Igor Radivilov once said that he has alternately good and bad years. 2015 was good, 2016 – not so much. 2017 – good again, 2018 – not great. This year is looking to be very good for Radivilov as he had success at the World Cups and now did very well at the qualifications at the European Championships. He is currently leading the qualification standings on rings and is in fourth place on vault. The vault final will be absolutely stacked as all eight competitors have two 5.6 vaults but Radivilov has a very good chance to medal.
He also hopes to qualify to the European Games through the even finals here as Ukraine hasn’t won any non-nominative spots at Euros last year. Unfortunately, it seems that Ukrainian gymnasts were not explained the qualifications rules for Tokyo as both Verniaiev and Radivilov told Gymnovosti they thought that Radivilov can still win a nominative spot for Tokyo if he goes to Worlds this year and helps Ukraine qualify. It is a very tricky situation for him in any case, since his vaults and rings are extremely useful on a five-person team and can be the deciding factor in whether Ukraine qualifies a team to Tokyo or not. However, he only does three events (he trains floor sometimes) and taking him to Tokyo as a part of the team would leave Ukraine with no fourth person on half of the events.
Radivilov said to to the media after the qualifications:
“I am very happy that I did my job and made the finals. Now I will have to face all the athletes who will make it to the finals. The next subdivision is very strong. We won’t be staying [to watch] because we’re tired. In general, I feel satisfied, I did a quality job.”
Photo: @sanjeevpalar
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