After a slow January in the elite world, February picked up the pace with a number of meets, many of which we’ve covered in-depth, including the Winter Cup, the WOGA Classic and its MAG companion, the Liukin Invitational, the virtual Elite Canada meets for WAG and MAG, and the Buckeye and Brestyan’s U.S. national elite qualifiers.

But there have also been a number of meets that took place which we didn’t cover, so here’s everything else you may have missed.

SINGAPORE VIRTUAL COMPETITION | Feb. 7

Emma Yap

This was a very small competition held virtually, showcasing Singapore’s young seniors, including junior worlds championships competitors Emma Yap and Kaitlyn Lim, both first-year seniors this year. Yap won the competition with a 44.333 all-around, and she also took the top spots on bars and floor, while Lim competed every event but bars, and posted the best scores on vault and beam. Nadine Joy Nathan, a veteran for the program who competed at the Youth Olympic Games in 2014, also competed two events here. [Results]

RUSSIAN FEDERAL CHAMPIONSHIPS | Feb. 8-12

Maria Kharenkova

Seven of Russia’s federal districts held competitions that act as qualifiers to national championships in March. Most notably was Irina Komnova winning the Central all-around title with a 105.110 combined score, first-year senior Maria Agafonova winning the Northwestern title with a 105.700 combined score, and Maria Kharenkova, who now represents Georgia internationally, winning the North Caucasus title with a 107.225 combined score. Kharenkova is currently a reserve for an individual Olympic spot, and though the judging here was a bit lenient, she showed strong work on beam and floor, with balanced work across both days of competition. [Results]

ISRAELI WINTER CUP | Feb. 12-13

Lihie Raz

Many countries haven’t gotten a lot of time on the competition floor over the past year due to COVID, and Israel is one of them, with most of the gymnasts at this meet going 18+ months without elite experience. This means we saw a few young and largely unfamiliar names on the roster here, and it was an especially big surprise to see first-year senior Illy Ezra win the senior all-around gold with a 47.950. She was followed by Noga Shalit in second with a 46.150 and 2020 Olympian Lihie Raz in third with a 44.950. Raz unfortunately had a miss on bars, which held her back considerably, though she had the best vault in the competition, while Ezra led the field on bars and beam, and Geffen Dor was first on floor.

The junior field was made up entirely of new faces, with 2008-born Almog Leizerovich taking the title with a 44.650 all-around, followed by Hili Torgeman with a 44.350 for silver, and Daria Toren with a 44.000 for bronze. Leizrovich won beam here, while Ofri Gilai topped vault, Yali Shoshani led bars, and Liron Hatzkin got the win on floor. [Results] 

FINLAND’S EUROS TRIALS | Feb. 27

Maisa Kuusikko

Euros still feel miles away, but Finland’s ready to go, hosting its first of three trial meets to select the team. First-year senior Maisa Kuusikko won the all-around with a 50.100, and despite a fall in her difficult bars set, she had an otherwise strong competition, including getting the win on beam. Ada Hautala also had a miss on bars, but won vault and floor, and finished right behind Kuusikko with a 48.600, while veteran Rosanna Ojala won the bronze with a 48.100. I’d say these three will almost certainly go to Euros if they continue at this speed, but determining the fourth spot will be tough, with plenty in the mix, including fourth-place Lea Bernards (48.000 AA), fifth-place Malla Montell (47.900 AA, second on beam and floor), and sixth-place Iida Haapala (47.500, top bars score of 12.1). [Results]

ICELAND’S TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS | Feb. 27

Hildur Gudmundsdottir

The first meet of the year for Iceland focused on the competition between clubs, but it also showed a glimpse at who should be on our radar as individuals this year. First-year senior Hildur Gudmundsdottir came out on top of the senior field with a 44.200, also winning the beam title with an 11.7, while Margret Kristinsdottir put up a 43.750 for second place, and Ragnheidur Johannsdottir had a 43.200 for third. Johannsdottir had the top floor score, while Embla Gudmundsdottir was best on vault, and Birta Alexandersdottir won bars.

The junior field was fairly small, with Soley Gudmundsdottir earning a 43.850 to top the all-around podium, while in the men’s competition, Valgard Reinhardsson won the title with a 75.432, followed by Jonas Thorisson with a 73.165 for silver and Agust Davidsson with a 70.766 for bronze. [Results]

Article by Lauren Hopkins