Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova has taken the lead at the European artistic gymnastics championship in Szczecin, Poland, confidently winning the women’s all-around qualification.
Melnikova posted the highest score on Thursday, narrowly beating Melanie de Jesus dos Santos of France who was just 0.134 points behind the Russian leader.
The 18-year-old Russian also qualified for three out of four individual finals with a beam being the sole apparatus where she will not compete for medals.
“I’m focused to fight for gold at the European championship,” Melnikova said right after the women’s qualification. “If I nail all my routines I will be able to win. And my coaches also try to inspire me to take gold. Only lack of concentration can spoil my plans to finish first.”
The gymnast said she was pleased with her performance in the preliminary round apart from her beam combination where she made several noticeable wobbles which cost her a place in the final.
“I really didn’t like how I did my beam routine. But I managed to stick combinations on other apparatuses, so on the whole I’m satisfied with my result. I’m better prepared now than I was at the Russian championship. However, my competitive shape is not ideal,” Melnikova added.
Despite her tender age, the gymnast has the experience of competing at major gymnastics tournaments. She was a member of Russia’s silver-medal-winning Olympic squad in 2016, and also took gold at the 2017 European championship by winning the floor event.
Last year, Melnikova was close to taking a podium place at the global championship, finishing fifth in the women’s all-around final which was solely dominated by the US trailblazer Simone Biles.
Source : RT - Daily news
Russian gymnast Melnikova eyes gold at European championship
Russian gymnast Melnikova eyes gold at European championship
