Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat wins gold at World Cup Challenge
Ukrainian-born 21-year-old scores 14.950 in Paris; his mentor Alex Shatilov, 31, comes in fourth
Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat won a gold medal Sunday after coming in first at the Paris World Challenge Cup’s floor exercise.
The 21-year-old Ukrainian-born Dolgopyat scored 14.950.
Dolgopyat’s mentor and trainer, Israeli gymnast Alex Shatilov, 31, came in fourth with a score of 14.500.
The World Challenge Cup is part of a series of competitions known as the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup. The competition is organized by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Last month, Dolgopyat overcame a mistake in his floor routine to take the silver medal at the European Gymnastics Championships in Glasgow.
Dolgopyat scored 14.466 for his routine, which included a penalty as he stepped off the mat in one of his landings. He was beaten to the gold by Britain’s Dominick Cunningham.
That result won Dolgopyat a grant of NIS 28,000 ($7,500) awarded jointly by the Israel Olympic Committee, the Culture and Sports Ministry and the Sports Betting Council.
A year earlier, at the World Gymnastics Championships, Dolgopyat claimed the silver in the tightly fought floor exercise in the individual apparatus finals. Dolgopyat scored 14.533 points for his routine, finishing 1.1 points behind Japan’s Kenzo Shirai, who racked up 15.633, and just ahead of American Moldauer Yul’s 14.500.
Dolgopyat was twice Ukrainian national champion in his age group before immigrating to Israel with his family in 2009, aged 12.