McClenaghan Heads Star-Studded Lineup at European Championships in Zagreb
The largest European Gymnastics Championships in history will take place from August 13-23 at Arena Zagreb, featuring 640 competitors from 43 countries.
The largest European Gymnastics Championships in history will take place from August 13-23 at Arena Zagreb, featuring 640 competitors from 43 countries.
From August 13 to 23, 2026, Zagreb will host the largest European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships in history. Arena Zagreb will welcome as many as 640 gymnasts from 43 countries, bringing world-class gymnastics to the Croatian capital, including Olympic and world champions.
The European Women's Artistic Gymnastics Championships are scheduled from August 13 to 16, with 166 gymnasts competing in the senior category. Special attention is drawn to medalists from the 2024 Paris Olympics and last year's World Championships in Jakarta.
The Italian team arrives in stellar form, led by Alice D'Amato and Manila Esposito, who swept the full set of Olympic medals in Paris. They secured team silver, with D'Amato taking gold on balance beam ahead of China's Zhou Yaqin, while Esposito claimed bronze, leaving Rebeca Andrade and Simone Biles behind. D'Amato also boasts five European gold medals, while Esposito has six European titles to her name.
After a two-year absence from the world stage, Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova dominated last year's World Championships in Jakarta, winning gold in the all-around and vault, plus silver on uneven bars. Melnikova's impressive collection includes four Olympic medals from Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, ten World Championship medals, and twelve European medals. Also competing in Zagreb will be British gymnasts Ruby Evans and Abigail Martin, who took silver and bronze on floor in Jakarta. Croatia's women's team will be represented by Tina Zelčić, Tijana Korent, Mila Prpić, Christina Zwicker, and Erin Bakran.
The men's competition is scheduled from August 19 to 23, featuring 187 gymnasts, including 12 medalists from the Paris Olympics and the Jakarta World Championships.
Gymnastics fans eagerly await the performance of Olympic pommel horse champion Rhys McClenaghan, who completed his gold medal collection in Paris alongside two world and three European titles. An even bigger star is Greece's Eleftherios Petrounias, known as the "Lord of the Rings," who has gold and two bronze medals from the last three Olympics on rings, along with three world and eight European gold medals. He was also European champion last year in Leipzig.
Israeli gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, Olympic floor champion from Tokyo, took silver in Paris, while Britain's Harry Hepworth earned bronze on vault and defends his European title from Leipzig in Zagreb. Also arriving in Zagreb are Jakarta medalists: Noe Seifert (bronze in all-around), Mamikon Khachatryan (silver on pommel horse), Adem Asil (silver on rings), Artur Davtyan and Nazar Chepurnyi (silver and bronze on vault), Daniel Marinov (bronze on parallel bars), and Joe Fraser (bronze on high bar).
Special attention from the Croatian public is drawn to the performance of Illia Kovtun, a young Ukrainian who received Croatian citizenship last year and will make his debut for Croatia right in Zagreb. Kovtun won silver on parallel bars in Paris, is a world vice-champion, and a four-time European champion. As an all-arounder, he competes successfully on all six apparatuses, confirming his versatility.
Alongside Kovtun, Croatia's men's team will also feature Tin Srbić, Aurel Benović, Filip Ude, Mateo Žugec, and Marko Jovičić. Turkish gymnast Adem Asil arrives in Zagreb with a world gold on rings and four European titles, while Armenia's Artur Davtyan, an Olympic silver and bronze medalist and world champion on vault, also holds three European titles.
