Marios Georgiou – Shooting Star Award

At Men’s European Gymnastics Championships 2026.

Started in 2018, this award aims to put a gymnast with an exceptional story in the spotlight, someone who is an inspiration for the future generation of gymnasts and the general public alike.

Marios Georgiou has written some of the most remarkable chapters in the history of Cypriot gymnastics.

After making his Olympic debut at Rio 2016, he quickly established himself as one of the country’s leading gymnasts and a pioneer on the international stage.
In 2018, he enjoyed a breakthrough year, winning the All-Around and Horizontal Bar titles at the Mediterranean Games, as well as two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games. A year later, he made history again by winning bronze in the European All-Around in Szczecin – Cyprus’ first-ever European gymnastics medal.

In 2022, Georgiou became the first Cypriot gymnast to win a European title, taking gold on Horizontal Bar in Munich. His greatest achievement came in 2024, when he became the first Cypriot European All-Around Champion in Rimini (scoring over 14 points on 4 apparatuses, highlighted by magnificent parallel bars and horizontal routines). This incredible performance also secured him a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where he reached the Horizontal Bar final and finished an impressive sixth — another historic first for Cyprus. A fantastic year for Marios Georgiou, crowned “Male Gymnast of the Year” with more than 50% of the votes.

In Zagreb, Marios Georgiou added another medal to his impressive collection, claiming silver on the high bar.

Beyond his impressive medal tally, Georgiou’s career is a story of perseverance, consistency and determination. By breaking new ground at almost every major stage of his career, he has become a true inspiration for young gymnasts in Cyprus and far beyond.

Men’s European Gymnastics Apparatus Finals 2

Full results.

Vault

🥇 Nazar Chepurnyi, Ukraine, 14.566
🥈 Aleksei Usachev, WG2 (Russia), 14.399
🥉 Sol Scott, Great Britain, 14.199

In a shocker, legend Artur Davtan missed his 2nd vault. New senior Dukhno also missed vault #2, his block gone wrong on Triple Twisting Yurchenko.

Overall, it was an excellent Final, however. No dangerous landings. Scores are close, but I’d agree with the ranking of the top 3.

Ukraine, Russia top 2. So far there have been no incidents.

P Bars

Best P Bar Final I can recall. All 8 gymnasts HIT. Four were awarded STICK bonus from judges who are very reluctant to do so.

🥇 Illia Kovtun, Croatia, 14.700
🥈 Ferhat Arican, Türkiye, 14.433
🥉 Joe Fraser, Great Britain, 14.300

Juniors had ties. But they are broken under senior rules. Ron Pyatov, Israel, scored the same as Joe — but lost the tie break for reasons I can’t understand. 😀

Illia definitely deserved to win this one. A BIG star in Croatia now.

H Bar

🥇 Joe Fraser, Great Britain, 14.300
🥈 Marios Georgiou, Cyprus, 14.200
🥉 Saveliy Syedin, WG2 (Russia), 14.066

Good podium ranking. You could argue that Illia Kovtun (4th) should have been there. Seems judges devalued his Layout Tkachev to Piked.

Read Lauren’s LIVE blog.

Gymnast of the Year 2026 is Hamlet Manukyan. Pommel champion.

Shooting Star Award goes to fan favourite Marios Georgiou from Cyprus.

European Men’s JR Apparatus Finals RESULTS

Full results.

Floor

  1. Ruggeri Riccardo ITA 13.700
  2. Mazzola Pietro ITA 13.666
  3. Golovin Volodymyr UKR 13.166

Italy is looking strong for the coming years. Especially if Manrique Larduet is granted citizenship. They could be challenging GBR and USA.

Overall, I was disappointed in this final. Too many falls. Execution of Double Fronts mostly poor.

Pommel

🥇 1. Golovin Volodymyr UKR 13.900
🥈 2. Musaev Radmir WG2 13.833
🥈 2. Fawzi-Mccaffrey Zakaine GBR 13.833

An excellent final. None of these juniors are going to be competitive with the top seniors, however, any time soon.

Tie for silver.

Rings

  1. Musaev Radmir WG2 13.133
  2. Ruggeri Riccardo ITA 12.900
  3. Martinez David ESP 12.800

It’s normal for Juniors to not yet be able to show high level strength sequences. Men can keep gaining strength at least until age-30.

I couldn’t see any reason why Martinez’ coach stayed on the podium during the routine.

Vault

  1. Havrylchenko Valentyn UKR 13.616
  2. Wachter Samuel AUT 13.483
  3. Schumacher Ben SUI 13.466

Havrylchenko was miles ahead on difficulty. He can compete Senior Vault any time.

I was impressed by Robert Ward of Ireland (4th).

P Bars

  1. Chowdhury Uzair GBR 14.166
  2. Golovin Volodymyr UKR 14.000
  3. Atkins George GBR 13.733

Super strong Final. The top guys would be very competitive in Senior.

A great result for Great Britain.

H Bar

🥇 1. Rigon Ivan ITA 13.233
🥇 1. Soleban Sami NED 13.233
🥉 3. Smirnov Daniil WG2 13.133

Not a good Final.

Bad luck for several. Too many falls. Of course they all HIT to get into this Final.

Soleban already has competitive difficulty to compete senior. Remember the name. Another Flying Dutchman, perhaps.

Tie for gold.

European Champions – Dolgopyat, Targhetta, Avestiyan

European Gymnastics Apparatus Finals Zagreb – day 1 were excellent.

*tie broken by higher Execution score

Floor Exercise:

  1. Artur Dolgopyat ISR 14.666
  2. Arsenii Dukhno WG2 14.333
  3. Harry Hepworth GBR 14.300

Pommel Horse:

  1. Gabriele Targhetta ITA 15.133
  2. Hamlet Manukyan ARM 15.000
  3. Mamikon Khachatryan ARM 14.900

In fact, I can’t recall a better Pommel Final.

Still Rings:

  1. Artur Avetisyan ARM 14.400
  2. Ilia Zaika WG2 14.400*
  3. Eleftherios Petrounias GRE 14.366

Happily, there were no agonizing judging controversies over the podium rankings.

Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat, Italy’s Gabriele Targhetta and Armenia’s Artur Avetisyan golden on first day of Europeans apparatus finals

Click PLAY or watch highlights on YouTube.

Men’s European Gymnastics Apparatus Finals 1

Full results. Click through to APPARATUS FINAL.

Floor Final always reminds me of Kyle Shewfelt. That guy loved the pressure. Almost always HIT.

Floor

  1. Artem Dolgopyat, Israel, 14.466
  2. Arseniy Dukhno, WG2, 14.333
  3. Harry Hepworth, Great Britain, 14.300

Full results.

A good final with many STUCK landings. I’m happy with the ranking of the medalists.

Pommel

1. Gabriele Targhetta, Italy, 15.133
2. Hamlet Manukyan, Armenia, 15.000
3. Mamikon Khachatryan, Armenia, 14.900

An amazing Final with only 1 missed routine. Mascot Luigi couldn’t believe it.

5 of the finalists are age-20 and younger. This is the most competitive apparatus in Men’s Gymnastics right now. I’m looking forward to World Championships.

I like the speed of swing of Hamlet.

Rings

AVERAGE AGE not nearly so low on this apparatus. Men can gain strength until at least age-30.

1. Artur Avetisyan, Armenia, 14.400
2. Ilya Zaika, WG2, 14.400
3. Eleftherios Petrounias, Greece, 14.366

Perfect strength holds from Illia Zaika.

And your champion. Better swing Handstand. Almost stuck landing.

Read Lauren’s LIVE blog.

Men’s European JR Gymnastics – GBR, WG2, ITA

The Men’s Junior TEAM competition was exciting.

  • Great Britain 237.559
  • WG2 237.360
  • Italy 234.592

Full results.

High praise from John Crumlish:

Brits greatest junior team at men’s European Championships

Here’s the post from British Gymnastics:

GB junior men retain European gymnastics title

The junior level is high. Top Juniors often graduate immediately on to their nation’s senior Team.

Click PLAY or watch highlights on YouTube.

In praise of gymnast Manila Esposito

Tony Retrosi has worked with Manila for 10 years as a guest coach.

He knows the Gymnastics superstar very well.

Tony wants people to know just how hard she’s worked:

The True Measure of a Gymnast: More Than Looks

  • Silver in TEAM at the 2024 Olympic Games 
  • Bronze on BEAM at the 2024 Olympic Games 
  • two-time European all-around champion (20242025
  • European Beam and Floor champion 2024

    Before this controversy erupted online, I watched Manila win Floor — second on Beam — at European Championships 2026 in Zagreb last week. Against Russians.

She was the gymnast who impressed me most.

At Men’s Europeans, it was AA champ Illia Kovtun who impressed me most.

With both these superstars, I can’t understand how and why they are so good. So consistent in competition.

Manila is very difficult for a judge to deduct. Her movements so fluid. On Beam she shares that kind of quality with Sanne Wevers & others of the Dutch system.