Eleftherios Petrounias clinched the silver medal at the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, thereby securing his coveted spot in the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
His performance in the rings final came tantalisingly close to gold, with Chinese gymnast Yang narrowly clinching the top spot with a score of 15.233 points.
This achievement carries profound significance for Petrounias who got 15.066, as he was vying for the single direct qualification spot to the Olympics.
The medal the silver medal also signifies his first-ever silver at a World Championship.
The Greek faced stiff competition from fellow gymnasts, including Azero Simonov, Austrian Heck, and Armenians Avetisian and Davtian, who had already secured their spots through prior qualifications.
In an interview with the website of the Hellenic Gymnastics Federation (EGO), Eleftherios Petrounias’ coach, Dimitris Raftis, noted the gymnast’s ambition to deliver even more remarkable performances leading up to the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“The intensity in this competition was staggering due to the high demands. However, I couldn’t have expected anything different from my athlete, who once again proved to be a true fighter,” Raftis stated.
“We did our job, secured the medal, and the qualification we aimed for. Yang Liu won because the last element of Eleftherios wasn’t executed as well as we wanted, which gave the judges a reason to lower his execution score. Nonetheless, he was outstanding in all other aspects. The result was fair, but it’s evident that we have the potential to beat the Chinese gymnast next time. We are happy with everything we achieved here.”
He added, “Securing our qualification allows us to take a breath. We will have almost a year to prepare as we desire. This is something we’ve missed from 2018 until last year, as we’ve consistently participated in competitions either with injury issues or during the recovery phase from surgical procedures. If everything goes smoothly, next year we’ll witness the true Eleftherios, the one who claimed his first world title.”
Alternate Minister for Sport Giannis Vroutsis also took to X to praise Petrounias.
Earlier in 2023, Petrounias had secured a gold medal at the Men’s Still Rings Turnier der Meister World Cup competition, held in Cottbus, Germany, further solidifying his reputation as one of the world’s most accomplished gymnasts.
