Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat wins silver at World Championships

22-year-old scores 15.200 points in Stuttgart, sealing his place at the 2020 Olympic Games

By ToI Staff 12 October 2019, 10:17 pm Edit

(L-R) 2nd placed Israel's Artem Dolgopyat, winner Philippines' Carlos Edriel Yulo and 3rd placed China's Xiao Ruoteng pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's floor event at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on October 12, 2019. (Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)

Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat on Saturday won the silver medal in the floor exercise competition of the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

The win sealed the 22-year-old’s ticket to the 2020 Olympic Games. He is seen as one of Israel’s greatest hopes for an Olympic medal.

Dolgopyat won an impressive score of 15.200 points for his exercise and led the group for most of the finals, but was bested in the end by Filipino Carlos Yulo, who received 15.300.

Dolgopyat also won the silver medal in the 2017 World Championships. Last year he won gold at the Paris World Challenge Cup and silver in the European Championships.

Dolgopyat was twice the Ukrainian national champion in his age group before immigrating to Israel with his family in 2009, at age12.