Men's qualification opened the 2019 European Championships in Szczecin on 10 April, and by the end of a long day Russia's Artur Dalaloyan was top of the standings. He had arrived as reigning world all-around champion after his win in Doha the previous autumn, and he competed like it.
A long day in Szczecin
Men's qualification at a European Championships runs from morning to evening, with gymnasts spread across subdivisions. Every routine counts towards places in the all-around final and the six apparatus finals, but only two gymnasts per country can advance to each final. That rule makes qualification tense for strong federations like Russia, where a gymnast can score well and still miss a final because two teammates scored higher.
Why Dalaloyan was the man to beat
Dalaloyan's strength was his balance across the six apparatus. Many all-around gymnasts carry one weak event; he had very few gaps, and his execution on floor and vault was among the cleanest in the world at the time. In qualification, where the aim is to secure places rather than to win, that reliability matters more than raw difficulty.
The Russian depth
Russia's men were in the middle of a golden period. Behind Dalaloyan, the squad had several gymnasts capable of reaching the all-around podium, and the depth that showed in Szczecin was the same depth that won the Olympic team title in Tokyo two years later. Dalaloyan was part of that team, having fought back from a serious injury in the spring of 2021.
What qualification tells us, and what it does not
- It shows who has prepared full routines on every apparatus. - It does not guarantee results in finals, where the score starts again from zero. - It reveals the two-per-country squeeze, which often keeps strong gymnasts out of finals.
Looking back
The opening day in Szczecin set up a week of high-level gymnastics. For anyone studying the men's field of the Tokyo cycle, the qualification results are a useful snapshot of who was ready at the start of the 2019 season.
See the Szczecin 2019 event archive and our guide to Men's Artistic Gymnastics.
