Greek Gold Olympian Lefteris Petrounias made history on Friday after a spectacular performance that won him his seventh gold medal on still rings at the 2024 European Championships, in Rimini, Italy.
Standing out as the top performer in the qualifier on Wednesday with 14,966 points, he appeared last in the rings final among the eight finalists scoring 15,000 points (difficulty: 6,300, execution: 8,700).
Nikita Simonov of Azerbaijan came second (14,900) with last year’s champion, Adem Asil of Turkey also scoring 14,900 but winning the bronze medal based on a lower execution score.
Petrounias’ return to the European top is seen as a positive sign ahead of the Paris Games, as the European Championships are the athlete’s first and only official competition this year, before the Olympics.
“Ι was nervous before I came up on the rings,” he admitted speaking to media after his performance.
https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanGymnastics/videos/1420759192135598/
Seeing his oldest daughter, Sophia, in the crowd, doing a heart gesture with her hands, was what quelled his anxiety.
“Then I relaxed, I did the same [gesture] and my heartbeat went down.”
“I always have things to work in my mind for my routine, for my execution, but the result is amazing. It’s an amazing feeling for me. And it’s history… 7 golds… it’s the first time that it’s happening. I came here only for that and I made it.”
Petrounias is now the only European champion to have won seven golds on the same gymnastics apparatus, throughout the 69-year-long history of the competition.
The previous record of six titles held by Hungary’s Christian Berky had been matched by Petrounias at the 2022 European Championships.
The 33-year-old had won the gold medal on still rings at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and at the 2015, 2017 and 2018 world championships.
