The Four Nations Trophy will be held for the first time this Saturday May 30 in Turin, Italy and will feature competition from Colombia, Romania, Russia, and the host team Italy in the 6-5-4 format.
Italy faces this competition with two main purposes. Firstly, the Four Nation Trophy will be an opportunity to test the three gymnasts who will go to Baku for the European Games – Giorgia Campana, Alessia Leolini, and Tea Ugrin – in a team setting before the Games.
In addition, Italy will also include in the Turin lineup the gymnasts who could potentially be part of the team for the upcoming World Championships. This is the best opportunity for Arianna Rocca, Sofia Bonistalli, Elisa Meneghini, and Lavinia Marongiu to show their routines and prove their Worlds-worthy readiness. Rocca and Bonistalli both have DTYs, while Marongiu is solid on beam and Meneghini, if healthy, is one of the best all-arounders in the country.
Romania will give their youngest gymnasts a chance to get more international experience. Without team captain Larisa Iordache, who is dealing with a foot injury, Diana Bulimar will lead her teammates in Turin. This competition will be a good opportunity for Romania to see what they’re capable of in a team perspective even without their best gymnast.
A young Russian team will compete in Italy. None of the girls who competed at European Championships are scheduled to compete this weekend in order to give the younger gymnasts more experience. It seems Russia has finally settled on their team for the European Games, with the new senior Seda Tutkhalyan joining Olympians Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova in her major international comeback this June. Both Tutkhalyan and Evgeniya Shelgunova, now the Euro Games alternate, are on the roster for the Four Nations Trophy, so you never know – their performances in Turin could shake up the Baku team once again.
Finally, Colombia will perform for the first time ever in Italy with an experienced team. Each of their gymnasts has competed in at least one World Championships meet, with Catalina Escobar – who has been at every Worlds since 2009 – leading the way.
Full Competitor List
| Italy Sofia Bonistalli Giorgia Campana Alessia Leolini Lavinia Marongiu Elisa Meneghini Arianna Rocca Tea Ugrin |
Romania Diana Bulimar Andreea Ciurusniuc Andreea Iridon Laura Jurca Ana Maria Ocolisan Silvia Zarzu |
| Russia Maria Bondareva Anastasia Dmitrieva Angelina Melnikova Evgeniya Shelgunova Ekaterina Sokova Seda Tutkhalyan |
Colombia Melba Avendano Catalina Escobar Ginna Escobar Lizeth Ruiz Marcela Sandoval Bibiana Velez |
The competition will begin at 4:30 pm local time (10:30 am EST) and there will be a live stream on the Italian Gymnastics Federation’s YouTube. You can also purchase tickets if you’re in Turin and want to stop by.
Article by Valeria Violi
Photo by Valentina Ricci
