Israel is sending a full six-person team to the European Championships in the hope of giving the gymnasts a chance to prepare for the World Championships. Three gymnasts have the best chances of qualifying to the Tokyo Olympics – World and European floor medalists Artem Dolgopyat and Alexander Shatilov and vault specialist Andrei Medvedev. Dolgopyat and Shatilov already have three World Cups wins on floor between them this season. Medvedev who got injured on vault at the 2018 World Championships had a not so successful performance at World Cups this year but feels good about his preparation. The team talked to local media shortly before leaving for Szczecin.
Shatilov talked about Euros and potentially qualifying to his fourth Olympics:
“Another European Championships, we had a very good preparation and what’s left is to have a good competition. Each competition gives confidences and, of course, motivation to everyone. Last year, I finished fifth [in the floor final at Euros] but you need to remember that I came back [from an injury] shortly before the competition, so I didn’t have time to prepare well. Now I’m coming there in good shape and prepared for achievements. The European Championships are the first competition leading up to the World Championships and we’ll have the first test. I also plan to compete in the all-around for the first time in a while and to check our preparation for the World Championships. I am not giving up any opportunities, there are many ways to get to the Olympics and I’m going to do everything. There’s always a chance [to win a medal], I’m in good shape, so everything depends on me and my execution of the routine on a specific day. Last year, I took some breaks, so I wasn’t training consistently, but now I’m training without breaks leading up to the Olympics and I’m in good shape.”
Artem Dolgopyat, the reigning silver European medalist on floor, will also test his ability in the all-around as he hopes to have another option to qualify to Tokyo:
“I feel good, we are working hard. I need to come there and do what I can and ignore the rest, I need to prove my place again at every competition. I am focusing on doing what I can. It’s possible to say already that I’m one of the best [on floor] in Europe but I always have to prove it because every competition is something new. I am doing the all-around and I hope that it goes fine. It’s really important physically, my back is already feeling better and it’s important to do this because if I don’t medal [at Worlds], there is a chance to qualify through the all-around. What is my training routine? We have two practices every day, we’re working hard in order to as prepared as possible and we’re in good shape.”
Andrey Medvedev wasn’t able to qualify to the Olympics the last time and says he really hopes it will finally happen for him:
“I feel fine, I’m prepared for the competition both physically and mentally. At the end, everything depends on myself and, at the moment, I am focusing on doing my best and what I work on in training. The main competition this year is the World Championships and the European Championships are an important milestone. For an event specialist, there are many chances given by the FIG to qualify to the Olympics, and that inspires me. I really hope that this time we will succeed in getting three Israeli gymnasts to the Olympics.”
Photo: Israeli Gymnastics Federation
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