18-year-old Boglárka Dévai wins historic gold medal at the European Gymnastics Championship!
The 18-year-old Boglárka Dévai has become the first Hungarian woman to win the vault at the European Championships in 20 years. As Nemzetisport.hu reports, the champion had burst into tears when she realised that she won the title.
We have already written about the Hungarian Junior Handball Team’s great triumph at the World Championship in July, and now, we are happy to report about another Hungarian sports success.
Following Henrietta Ónódi (1989) and Adrienn Varga (1998), Boglárka Dévai (2018) has succeeded in winning the vault in Glasgow at the 2018 European Championships with her amazing and outstanding performance – 20 years after the last Hungarian success in 1998. We have already seen some great Hungarian performances in the field of gymnastics: formerly, Krisztián Berki, a Hungarian Olympic Champion gymnast has been unbelievably honoured in 2016: a gymnastic element has been named after him. This year, Hungary had the chance to host 118 teams from nearly 30 countries at the World Aesthetic Group Gymnastics Championships.
She has performed the most difficult pose of the Championships, worth altogether 14.633 points in the finals. Facing her opponent, the French Colline Devillard proved to be a motivation that led her to reach 14.349 points on average at the final stage of the contest. However, at first, she was not satisfied with her performance.
The delighted Boglárka recalls: „I thought I was not even going to make it to the best three, as I told my coach after my two vaults”.
Although she got into the finals with the highest points, she admitted that she did not expect to win a medal. She was the first to perform the tasks, and according to her, there were moments later when she could not even look at fellow competitors’ performance due to her anxiety.
“I cannot find words or describe the feeling, I have not yet realised that I have become a European Champion today! It is even more unbelievable that Hungary could win the vault again after 20 years in women’s gymnastics – and it was me who could do it even though I am only 19 years old!”, said the happy winner in an interview.
When you win your first European title! Congratulations Boglarka Devai! pic.twitter.com/qixgvg2c7Q
— UEG (@UEGymnastics) August 5, 2018
For others, her amazing results at the Championship were no surprise: last year, she has won bronze medal at the European Championship, and this year she became the favorite of many as she got into the best eight competitors with the highest points.
“When I first participated in a Junior European Championship four years ago, I could not yet imagine what this could be all about. It was during last year’s European Championship when I won the first bronze medal that I realised that I could also be among the bests and the elite of gymnastics.”
The final results of Vault Women in 2018:
1. Boglárka Dévai (Hungary) 14.349,
2. Angelina Melnyikova (Russia) 14.233,
3. Denisa Golgota (Romania) 14.166
Featured image: MTI/EPA/Neil Hall
Source: Nemzetisport.hu