The European Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships of 2008 were held in Clermont-Ferrand, France, from 3 to 6 April, with senior and junior competitions.
Seniors
Romania won the team title. In the apparatus finals Ksenia Semenova of Russia won both uneven bars and balance beam, Oksana Chusovitina won vault for Germany and Sandra Izbașa won floor for Romania. Izbașa went on to win the Olympic floor title in Beijing that summer.
Chusovitina
Chusovitina’s vault gold is one of the most remarkable results in the archive. She had already won Olympic team gold in 1992 and competed for Germany at this point of her career; she later competed at several more Olympic Games.
Juniors
Russia won the junior team event. The junior finals in Clermont-Ferrand produced titles for France, Russia and Romania on the last day, as the original European Gymnastics report noted.
Points worth noting
– In an Olympic year the Europeans are a dress rehearsal, but apparatus finals still decide real titles. – Russia’s strength on bars and beam and Romania’s on floor and team defined the women’s competition of the period.
Related
See the 2008 men’s Europeans in Lausanne and the 2012 women’s Europeans in Brussels.
