Cyprus wins historic European title in men’s artistic gymnastics

Marios Georgiou had become the first Cypriot man or woman to win a European gymnastics title when in 2022 he won the gold medal on a fixed bar, his strongest device. Two years later, he went further: he beat Ukrainian star Oleg Vernaiev in the all-around competition to enlarge his own and his country’s sporting history. In addition, he secured a place to participate in his third Olympic Games.

The 26-year-old gymnast scored 84,265 points in the sum of the six devices, just 0.234 hundredths more than the 84,031 of Verniaiev, who won silver. The Italian Yumin Abbadini, who finished sixth last year, won bronze and a standing ovation from the local audience who enjoyed his representative in Rimini.

The defending champion, Turkey’s Adem Asil, finished ninth, while Britain’s Jake Jarman came in fourth. Promising young Ukrainian Illia Kovtun finished sixth after winning bronze 12 months ago in Antalya.

Ukraine took the team title, followed by Great Britain and Spain. Switzerland was fourth, just 0.001 points behind the Spaniards. The team finals will take place tomorrow Friday and Saturday.