Six gymnasts will represent Croatia at the European Championships in Arena Zagreb, with the home turf providing extra motivation for Tin Srbić and Ilia Kovtun, who returns after a two-year break.
The European Men's Gymnastics Championships begin on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at Zagreb's Arena, with six gymnasts representing Croatia, including Olympic, world, and European medalists. After the continent's top female gymnasts took over the Arena last week, it's now the men's turn, and expectations are high.
Croatia will be led by Tin Srbić, the 2017 world champion, 2023 European champion, and Olympic silver medalist from Tokyo 2021, who eagerly anticipates his first major competition on home soil.
For Srbić, who hails from Zagreb, this is a special moment in his career. "It's truly a special feeling; honestly, I hadn't experienced until today that it's really happening, even though I came last week to watch the girls and cheer them on, but it's not the same until you actually get down into the arena," Srbić told HRT.
Although his first contact with the apparatus was demanding, Srbić emphasizes that he feels good. "I feel really good, so the desire is even greater for everything to go as it should," he added. He is also aware of the proximity of the crowd: "I, the 'genius,' told all my people to take the closest possible sector, of course. And then I was standing down there waiting for Ilia. I looked at that sector and imagined all those people up there; it will really be close."
Srbić admitted that this is his first competition of the season and that he has had very few appearances due to a shoulder injury, but his form has been raised to a high level. "We'll try to push it through in the best possible way," he said.
Ilia Kovtun, the Olympic vice-champion on parallel bars who received Croatian citizenship a year ago, will make his debut in the Croatian jersey. "I haven't competed for two years; my last competition was at the Olympic Games in Paris. It's been a long time since I've been in a big arena, but I hope everything goes great. And here I am, happy to be back," Kovtun said.
Kovtun will compete at the European Championships with a troublesome injury-a blister on his right hand. "Yes, the skin broke a week before the Europeans. I'm working with it; I have to. We've been working; I've been preparing for nine weeks, and I have to do it all," he explained. He aims for two performances: "one on Wednesday in qualifications, the other on Saturday in the parallel bars final." Kovtun will already compete for a medal in the all-around tomorrow, where he finished fourth at the Paris Olympics.
Although he hasn't competed for two years, Kovtun doesn't know who his biggest rivals are. "A lot of young guys have come up. Well, I'm not old either, but I've been away for two years. There's competition among the all-arounders because the all-around is very tough. So, we'll see who does what," he concluded.
There's also the highly experienced Filip Ude, the 2008 Beijing Olympic silver medalist, for whom this will be one of the last major competitions of his career. Ude is aware that he is far from his best days. "With the routine I have, I'm not as competitive as I used to be. In terms of difficulty, but in terms of cleanliness, I'm still competitive," he said.
Ude revealed that he faces surgery in two months and that he couldn't train his hardest routine due to injury. "I'm happy I even survived until today," he added. Ude will be the oldest competitor at these European Championships.
He recalled a conversation with a fellow gymnast: "I was talking to a gymnast six months ago at a World Cup, and I said how everyone is good now, better than me, and he replied, 'Well, they used to look at you that way, right? You used to be top 5 wherever you went, and they were always chasing you, weren't they?'" Ude concluded: "I thought about it and realized I'm getting on in years; I'm fighting against guys half my age; I could be their father. But I won't give up; I'm here, I'll give my all, and as long as I stay on that horse, I'll be satisfied."
In addition to Srbić, Kovtun, and Ude, Croatia will also be represented by Aurel Benović, who finished fifth on vault at the Paris Olympics, as well as Mateo Žugec and Marko Jovičić.
