Year in review 2: May – August

Here’s the overview of what happened in the gymnastics community for May to August 2020

May

• A string of retirements in the Swiss artistic team as Ilaria Kaeslin, Marco Rizzo, Thea Brogli and Fabienne Studer all hang up their grips.
• Belgium’s women’s team captain Senna Deriks retires.
• World Games Champions Tim Sebastian and Michail Kraft (GER) announce their retirement from acro.
• 2015 European Champion on high bar Marijo Moznik is elected as President of the Croatian Gymnastics Federation.

 

June

• EOC President Janez Kocijancic passes away at age 78.
• The European Championships in Women’s & Men’s Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics are rescheduled for November – December.
• Acrobatic European Champions Charlotte Van Royen, Talia De Troyer and Britt Vanderdonckt (BEL) say goodbye to the sport as do their compatriots Hannes Garré and Jonas Anthoon of the men’s group.
• Spain’s Paula Raya retires from women’s artistic gymnastics.
• On Netflix, the documentary ‘Athlete A’ about sexual abuse in the USA starts a series of abuse allegations in the gymnastics world. The call for change is loud and important steps towards a positive gym culture are being prepared for execution.

 

July

• Romee Pol (NED) quits trampoline as she starts a job in September on the Intensive Care unit.
• Greek power couple Vasiliki Millousi and Eleftherios Petrounias announce they are expecting their second child.
• Carmencita Constantin is elected as the new President of the Romanian Gymnastics Federation.

 

 

August

• Retired Romanian star Catalina Ponor announced her engagement to celebrated actor and director Bogdan Jianu.
• Dennis Goossens, Belgium’s first ever Olympic event finalist, retires.
• Yana Kudryavtseva gives birth to second kid, a girl named Zoya.
• Two-time Olympic gold medallist Nina Bocharova (URS), an early Soviet star who helped lift the USSR to almost mythical status in Artistic Gymnastics, passed away in Rome (ITA) at age 95.

 

Join us tomorrow for the third and final part!