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From Birmingham to Rotterdam:
The Months Ahead for European Gymnasts
7 February 2010, 20:20
Birmingham, England, will host the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships
for men and women from 21 April to 2 May. For many of Europe’s top gymnasts, the
European Championships will be an important test event for the 2010 Rotterdam
Worlds – a place to test new routines, try out new skills, prove competition
fitness, etc.
Birmingham 2010 will be first and foremost a team competition, the first major
such competition to be held since the 2008 Olympics (the 2009 Europeans did not
feature a team competition). Apart from team competitions for both seniors and
juniors, the event will incorporate individual event finals, as well as an
individual all-around competition for juniors which will serve as a qualifying
event for the Youth Olympic Games, to be held in Singapore in August 2010. In
all, forty countries are expected to compete in Birmingham.
In the senior men’s competition, the Russian team will try to successfully
defend its 2008 title. Sadly, the team will have to do without its top
all-rounder, Yuri Ryazanov, who tragically died in a car accident a week after
medalling in the London Worlds. In the senior women’s competition, Romania will
do its best to add another title to its impressive medal hoard, a task rendered
considerably harder by the fact that three of its leading seniors will have to
sit out the Europeans due to injuries. Meanwhile, perennial rivals Russia are
expected to mount a strong challenge to the defending champions.
Several countries will hold qualifying events for the European Championships
over the next few months. Please check your federation’s website for more
information on these qualifying events.
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