Year in review part 1: January – April

2020 certainly is a year to remember, and not in a favourable way unfortunately. The year started off with the excitement for the Olympics building throughout the first World Cup stages in February and March. Then the world came to a standstill due to the COVID-19 outbreak. 
Today, we look in detail to the first 4 months of what was supposed to be the Olympic year. 

January
- Spanish rhythmic gymnast Sara Llana retires and starts coaching. 
- 2016 Olympic bronze medallist on floor Amy Tinkler (GBR) announces her retirement. 
- After 22 years in Trampoline, British Olympian Nathan Bailey retires. 
- German head coach Ulla Koch receives the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
- Louis Smith and Dan Purvis inducted into the British Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
- Trampoline judge Rusiko Khoperia rewarded as best judge of Georgia in 2019. 
- Men’s Artistic judge Enis Hodzic is awarded as best judge in Slovenia. 
- 1992 Olympic Champion Oleksandra Tymoshenko becomes a star Ambassador for the 2020 Rhythmic Europeans in Kyiv (UKR). 
- The 2022 European Championships in TeamGym have been awarded to the city of Luxemburg (LUX).
- The 2022 European Gym for Life Challenge and EUROGYM have been awarded to Neuchâtel (SUI).
- The 2023 European Championships in Artistic Gymnastics have been awarded to Antalya (TUR).
- The 2023 European Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics have been awarded to Moscow (RUS).
 

February

- UEG extends its agreement with Eurovision Sport, as official broadcast partner with exclusive worldwide media rights, for a further 4 years from 2021 – 2024.

- Baku hosts the Trampoline World Cup where Belarussian rising star Ivan Litvinovich somersaulted to second behind China’s Gao Lei. Litvinovcih’s teammates, European and World Champions Uladzislau Hancharou and Aleh Rabtsau cruised to victory in the synchro final ahead of France’s Pierre Gouzou and Mikael Viviani. The Russian duo Irina Kundius and Iana Lebedeva outscored Ukrainians Maryna Kyiko and Svitlana Malkova by one tenth of a point to secure their gold medal. Tumbling World Champion Viktoria Danilenko (RUS) held off teammate Irina Silicheva for the title in the women’s competition while Aleksandr Lisitsyn settled for bronze in the men’s final.

- At the Artistic World Cup in Melbourne (AUS) Olympic Champions Epke Zonderland (NED) and Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) earned valuable points as they both won their signature event, high bar and rings respectively. Russia’s Vladislav Poliashov wins parallel bars and ups his total to the ideal 90 points as well. Ukraine’s Diana Varinska won bars ahead of Georgia Godwin (AUS) and Daria Spiridonova. EYOF beam winner Ondine Achampong (GBR) made celebrated her senior debut with the silver medal ahead of Anastasia Bachynska (UKR). Italians Vanessa Ferrari and Lara Mori continue to battle on floor, finishing second and third at this competition.

- The Chinese delegation is not allowed to compete in Melbourne due to the travel restrictions imposed by the Australian government.

 

March

- Oleg Verniaiev (UKR) claims silver and James Hall (GBR) bronze at the American Cup, an all-around World Cup stage. Russia withdrew because of the corona threat.

- At the World Cup in Maia (POR), the Portuguese gymnasts delighted the enthusiastic crowd with three victories. European all-around Champions Rita Ferreira and Rita Teixeira cruised to victory in the women’s pairs final. With the highest difficulty, execution and artistry scores, the pair was simply unstoppable. European Games medallists Barbara Sequeira, Francisca Sampaio Maia and Francisca Maia held off their compatriots Beatriz Carneiro, Beatriz Costa and Carolina Dias who form a new and exciting partnership. Last but not least, crowd favourites Henrique Piqueiro, Frederico Silva, Henrique Silva and Miguel Silva impressed again, easily retaining their gold medal in front of the two Russian groups. Russia’s triple European Champions Viktoria Aksenova and Kirill Startsev scored a massive 30.380 in the final to return home with the mixed pairs title ahead of Belarussian rivals Hanna Kasyan and Konstantin Evstafeev.

- Belgium’s acro star Yana Vastavel retires. She and partner Solano Casamajor won three silver medals in the inaugural European Games in 2015. Then Yana moved onto a women’s group and last competed in the 2019 Europeans.

- The apparatus World Cup in Baku is forced to cancel the competition after the qualification round due to the government announcing national state of emergency and corona prevention.

- COVID-19 causes devastation around the world. Many World Cup events are cancelled / postponed. UEG is forced to cancel its May events: WAG, TRA, RG and MAG.

- Greek star Eleftherios Petrounias runs with the freshly lit Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame.

- Dutchman Michel Bletterman retires to become a sailor.

- After a lot of speculation, the IOC confirms the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to 2021. It’s the first time in history they have to postpone the event. It did get cancelled three times before, because of the two World Wars.

 

April

- After 38 years, UEG officially becomes European Gymnastics.

- Rhythmic star Yana Kudryavtseva announces she’s expecting her second child.

- France’s Oréane Lechenault announces her retirement citing the team bronze medal won at the 2016 Europeans in Bern as her proudest achievement.

- 2019 Acro bronze medallists Eva Gasser and Franziska Seiner (AUT) retire.

- Russia’s multiple vault European and World Champion Maria Paseka takes a break and will not pursue Tokyo 2020. She plans on having a baby and aiming for Paris 2024.

- DMT star Mikhail Zalomin (RUS) becomes dad to a boy, Fjodor.

- Former German head coach Dieter Hoffman passes away.

- Andreas Hirsch ends his career as German head coach in Men’s Artistic Gymnastics.

- The 2020 editions of the European Gym For Life Challenge, EUROGYM and Golden Age Gym Festival are postponed by one year.

 

Join us tomorrow for part 2 from May to August!