Nina Derwael wins gold in the European Gymnastics Championships
The 17 year-old Nina Derwael from Velm, in Sint-Truiden, won the gold medal on the uneven bars during the European Gymnastics Championships in Cluj-Napoca in Romania on Saturday 22 April.
She qualified with the best performance of all participants (together with the German gymnast Elisabeth Seitz) during the final round on her favourite equipment. This put her within reach of a medal. Our lady from Limburg performed even better in the final, achieving a score of 14.633, compared to 14.566 in the qualifying round. This put her ahead of the Russian Elena Eremina (14.300). The bronze medal was awarded to both Seitz and the British gymnast Elissa Downie, with their equal score of 14.133.
Derwael is the first Belgian gymnast to claim a European title. She is also the first compatriot to stand on the EC podium since Aagje Vanwalleghem in 2005. This is when Vanwalleghem won a bronze medal for her vault in the finals at Debrecen in Hungary.
Derwael finished seventh in the all-round final on Friday. She was 19th in the all-round final of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.