Illia Kovtun

Following the women’s competition at European Championships last week – which saw the Russians return to competition, albeit neutrally, for the first time since 2021 – we’ll now see the men on the continental stage beginning in Zagreb tomorrow!

Most exciting for me will be the first time we see Illia Kovtun and Radomyr Stelmakh representing their newly-adopted countries following their split from Ukraine. Following the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, many Ukrainian athletes moved abroad to continue their training, with Kovtun ending up in Croatia while Stelmakh went to Germany.

With the two Olympians thriving in their new environments following longstanding issues within the Ukrainian national men’s program, they each made the decision to represent their adopted programs internationally. Ukraine wouldn’t release either right away, so Kovtun and Stelmakh have been in limbo over the past couple of years, competing mostly for various European league meets like Bundesliga and Serie A, but this year their change-of-nation requests officially went through, and Euros will mark their first major international competitions since the 2024 Olympic Games.

The reigning national champions for their new programs, both Kovtun and Stelmakh are expected to be top competitors in Zagreb this week, though of course Kovtun competing – and likely medaling – in front of a home crowd will be especially exciting.

Below, we have everything you need to stay up-to-date with the men’s competition at Euros this year, including who’s competing, when it’s happening, and how to follow along!

What’s at Stake?

All of the continental championship meets this season most importantly serve as qualifiers for world championships, which will take place this autumn in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Unlike last year, nations can only attend worlds in 2026 and 2027 if they qualify teams or individual athletes. For MAG, the European continent is allotted 13 teams and 23 individual all-around spots (with the opportunity for two additional all-around spots for NOCs that do not qualify by any other means) based on this week’s competition.

Of course, medals are also up for grabs here! This will be the primary goal for the junior athletes competing in Zagreb.

Who’s Competing?

See below for a full list of senior and junior athletes expected to attend.

When’s It Happening?

Here is the complete schedule. All times are local to Zagreb.

How Can We Follow Along?

Senior qualifications and junior qualifications/apparatus finals will stream live via GymTV for a cost of €20 for MAG.

Senior finals will stream on Eurovision Sports for countries without TV broadcasters (like the United States and other non-European countries). Otherwise you’ll have to check the TV rights holders list to see how you can watch.

Live scores will be available through SmartScoring.

We’ll also be live blogging when we can! Right now, it looks like we’ll be able to do the third subdivision for senior qualifications along with all senior finals and the junior all-around final. We’re a very hopeful maybe for at least part of the junior qualifications as well as the junior apparatus finals, but the first two subdivisions of senior qualifications are sadly probably a no, though we’ll share score updates and quick recaps on Twitter when we can.

Article by Lauren Hopkins