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The annual Elite Gym Massilia competition held in France is coming up in just a few short weeks, and we’re especially excited to see what should be an awesome team from Russia, this year’s silver medalists at the Olympic Games.

Olympians Daria Spiridonova and Seda Tutkhalyan will lead the team that also includes Anastasia Iliankova and Elena Eremina, both of whom were gold medalists at this year’s European Championships, with Iliankova winning the bars and beam titles while Eremina won the all-around.

The Russians will compete in the masters session against Great Britain, Australia, and the host team, France. Junior European Championships team members Taeja James, Lucy Stanhope, and Alice Kinsella will compete alongside first-year senior Georgia-Mae Fenton for Great Britain. Australia is sending Naomi Lee, Georgia Godwin, Erin Modaro, and Talia Folino, while France will include first-year seniors Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos and Coline Devillard against European Championships juniors Lorette Charpy and Morgane Osyssek.

The competition also includes an open session, which allows both federations and club gyms to register for spots. Gymnasts competing in the open can qualify to compete into the masters session as all-arounders, and any gymnast who competes in the masters session can then qualify into event finals.

Nine countries will have gymnasts competing in the open, with France sending the biggest contingent, including 12 representing the federation — including European Championship team members Alison Lepin, Janna Mouffok, Melissa Poitreau, and Alisson Lapp — and another 25 competing for various gyms. Belgium and Israel will also have a few gymnasts competing for each country, while several gyms from Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Mexico, and the United States have also opted to send gymnasts.

The big name in the open session is Irina Alexeeva of WOGA, who won the junior all-around title at the Secret U.S. Classic this summer but wasn’t eligible to compete at nationals due to her citizenship status. We’ll also see the Merkova twins, Adela and Vendula, sent by the Bohemians gym along with their teammate Kristyna Brabcova, and the Western Australia Institute of Sport will send recognizable names like Darcy Norman, Aya Meggs, and Yasmin Collier.

A full list of competitors is below.

Elite Gym Massilia begins with the open competition on Friday November 11, followed by the masters team and all-around meet on Saturday and event finals on Sunday. If you’re in the Marseilles area and want to attend, please visit the official event website for more information.

Article by Lauren Hopkins