Seventeen-year-old Taisia Onofriichuk brought Ukraine its first all-around gold medal in rhythmic gymnastics at the European Championships in the 21st century. The last time Ukrainian gymnasts won in this discipline was in the late 1990s — then the titles were claimed by Kateryna Serebrianska (1996) and Olena Vitrychenko (1997), reports Baltimore Chronicle.
The final of the continental championship took place on Saturday in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The Kyiv-born athlete confidently performed all four routines of the program and scored a total of 117.800 points. This allowed her to finish 1.1 points ahead of Bulgarian gymnast Stiliyana Nikolova and claim the absolute victory.
The final was held in two stages. Onofriichuk competed in the strongest Group A and led from the very start. She received the highest scores in the hoop (29.950) and ball (28.600) routines. Before the final apparatus, she was ahead of her main rival by 1.5 points and maintained the lead until the end of the competition.
Besides Onofriichuk, Ukraine was also represented in the all-around final by another gymnast — Polina Karika. She delivered a strong performance, placing tenth with a total score of 109.950 points.
This gold medal became the greatest achievement in Taisia Onofriichuk’s career. Her best previous result was a bronze in the hoop event at the 2024 European Championships. Since the beginning of 2025, she has competed in 30 events and stood on the podium 29 times, winning 18 gold medals.
On Sunday, June 8, the Ukrainian athlete will continue to compete for medals in the apparatus finals for each event. The Ukrainian national team is represented in all disciplines.
During Onofriichuk’s performance, viewers’ attention was also drawn to the emotional reaction of the President of the Ukrainian Gymnastics Federation, Iryna Deriugina. Her active support was captured on video and quickly spread among fans.
Earlier we wrote that Errani and Vavassori crowned Roland Garros mixed doubles champions.