Cypriot gymnast Marios Georgiou on his most perfect day at the European Championships in Rimini
The new European artistic gymnastics all-around men's champion, Marios Georgiou, waited patiently for the TV producer to set up the lights ready for his interview, wide-eyed, thoughts racing.
The Cypriot had headed into the European Championships in Rimini, Italy with one goal, and one goal only – to earn a quota for his third Olympic Games.
He had his work cut out.
With just months to go until the Olympic Games, the continental championships was the last chance for a single European men's gymnast to claim a coveted spot at Paris 2024, starting 26 July. The women have the same opportunity when their competition gets underway on 2 May.
Just one athlete, the highest scoring eligible gymnast from the qualification competition, which also doubled as the all-around final, would gain that quota berth for their nation.
And Georgiou wasn't the only athlete desperate for the chance to compete at the artistic gymnastics event starting at the Bercy Arena on Saturday 27 July.
France were keen to add to their solitary tally of one male gymnast for their home Games, but were thwarted by the injury to Benjamin Osberger just days before the competition began, and despite Leo Saladino and Jim Zona's best efforts.
Elsewhere a trio of cousins were in the running, with David Rumbutis of Sweden and Robert and Oskar Kirmes of Finland making their bid for inclusion in the iconic pyramid-shaped arena that has hosted the likes of the Chicago Bulls NBA team, and seen Daft Punk and My Chemical Romance perform.
But the gymnast that pushed Georgiou hardest for the coveted spot was his compatriot, Ilias Georgiou – no relation.
Despite vying for the grandest prize of all, the pair supported each other throughout the competition, cheering and high-fiving all the way through. It was only on the penultimate apparatus, the pommel horse, from which Ilias fell, that Marios pulled away, just needing a clear run on the final apparatus, still rings, to lead the all-around rankings with just one subdivision to go.
"Gymnastics is individual but at the end of the day, Ilias and me, we push each other to the maximum," Marios told Olympics.com. "When we get to competition, we try to get the better result for both of us. So it is really good that I have Ilias, and Ilias has me, because we push each other every day, in every competition and in training, so it is a good thing for us."
That competitive nature also ensured the Cyprus team, that also included Michalis Chari, Georgios Angonas and Sokratis Pilakouris, would qualify for the European team final (taking place on Sunday 28 April) for the first time in their history.
So, the focus for Marios had been to go clean, and claim that last quota berth for Paris 2024.
He achieved that, and more.
Marios only went and won the all-around title, the first Cypriot to ever claim that honour.
Marios Georgiou's waiting game
Having competed in the second subdivision, the third and final session was to be watched from the stands.
It was in this session that Georgiou perhaps expected to be usurped by defending champion Adem Asil of Türkiye, or Britain's Jake Jarman, silver medallist in 2023, or Illia Kovtun of Ukraine who claimed silver in the discipline at the 2023 world championships.
But errors cost them, leaving Marios and his team-mates increasingly exuberant watching on from the spectator seats, before finally – making sure to wait until the very last score came up – jumping up and down in celebration of their talisman.
"It was so stressful but also I could enjoy this kind of stress. It's nice, not bad stress," he laughed.
When I got to the podium I was thinking, my country is a little island! It's unbelievable the feeling, unbelievable.
As with many sport stars, the journey has not been an easy one for Georgiou.
Marios Georgiou faced adversity from a young age
"We were a poor family and we faced a lot of hardships," Georgiou told Sport FM in 2019. "My mother was in debt, and she decided a few years ago to leave the country. She asked me if I wanted to go with her, but I had the Rio Games to look forward to. I chose to stay in Cyprus."
With rent owed on the house, 17-year-old Georgiou had to quickly find somewhere else to live. His father came to live with him, but sadly died in 2018.
It was his coach, Panagiotis Petridis, who persuaded him to continue gymnastics when the teenager was weighing up leaving the sport altogether to get a job to make ends meet.
"My coach was the one who convinced me to resume my training. That’s how I managed to overcome the loss. Today my coach is like a second father to me. He’s stood by me through thick and thin."
Georgiou was bullied at school for his Filipino heritage, and for being a gymnast. But he tackled this head on, later fronting an anti-bullying campaign, 'Be the hero'.
More recently, shoulder surgery in late 2023 left minimal time for rehab with less than a year to go until Paris.
But he here was, European all-around champion, earning a quota for his third Olympic Games, and leading his team to a first ever team final. No wonder his eyes were glazed eyes, thoughts racing, while waiting to be interviewed after receiving his medal.
For a brief moment, he dropped his head, a small smile to himself in private recognition of his achievements, no doubt thinking of the day's result achieved by following the mantra that features prominently on his social media biographies: "Always keep pushing, no matter how hard it is."
As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.