European Gymnastics Championships: Two Gold Medals for Nina Derwael
On both the uneven bars and the beam, the Belgian gymnast is at the top of the European Championships.
Despite injuries in recent years and major shoulder surgery just before the Paris Olympics, Nina Derwael has returned to the level she was at when she won her Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
In Leipzig, Germany, the gymnast from Sint-Truiden (Limburg province) achieved a historic performance. Focusing solely on her two favorite events—the beam and the uneven bars—Nina Derwael crushed the European competition.
On the uneven bars, the Belgian gymnast won her third continental title after those of 2017 and 2018, defeating Hungary's Bettina Lili Czifra and Romania's Ana Barbosu in the final.
On the balance beam, Nina Derwael claimed her first European title, having never placed better than second in 2018. On this apparatus, she once again finished ahead of Romania's Ana Barbosu, as well as Italy's Sofia Tonelli, who completed the podium.
In the end, the Belgian delegation finished this European Gymnastics Championship in Leipzig with three medals, as Lisa Vaelen won bronze on vault.
Nina Derwael now has her sights set on the Los Angeles Games, where she could cap her brilliant career with another Olympic medal after the gold medal in Tokyo in 2021.