European Games 2019 Day 3: As it happened

Highlights and how it all happened on Day 3 - 23nd June - at the 2nd European Games in Minsk, Belarus.

12 minBy Ken Browne
Dina Averina competes at the 2nd European Games in Minsk. Photo: Getty Images

19:04: Thanks for being with us on Day 3!

That's it for the live blog for today.

Stay with the Olympic Channel live stream with more action and today's highlights still to come.

Today's headlines:

  • Dina Averina now has 3 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal at these Games
  • Israel's Linoy Ashram has been a brilliant rival for Dina, she has 2 gold and 2 silver medals
  • Italy's Olympic judo champ Fabio Basile was knocked out in the round of 16 stage
  • Today was a good day for French judo
  • Scroll down to see how Olympic Day was celebrated
  • DNA made its debut today - more on that tomorrow

18:27 - Belarus win 3 hoops and 4 clubs, Russia take 5 balls gold

More rhythmic gymnastic results as the hosts win the women's 3 hoops and 4 clubs event with a score of 26.450 points.

Ukraine capture silver with 26.375 and Bulgaria bronze on 25.750.

Russia add gold to their growing treasure chest by finishing first in the women's 5 balls event tallying 27.300 points.

Bulgaria claim silver with 26.800, Belarus are on the podium again in third with 26.150.

17:42 - Speaking of happy Belorussians...

More gold and glory for the hosts.

Belarus win women's group multiple competition and the fans are a bit chuffed about it.

Rightly so.

  1. Belarus 52.600
  2. Bulgaria 52.550
  3. Russia 51.700

17:36 - DNA at Dinamo stadium

There's some respite for the athletes on this sweltering Sunday in Minsk as most of the stadium is now in the shade.

DNA has been a hit with the local fans, they're loving watching Belarus in this fresh new format.

17:23 - Belgium wins acrobatic gymnastics all-around event

Talia De Troyer, Britt Vanderdonckt and Charlotte Van Royen triumphed in the women's groups all-around event gaining gold with 29.960 points.

Portugal's 29.110 secured silver and there was more local joy as Belarus make the podium and with bronze.

17:11 - Olympic Day in Lausanne

Today celebrates 125 years of the International Olympic Committee and big Olympic stars have been talking about what the Olympics means to them.

Listen to Katerina Witt, Yuna Kim, and Yusra Mardini of the Rio 2016 Refugee Olympic Team here:

17:00 - Matthias Casse wins Judo -81kg

2017 junior world champ Matthias Casse wins gold for Belgium in the -81kg class with a waza-ari over Bulgaria's Ivaylo Ivanov.

Georgia's Luka Maisuradze and Hugary's Attila Ungvari bring home a bronze medal each.

16:21 - Another Judo gold for France

Teddy Riner has yet to return to competitive action but the French team is sparkling in his absence.

First Clarisse Agbegnenou took the -63kg gold and now Margaux Pinot has her first ever European title at -70kg.

Netherland's Sanne Van Dijke took silver.

15:44 - Judo: Sweden's golden moment

Sweden's Tommy Macias grabs gold by ippon over Azerbaijan's Rustam Orujov in the -73kg class.

Orujov knocked out favourite and Rio 2016 gold medallist Fabio Basile earlier today.

Big performance for Tommy Macias who gets the biggest win of his career.

13:33 - Home heroes win team rhythmic gymnastics title

Let's get it started in here!

Belarus wins the women's group multiple competition and the after-party is underway already.

26.100 points brings gold for home heroes, Estonia celebrate silver with 24.300 and the Ukraine take home bronze with 21.800.

13:21 - Judo

France's Clarisse Agbegnenou just took out Great Britain's Alice Schlesinger by ippon in the -63kg class.

The Rio 2016 silver medallist and Baku 2015 European Games defending champion retained her crown from 2015 after a powerful showing.

That's another European Games and European Championship crown for Agbegnenou.

Formidable.

15:03pm - We caught up with the amazing Dina Averina

Russian star gymnast Dina Averina found a few minutes for the Olympic Channel in Minsk after a busy day.

The 20-year-old has already won three gold medals, a silver, and a bronze at the European Games.

But is she missing twin sister Arina?

"My sister is not here but we've always stayed in touch and she's supporting me during the Games."

"She's my best friend and I can say I know her better than myself."

14:49 - Italy 1-2 in women's shotgun trap

It's Gold and silver for Italy in the women's shotgun trap final.

Silvana Stanco edges Italian teammate and London 2012 gold medallist Jessica Rossi in the shotgun trap event.

Fatima Galvez from Spain takes bronze on 34.

  1. Silvana Stanco 46
  2. Jessica Rossi 44
  3. Fatima Galvez 34

14:29 - Breaking!

Plenty of action still to come here at the European Games, and you can also watch the breaking world champs live right here on the Olympic Channel:

14:09 - Italy's Davide Ballerini wins the men's road race!

Ballerini pulled away and no-one could catch him.

Gold for Italy.

The 24-year-old Ballerini finishes in 4h 10' 04".

Estonia's Alo Jakin finished second and Austria's Daniel Auer fought for a well-deserved bronze medal.

Both were 16" behind the winner.

14:03 - European Games men's road race - 1km to go!

The sprint is on!

Italy's Ballerini makes his break with Austria's Auer and Switzerland's Schir in chase..

1:51pm - Road race update

Just over 15k to go and it's all together, this is going to be an exciting sprint finish.

Italy's Davide Ballerini is currently leading the way but this far from over.

Just as we saw yesterday in the women's race, such a flat course favours sprinters.

1:44 - Dina Averina wins third gold medal

The ribbon event goes to Dina Averina giving her a hat-trick of gold medals in Minsk.

Guess who's second!?

  1. Dina Averina (Russia) 21.350
  2. Linoy Ashram (Israel) 21.100
  3. Katrin Taseva (Bulgaria) 20.450

1:34pm - Another rhythmic gymnastics gold for Ashram!

Ashram adds another gold to her haul, this time in the rhythmic gymnastics ball event.

  1. Linoy Ashram (Israel) 22.500
  2. Katrin Taseva (Bulgaria) 21.400
  3. Dina Averina (Russia) 21.300

Averina has now won 2 gold, 1 silver and a bronze medal, the rivalry between Ashram and Averina has been thoroughly entertaining.

1:26pm - Linoy Ashram beats Dina Averina to gold

These two gymnasts have been delighting fans all tournament and it almost feels fair for Ashram to take gold in at least one of the events.

The Israeli Ashram won gold in the women's clubs event with a score of 22.700, Averina finished a fraction behind on 22.600.

Ukraine gymnast Vlada Nikolchenko brings home bronze with 21.750.

1:14pm - Russia take archery gold

Russia continue their fine form at the European Games with gold in the mixed team compound event.

It was a close call as Netherlands archers Sanne de Laat and Michael Schloesser forced a shootout.

But the Russian duo Natalia Adeeva and Anton Bulaev steadied themselves in the shootout and won 18-17.

Both teams finished on 152 in the final.

Turkey claimed bronze.

1:05pm - Men's road race update

Just over 50km left to go on the men's road race, three leaders are currently:

  1. Jan Cully (Slovakia)
  2. Jan Petelin (Luxembourg)
  3. Branislau Samoilau

But the peloton is well within reach, a 2 minute difference.

12:45 - Dina Averina wins another gold

Another gold for Dina in the hoop event.

This girl is on fire.

  1. Dina Averina (Russia) 22.850
  2. Katsiaryna Halkina (Belarus) 21.750
  3. Vlada Nikolchenko (Ukraine) 21.450

12:29 - Fabio Basile is out!

The Italian judo Olympic champion Fabio Basile has been eliminated.

The Rio 2016 -66kg surprise champ made the step up to -73kg class at the European Games but met his match in Azerbaijan's Rustam Orujov.

Rustam wins by ippon in the round of 16, ending Basile's tournament.

12:07 - Gold medal for Serbia in Shooting!

World champion Zorana Arunovic has won the 10m women's air pistol event scoring 241.2.

Greece's reigning Olympic champ Anna Korakaki takes silver with 238.9.

Bronze goes to Bulgaria's Antoaneta Boneva with 218.1.

12:00 - Why do you play sport?

Today being Olympic Day we had to ask the question.

11:51 - DNA draws a crowd

The Dinamo stadium in Minsk is really enjoying the Dynamic New Athletics - more than 12,000 people enjoying the contest and the home team has yet to compete.

Belarus will face Ireland later today.

Germany are currently leading Greece and Slovakia, with 100m (MEN & WOMEN),  110m HURDLES (MEN), 100m HURDLES (WOMEN), 4X400m RELAY (MIXED), HIGH JUMP (MEN), LONG JUMP (WOMEN), JAVELIN (WOMEN), the events.

Team effort!

11:23 - Dina Averina in action again today

20-year-old gymnastics star Dina Averina will be back to business today after she won the rhythmic gymnastics all-around event yesterday.

She's looking comfortable competing without her twin sister Arina.

Can Dina add to Russia's gold medal haul on Day 3?

11:13 - 3x3 Basketball

Spain have beaten Latvia 22 - 5 here in Minsk which should see them through to the quarter finals.

Ukraine have started strong against Estonia, they're 3-0 up and top of Group D even before this game started.

Keep an eye on the FIBA 3x3 World Cup finals in Amsterdam today too, here's a full guide to the tournament and you can stream it live on the Olympic Channel here.

10:49am - Olympic Day Celebrations

Today, June 23rd, is the 125th anniversary of the International Olympic Committee, and it's Olympic Day.

To celebrate there are plenty of events happening - including the inauguration of the new Olympic House in Lausanne.

We'll bring you more news about that later, but there are plenty of other things happening too.

These Olympic legends have been showing up and surprising young athletes at events and training sessions:

11:39 - Italian Fabio Basile is in action today

Fabio Basile, a bit James Dean, a bit last Samurai, a bit pop judoka.

He's a reality TV star in Italy but his focus on judo is unwavering.

The under-66kg Olympic gold medallist stepped up a weight class in the hope of making history, but has a difficult task ahead in the under-73 category.

Can he claim a European Games crown? Will we see a better celebration in Minsk than at Rio 2016?

Watch it here:

11:30 - What is DNA?

From our Ultimate Guide to the 2019 European Games:

Athletics has a new look with the mixed gender Dynamic New Athletics (DNA) format.

Making its debut in Minsk, DNA is a two-hour team-based event which aims to be unpredictable and easy to follow.

Twenty-four teams comprising eight women and seven men will compete over nine events, taking place one after the other: women's 100m, men's 100m, women's 100m hurdles, men's 100m hurdles, women's javelin, women's long jump, men's high jump, 4 x 400m mixed relay, and 'The Hunt'.

This final event is a distance mixed medley relay pursuit (men's 800m, women's 600m, men's 400m, women's 200m) which has no Olympic equivalent.

The teams start at time intervals based on the results of the previous eight events with the first team past the post crowned the overall winner.

Athletes in all DNA disciplines, except The Hunt, are eligible for Tokyo 2020 qualifying points.

10:28 - Olympic qualifiers

Remember, these European Games have an extra edge because many events can help athletes qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Here's a summary of how the qualification system works for each of the eight sports where athletes can punch their ticket for Tokyo 2020.

Archery - The winners in each individual Olympic and mixed team event will automatically receive quota places.

Athletics - Qualification standards subject to meeting the IAAF and the EAA rules and regulations.

Badminton - Ranking points awarded in the same value as for the Continental Championships.

Cycling - UCI ranking points given in the same value as for all Continental Games will be allocated to each discipline according to the category of each one counting towards Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games qualification system.

Judo - IJF WRL points will be awarded to athletes for individual events and mixed team event of the Minsk 2019 European Games in the same value as for the Continental (European) Championships.

Shooting - The winners in each individual Olympic event will automatically receive quota places.

Table tennis - Three medallists in the men's and women's singles events, gold medallists in men's and women's team events, and gold medallists in mixed doubles event will receive automatic qualification

10:25 - Shooting results and DNA - Dynamic New Athletics - begins

And the first gold medal of the day goes to:

Russia's Artem Chernousov in the men's 10m air pistol final.

His 241.1 edges Ukraine's Oleh Omelchuk's 239.6.

Latvia's Lauris Strautmanis wins bronze with 219.3.

DNA is underway too - Slovakia's Jan Volko wins men's 100m in 10.38secs - a season best for Volko.

10:16pm - Happy Olympic Day!

10:10am - We love you too European Games!

Keep up the good work, there's a full week of fun and top sports to go yet.

9:55am - Welcome to European Games Day 3 our live blog!

Morning! We're live. Lots to look forward to today including shooting, archery, acrobatic and rhythmic gymnastics, the men's road race, judo heavyweights, and more Sambo.

Stay with us for live updates and all the latest action during the day.

European Games schedule: Today's medal events

Day 3 - Sunday 23 June:

10:30-11:00 Shooting rifle and pistol: men's 10m air pistol final

10:40-14:00 Archery: compound mixed team final

12:30-13:00 Shooting rifle and pistol: women's 10m air pistol final

11:00-16:00 Cycling road: men's road race

14:10-15:00 Archery: recurve mixed team final

13:00-17:00 Gymnastics acrobatic: final

13:00-18:00 Gymnastics rhythmic: medal event

14:45-15:45 Shooting shotgun: women's trap finals

16:00-17:00 Shooting shotgun: men's trap finals

16:00-17:55 Judo: men's (-73kg -81kg) and women's (-63kg -70kg) finals

16:00-19:50 Sambo: men's (-52kg, -62kg, -74kg, -90kg, +100kg) and women's (-52kg, -60kg, -68kg, -80kg) final

What is the European Games?

The European Games is a multisport event that takes place every four years.

It doubles as European Championships in a number of sports and events, and counts towards Olympic qualifying in others.

The first event happened in Baku 2015, the second in Minsk, Belarus, and the third will be held in 2023 in the Polish city of Krakow and the Malopolska region.

At Minsk 2019, more than 4,000 athletes from 50 countries are taking part in the second European Games from 21 to 30 June 2019.

200 sets of medals will be awarded across 15 sports and 23 disciplines, with the action shown live on Olympic Channel (restrictions in certain countries and territories apply).

Four years ago, at the inaugural European Games in Baku, Russia topped the medal table (164) ahead of hosts Azerbaijan (56), and Great Britain (47).

The event is live on Olympic Channel in many regions (click here to watch or get more information), and find out more in our Olympic Channel guide to all you need to know about the European Games.

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