Max Whitlock, Jessica Gadirova, Becky Downie headline British squad for the 2023 European Championships
Plus, Flavia Saraiva intends to return to competition next month and a look back at Canada's Stella Umeh at the 1992 Olympic Games.
Artistic Gymnastics
Three-time Olympic artistic gymnastics gold medallist Max Whitlock will compete in his first major international event since defending his pommel horse Olympic title at the Tokyo 2020 Games at April’s European Championships.
The event is scheduled for 11-16 April in Antalya, Turkey. 2022 World floor exercise champion Jessica Gadirova leads the women’s squad.
On the men’s team, Whitlock will be joined by Jake Jarman, Courtney Tulloch, Joshua Nathan, Harry Hepworth and Luke Whitehouse.
Two-time Olympian Becky Downie, who owns two world and seven continental medals, returns to the Euros alongside Gadirova and 2022 world team silver medallists Alice Kinsella, Ondine Achampong and Georgia-Mae Fenton.
“The return to major championship action of Max Whitlock OBE and Becky Downie are hugely welcome and exciting for all involved whilst senior major championships debutantes Harry Hepworth and Luke Whitehouse will no doubt gain invaluable experience from being alongside a team of gymnasts who have achieved so much and have been performing so spectacularly,” Tracy Whittaker-Smith MBE, British Gymnastics Performance Director said, according to release from British Gymnastics.
The format for the men’s and women’s competitions in Antalya is five on a team with four gymnasts competing on each apparatus with the top three scores counting. Despite there being no team final, the highest scoring team during qualifying “is awarded the title ‘European Artistic Gymnastics Team Champion Men/Women,’” according to the event directives. There are separate all-around and apparatus finals to determine those medallists.
The men are eligible to bring a sixth athlete who will compete as an individual on up to three apparatus.
Flavia Saraiva targeting return to competition next month after injury, surgery
Two-time Olympian Flavia Saraiva of Brazil says she’ll return to competition at April’s Brazil Trophy, scheduled for the 11. It will be her first competition since sustaining an ankle injury during the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, England.
“Today I can compete on some events, but this year, I want to take care of myself a lot. My team and I have talked and we are focusing on my recovery, not accelerating any process so that I am ready for the target and most important competitions, so that I can compete in the best possible way and that I do not have any problems,” said Saraiva, according to an interview with Olimpíada Todo Dia.
The 23-year-old says she’s approaching the next 16 months ahead of the Paris 2024 Games with a fresh outlook.
“I can say that now is a new era for me. I ended last year with surgery, but I was in top physical shape. A lot of people think that this injury was a hindrance for me. Obviously, it's very sad, but I said, 'I can come back, I can be among the best again,” Saraiva said.
“I want it and I'm working on it. I had my surgery on 12 November and two days later I was already in the gym, doing physical therapy because I said that this treatment would be different. I have a totally different head than the other time.”
Saraiva said qualifying to the Games at September’s Worlds in Antwerp, Belgium, is the most important goal of the 2023 season, but that she would like to add more medals to her Pan Am Games total. She currently has five career medals at the Pan Ams.
“I want to be in everything, I love to compete and I love to travel,” she said. “The Worlds starts on my birthday, the 30th of September. I want to be there to celebrate. The World Championships are over, seven days later we travel to the Pan American Games. I went to the last two Pan Ams, so I want to continue this phase of going to all of them.”
From the vault…
This week, we look back at legendary Canadian gymnast Stella Umeh’s performances from the team optionals at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Though Umeh’s top score, a 9.900, came on the vault, she is best remembered for her intricate and innovative routine on the floor exercise, which earned a 9.837.