2023 Zhoxxyy Awards: Top Gymnasts of the Year

The 2023 Zhoxxyy Awards celebrated male gymnasts. Illia Kovtun (Ukraine), emerged as Gymnast of the Year for his resilience and victories. Yuri Guimarães (Brazil) dazzled as the Revelation with his outstanding performances.

29 December 2023

Focus on the leading gymnasts in 2023

I launched the Zhoxxyy Awards at the end of 2022 without taking it too seriously. Yet, if I decided to do it, I had to select nominees based on their achievements during the year. In order to include as many gymnasts as possible, I created two sections : Gymnast of the Year and Revelation of the Year.

That allowed me to have a wider range of athletes and not to focus only on All-Arounders or on gymnasts who participated to the 2022 World Championships. Then followers could vote (and campaign) for their favorite gymnasts.

As the end of the year was approaching, voters were asked to give and here are the results for 2023.

And the winners are…

2023 Gymnast of the Year:

Illia Kovtun – Ukraine

In today’s men’s gymnastics landscape, Illia is a UFO. Impenetrable. I’ve been calling him “Poker Face” since I first watched him compete at the 2018 Junior European Championships in Glasgow. He was only 16 at the time, yet he has maintained the same stoic composure and steadfast resilience that is so remarkable at this age.

A year later, he competed in the first Junior World Championships in Hungary, where he earned silver in the Teams final and bronze in the All Around. He won five golds (Teams, AA, Pommel Horse, Rings, and Parallel Bars) and one silver (Vault) at the 2020 Junior Euros in Mersin.

He began his senior career in 2021, which allowed him to compete in the postponed Tokyo Olympics and was the competition’s youngest gymnast, finishing 11th in the AA final. A few weeks later, at the age of 18, he won bronze in the All Around at the 2021 World Championships in Kitakyushu.

Illia was competing in the Cottbus World Cup on February 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, his native country. Despite the tragic news and the uncertainty about his relatives and friends, he competed and began living “in exile,” moving throughout Europe from meet to meet and being welcomed in various clubs in Germany, Italy, Monaco, and Croatia.

Illia made news when he won gold on Parallel Bars at the 2022 Doha World Cup: during the medal presentation, Russian gymnast and bronze medalist Ivan Kuliak emerged on the podium with a “Z” on his chest, a Russian pro-war propaganda emblem. Illia remained stoic and became a symbol of dignity by not reacting. The FIG strongly sanctioned Kuliak, and Russian competitors have been barred from all FIG contests since then.

Since 2021, Illia has won billions of medals in World Cups, cementing his image as a tough and resilient athlete capable of competing despite living in exceptional circumstances. In 2023, he continued to win gold in the World Cups in Cottbus, Doha, Baku, Cairo, and Osijek.

In Antwerp. he helped Ukraine qualify to the 2024 Olympics. Just a few days later (after qualifying in 19^th position), he won the silver medal in the All Around, behind Hashimoto Daiki of Japan. He’s one of the few male gymnasts to be coached by a woman, Iryna Gorbacheva.

2023 Zhoxxyy Revelation of the Year:

Yuri Guimarães – BRAZIL

Yuri is a powerhouse on Floor and on Vault, performs fantastic double fronts on Floor Exercise and Roche on Vault. He was the All Around silver medalist at the 2023 South-American Championships, the All Around Champion at the 2023 Brazilian National Championships and the All Around bronze medalist at the 2023 Pan-American Championships. He was supported by all Brazil, according to the votes…

Nominees – Gymnast of the Year 2023:

Hashimoto Daiki – JAPAN

His list of accomplishments since 2019 is as long as your arm, and he is widely regarded as Uchimura Kohei’s successor (although such comparisons are a bit reductive, the level of difficulty, execution, and consistency of both gymnasts, as well as their athletic qualities on some events, are very similar).

Daiki earned two gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics in the All Around and on the High Bar, as well as the All Around World championship in 2022 and 2023. His qualifications/team finals achievements in the 2023 Universiade were equally great, with an 88.698 AA score, but he was hurt on Pommel Horse in the All Around final and had to withdraw.

In Antwerp, he qualified in 3^rd position in qualifications behind his teammates Chiba Kenta and Kaya Kazuma, which de facto should have eliminated him due to the “two-per-country rule” but Kazuma withdrew and Daiki could compete… and win the All Around. Daiki left Antwerp with three gold medals (AA, Teams and High Bar).

Jake Jarman – GREAT BRITAIN

Jake was in 2^nd position last year in the Revelation of the Year section of the Zhoxxyy Awards. Although he had started his international senior career in 2019 at the European Championships and was a reserve for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2022 was definitely his breakthrough with his participation at two major international competitions in the summer: the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where he won four gold medals (Team, AA, Floor and Vault) and the European Championships in Munich, where he snatched two gold medals (Vault and Teams) and one bronze (Floor). Later that year, he helped Great Britain win their ticket to the Paris Olympic Games by ranking 3^rd in the Teams Final.

In September 2023 at the Paris Cup, he presented a new skill on Floor (3.5 twisting double layout), that was named after him and rated I, the highest on Floor Exercise with the Nagornyy. A few weeks later, he became World Champion on vault in Antwerp and performed one of the most perfect and now iconic vaults in the AA final with an impressive stoi.

Milad Karimi – KAZAKHSTAN

At 24, Milad is nearly a veteran of all major competitions. He reached the Floor final at his first World Championships in 2017 in Montréal, and since then, he’s regularly competed at all major World Cups, and Continental meets. In 2021, he competed in the AA, Floor and High Bar finals at the Tokyo Olympics. At the University Games in Chegdu, he won gold on High Bar in August 2023.

Just a few weeks later, he obtained his spot to his second Olympic Games, thanks to his performance in the qualifications in Antwerp, and finally won a well-deserved medal at World Championships with bronze on Floor.

Rhys McClenaghan – IRELAND

Another gymnast that I saw for the first time at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow. What a gem! And he won gold on Pommel Horse, beating Olympic Champion Max Whitlock. Just a few months before, he had also won gold on this event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia at just 20 years old. He confirmed his position as one of the best Pommel Horse specialists at the 2019 World Championships by winning a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics in a very competitive context and a bronze medal in the event final.

In Tokyo, he qualified for the event final and ranked seventh. He also debunked the fake news that the cardboard beds in the Olympic Village were meant to be “anti-sex” by jumping with both feet on one of them. In 2022 and 2023, Rhys won back-to-back the World Champion on Pommel Horse title. Stakes were high in Antwerp due to the selection process to the 2024 Olympics: only one gymnast could win a ticket per apparatus and 4 athletes were fighting for the spot in the Pommel Horse final. With 15.100, Rhys won both the gold medal and his ticket to Paris to eat croissants, snails and frog legs.

Frederick Richard – USA

He could have been nominated in the two categories: His first year as a senior has been incredible (he could have competed as a senior in 2022 but decided to remain in the juniors) with an All Around gold in the NCAA Championships and a selection in the US team that competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge, the University Games and the World Championships. The American team got bronze winning, its first team medal since 2014 and Fred also won bronze in the All Around final, the first medal by an American gymnast since 2010.

Nominees – Revelation of the Year 2023:

Pascal Brendel – GERMANY

The new star of German Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. Very consistent and 2023 National champion. Contributed to the qualification of Germany to the Olympic Games. Competed on all events in the Teams Final at the 2023 World Championships.

James Hardy – AUSTRALIA

AA silver and Vault gold medalist at the 2023 Australian Championships. Selected in the Australian team that competed at the 2023 World Championships (the only federation that decided not to have at least three gymnasts compete on each apparatus because #reasons). Reached the Top 20 on Vault in Antwerp

Harry Hepworth – GREAT BRITAIN

Was just 19 when he competed at the latest World Championships and he qualified for the Floor, Rings and Vault finals. Won gold on vault at the Paris Challenge Cup in September before my very admiring eyes.

Asher Hong – USA

Gold medalist at the 2023 US Classic and at the 2023 US Nationals. Was selected to his first World Championships when he was just 18. Famous for, among other things, his stuck Ri Se Gwang 1 on vault.

Khoi Young – USA

Was born on New Year’s Eve in 2002. Won 3 medals at his first World Championships in Antwerp: bronze in the Teams Final and silver on Pommel Horse and Vault. Also won gold on Pommel Horse at the 2023 Pan-American Championships in Medellin.

Author(s)

Former gymnast. Floor, Vault & High Bar enthusiast. Pommel Horse & Rings survivor.

2023 Zhoxxyy Awards: Top Gymnasts of the Year

Focus on the leading gymnasts in 2023