Russian juniors Alexander Chicherov, Ildar Yuskaev, Andrey Makolov, Sergey Naidin and Maxim Sinichkin won silver medals at the championship in the team tournament.

Andrei Makolov won two gold medals at the junior championship, winning the vault and high bar exercises.

Sergei Naidin won the pommel horse exercise (14.666). Another representative of Russia, Ildar Yuskaev, took third in the ring exercises (14,200).

Russian juniors won gold at the 2016 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in the team competition.

Based on the results of their performance on four apparatuses, the Russians scored 168.179 points (43.000 points on uneven bars, 42.715 points on balance beam, 41.299 points on floor exercise and 41.165 on vault). The second place was taken by the British team (163.912), bronze by the Romanian team (163.678).

Our team: 13-year-old Angelina Simakova, 14-year-old Elena Eremina, 15-year-old Anastasia Ilyankova, 15-year-old Ulyana Perebinosova, 14-year-old Varvara Zubova.

Russian Andrei Makolov (coaches: Yarygin O.A., Denisov P.V., Nikolko E.G., Shestakova I.I.) took second place in the final of the individual all-around, another Russian Sergei Naidin became eighth.

Previously, the Russian junior team won silver medals in the team tournament, losing only to the Great Britain team.

The team regained the title of the strongest

The Russian women's artistic gymnastics team won the European Championships in the team event with two gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The Swiss were second (2-0-0), the British were third (1-3-0). In addition to gold in the team, the girls collected a set of awards in individual events. Olympic champion Aliya Mustafina won gold on the balance beam and finished third on the uneven bars, Daria Spiridonova won silver on the uneven bars, and Ksenia Afanasyeva won bronze on the vault.

Six years have passed since the last team victory of our gymnasts at the European Championships. At the continental championship in Sofia 2014, the Russian team consisting of Aliya Mustafina, Maria Kharenkova, Daria Spiridonova, Alla Sosnitskaya and Anna Rodionova took third place. Representatives from Romania became European champions, and the British team took silver. The Romanians also won in Brussels 2012, the Russian team led by Mustafina then became second.

In Bern, Aliya Mustafina, Daria Spiridonova, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Seda Tutkhalyan and Angelina Melnikova regained the title of the strongest, which was last won in Birmingham 2010. In the team all-around final, the Russians scored 175.212 points. The British came second -170.312. The gap is impressive.

It was important to regain lost ground. In the fall, our team lost at the World Championships in Glasgow and was left there completely without awards. The British team at the pre-Olympic European Championships intended to consolidate its leadership. But she couldn’t cope with her own nerves and the resilience of the Russian women. Our girls took the lead from the first round, and their performance on the uneven bars made their rivals not even get nervous, but simply give up. Already here the British team lost to the Russians by more than three points.

The Russian team won. But every gymnast now speaks like team leader Aliya Mustafina: “I’m quite pleased with myself. Naturally, this is not enough for the Olympics.”

BERN, June 5 - R-Sport, Sergey Smyshlyaev. The European Artistic Gymnastics Championships ended with the triumph of the Russian team - the women's team became first in the unofficial team competition, repeating the success of the men's team and winning two gold, silver and two bronze awards.

The Russians won the team championship, Aliya Mustafina took gold on beam, Ksenia Afanasyeva took bronze on vault, and Daria Spiridonova won silver on uneven bars and Mustafina won bronze.

The strongest again

According to the results of the qualifications, the main disappointment for Russian fans was the performance of the Russians in floor exercises - not a single Russian gymnast made it to the finals. But we should not forget that a big loss in this event was the silver medalist of the 2015 World Championship and last year’s European champion Afanasyeva, who was not included in the floor exercise due to an ankle injury. However, on the eve of the team final, the second result of the Russians and the microscopic gap of 0.102 points from the British inspired optimism.

“In the team championship, this is no difference, everything is still ahead,” two-time Olympic champion Lidia Ivanova told the R-Sport agency. “The most important thing is that the task of reaching the final of the team championship has been solved. I want to believe that they will win our team everything is there for this. Quite a pleasant combination of experience and youth, just name Mustafina and Afanasyeva, and next to (Angelina) Melnikova, Spiridonova and (Seda) Tutkhalyan. Of course, the composition is strong, which is capable of solving problems. This is the scale of Europe, we must remember that The Olympics are just around the corner, and there will be such competitors!”

The Russian team seemed to listen to the words of the honored coach of the USSR and in the final showed a crazy attitude and excellent quality of performance. The only mistake was Tutkhalyan's fall on the balance beam, but this did not stop the team from taking gold with a margin of almost 5 points.

“I would like to thank all the coaches, specialists, massage therapists, doctors who helped us in this matter,” senior coach of the Russian women’s national team Evgeniy Grebenkin told reporters. “Congratulations to everyone on the victory! Melnikova entered the senior competition for the first time, Tutkhalyan was already there, but trembled. Well, nothing! On the first day they tested, got into the finals. And everything is decided by the finals. Leaders support the youth, set them up by their example, which helps them show the best results."

Substitute who played

A huge regret before the finals in certain all-around events was the absence of the current world and European champion Spiridonova from the list of candidates for medals on the uneven bars, but literally on the eve of the start the coaching staff decided to make a replacement and release her instead of the young Melnikova. “Angelina has a callus on her hand. Yesterday we invited her and the coach, discussed the situation and made a joint decision to make a substitution for the final,” senior coach of the Russian national team Valentina Rodionenko told the R-Sport agency.

And Spiridonova did not disappoint, winning silver and passing ahead only to Briton Rebecca Downey. Many thought that the gold medalist was overestimated, but, as they say, “winners are not judged.” “(Spiridonova’s) score on uneven bars is decent, but the Englishwoman’s base is 0.2 higher, and she won by a small margin over Daria, so everything is fine,” Grebenkin noted.

It is worth rejoicing for Afanasyeva, who, even with an injury, was able to win bronze in the vault, showing truly leadership qualities. But the Russian woman did not sing her own praises, admitting that she felt uncomfortable at this tournament. “As for the team championship, to be honest, I’m a little uncomfortable or even ashamed that I’m on the team for only one apparatus due to injury and cannot help with the main apparatus. Today it’s better, because I won a medal, but it’s a little embarrassing,” Afanasyeva admitted.

Triumph on balance beam

The real highlight of Sunday was Mustafina’s performance on the balance beam. As soon as she dismounted from the apparatus, the Olympic champion smiled, making it clear that no one would take the gold from her. And so it happened, the 15,100 points she scored became the highest score in this event at the 2016 European Championships.

“The score was high, there were no such scores on the balance beam, so right after my performance there was a lot of hope that I would remain first. Yes, of course, the start turned out to be successful. I am very glad that everything turned out this way. That there were no gross mistakes, there were no falls, I managed to pull myself together and remember how to perform. Next, work!" - Mustafina told the R-Sport agency.

It is worth noting that the leader of the Russian team did not remain without a medal on the uneven bars, taking bronze.