Championships in Women’s Artistic Gymnastics in Rimini (ITA), Aida Shaliyeva, Project Manager of our global partner SmartScoring presented the SmartScoring Shooting star award to Portugal’s Filipa Martins.

Started in 2018, this award aims to put a gymnast with an exceptional story in the spotlight, someone who is an inspiration for the future generation of gymnasts and the general public alike.

Having started gymnastics at the age of 4 in her hometown of Porto, Filipa Martins excelled quickly. For an astonishing 18 years already, since 2006, Filipa has won the national championships, every year, and in all national age categories! Filipa singlehandedly put Portugal on the map as she participated in 2 Olympic Games, 8 World Championships, 12 European Championships, 2 University World Games and 1 European Games. Now 28 years old, and after 4 surgeries in one foot and 1 in the other, Filipa has qualified to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Thanks to her skills and dedicated, warm personality, Filip became very popular in Portugal. This encouraged many young gymnasts to start training in Artistic Gymnastics.

In 2021, Filipa wrote her name in the Code of Points when she presented a new element “The Martins” on uneven bars at the European Championships in Basel (SUI), which was recognised by FIG as an element with difficulty value ‘F’. She excels also in academics, having finished her graduate in Sports Sciences in 2022. Now finishing her Master in Sports Sciences/High Level Training, Filipa certainly deserves her place in the spotlight. Congratulations Filipa!