Review of the scores at the 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships took (All-Around, Teams and 6 Event Finals

Highest Difficulty, Execution and Total Scores on Floor Exercise – European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

The gold and silver medalists unsurprisingly got the highest difficulty (Luke B. Whitehouse), execution and total scores (Artem Dolgopyat). The British gymnast won two consecutive European titles with a routine including a triple back salto, while the current Olympic and World Champion confirmed his position at the highest level, helping his team to qualify for the final and to finish in 6th position.

Highest Difficulty, Execution and Total Scores on Pommel Horse – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland is now a 3-time European Champion (2018, 2023 and 2024) and dominated the final with a 15.300. However, veteran Croatian gymnast Filip Ude (Silver medalist at the 2008 Olympics) obtained the highest Execution score in the entire competition during the qualifications. Oleg Verniaiev presented a routine with a 6.7 D score, one of the highest of the year.

Highest Difficulty, Execution and Total Scores on Still Rings – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Eleftherios Petrounias is the 2016 Olympic champion, a 3-time World Champion, and a 7-time European Champion on Rings. He’s used to bringing big scores and reached the 15-bar in the final. 2022 World Champion Adem Asil won bronze in Rimini and shared the highest D score with Eleftherios.

Highest Difficulty, Execution and Total Scores on Vault – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

The current World Champion on vault, Jake Jarman, created a sensation in Antwerp with his impeccable Yonekura vault in the All-Around competition. In Rimini, he did it again in the Teams Final with a score of 15.500, combining high difficulty and nearly perfect execution. The 2022 World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist, Artur Davtyan, also performed a great Dragulescu in the qualifications and in the event final, and won silver.

Highest Difficulty, Execution and Total Scores on Parallel Bars – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Despite his foot injury, Illia Kovtun showed that he was among the best parallel bars workers in the world right now with a 7.0 difficulty score, the highest score in this Olympic cycle. Combined with an 8.800 execution score, he obtained a 15.800 in the team final and won gold in this event a few days later. Yet two gymnasts with lower D scores were able to outperform him in terms of execution, and both Apostolos Kanellos of Greece and Gytis Chasazyrovas of Lithuania reached 9.000 in qualifications.

Highest Difficulty, Execution and Total Scores on High Bar – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Illia Kovtun is not only an excellent Parallel Bars specialist, he also snatched gold on High Bar with a 14.600. However, Liam Rabic of Croatia obtained a 9.300 execution score in qualifications, but his difficulty was only 1.8 and since his routine was cut short, he received 4 points in neutral deductions, finishing with a 7.100 score. Yet, he got the highest E score in the whole competition excluding vault.

Average Difficulty Scores in Team Finals – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Average Execution Scores in Team Finals – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Top 3 Difficulty Scores by Apparatus in Team Finals – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Top 3 Execution Scores by Apparatus in Team Finals – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Top 3 Total Scores by Apparatus in Team Finals – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

The five graphs and tables above show that men’s artistic gymnastics is always a fair balance between difficulty and execution: the 8 teams that competed in the final all reached at least the second position in either the difficulty, the execution, or the total score ranking in at least 1 apparatus.

There was a 10-point gap between the 1st and the 8th teams in the final, yet each of them was able to reach the top 2 positions, and 7 reached the 1st place on at least 1 apparatus. It’s a stark contrast with the team finals at the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, where the highest places in the rankings were occupied by the Top 4 teams (Japan, China, US, and GB).

There was only a 0.3 difference between Ukraine and Great Britain, and with such a small margin, every tenth can make the difference. Ukraine’s strength and significant advance on Pommel Horse and Parallel Bars made the difference, despite the British’s high level on Floor Exercise and Vault.

Gap between scores in Qualifications and Finals – 2024 European Men’s Artistic Gymnastics

Six out of eight teams improved their scores in the final. Another contrast with the latest World Championships where all teams but one lost between 2 and 7 points in the final (only China, who uncharacteristically qualified in 8th position, increased theirs by 5.6, but they were “helped” by Lin Chaopan who was flown as part of an emergency plan to replace Shi Cong, who was injured in QX). Interestingly, Ukraine’s score in the final was 0.168 above Japan’s at the 2023 Worlds. With their score at Euros, Britain would have won silver in Antwerp, and Italy would have won bronze.

I don’t know if it says more about the quality of the routines in Rimini or about the 2023 Men’s Artistic Gymnastics World Championships not being the best indicator. The Asian Games took place at the same time last year, and China and Japan had to create two teams to compete at two major international competitions. In Hangzhou last October, China obtained 262.025 points and Japan got 258.638 (however the format was different, and the team finals were “competed” in qualifications, with the system “4 routines / 3 count,” which allows to absorb more errors).

As the focus shifts towards the upcoming Olympic competition, the recent developments offer valuable insights for making informed predictions. The victory of Ukraine and the notable improvement in Great Britain’s score serve as compelling indicators of the potential outcomes at the pinnacle of gymnastics competition.

The performance of different teams in the final competition reflects the evolving dynamics of international gymnastics. It’s interesting to observe the shifts in scores and rankings and the intricate details of each team’s journey, along with the strategic decisions made in response to unforeseen circumstances.

Neutral Deductions

More info: FIG – 2024 Men’s Artistic Europeans – Rimini, Italy
Other data: Age of the Gymnasts at the 2024 European Gymnastics