Israeli gymnasts win gold, bronze medals at European Championships

Israeli gymnasts picked up gold and bronze medals in the European Championships on Sunday.

Artem Dolgopyat, 23, won first prize for the floor exercise, with an overall score of 15. He placed third for the vault exercise, behind Belarussian and Ukrainian competitors, with a score of 14.483.

Alexander Myakinin won bronze for the high bar (14.2000 points), coming in gymnasts from Croatia and Lithuania.

Last year, Dolgopyat won the silver medal in the floor exercise competition of the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, clinching his ticket to the Olympics, which has been postponed until next year amid the pandemic. He is seen as one of Israel’s greatest hopes for an Olympic medal.

https://twitter.com/UEGymnastics/status/1338096409522941952

Dolgopyat was twice the Ukrainian national champion in his age group before immigrating to Israel with his family in 2009, at age 12.

https://youtu.be/-vHrmO3ozBs

Last month, Israeli rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram won a gold medal at the European Championships in Kyiv. Ashram narrowly defeated Belarussian Alina Harnasko to take home the all-around title, with a total score of 100.9. Her victory came two days after Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team took the gold in the group all-around category. The category included performances using hoops, clubs and balls.

Rhythmic gymnastics is one of Israel’s stronger sports. Ashram has won numerous medals in recent years and is seen as another of the country’s leading hopes in the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.