2017 European Championships: 7th place finish for Nina Derwael in the AA!

In Friday's all-around final, Nina Derwael finished in place 7th place, the 2nd best result in Belgian gymnastics' history!

Credit: An Vanderstraeten

She started on beam, an event where she had troubles in qualifications. But not this time, as she scored a 12.733, more than 0.4 better than in qualifications, for a routine that included a backhandspring to a layout step out, a free cartwheel and a side somersault.

Credit: An Vanderstraeten

On floor, her routine was clean, with controled landings. As usual, she pleased the crowd with a lot of expressivness and emotions. She once again improved her qualification score, with a 12.966. On vault, Nina performed a clean full twisting Yurchenko, with a small hop on the landing (13.533). 

Credit: An Vanderstraeten

She was last up on bars. She started off really well, performing a piked Tkatchev. On her signature move, a Ricna half to Ezhova, she unfortunately hit the bars with her feet, a costly mistake. She then finished strong with a full twisting double back dismount to score 13.600.

With a total score of 52.832, Nina Derwael finished at an amazing 7th place, the 2nd best result in Belgian gymnastics history, after Aagje Vanwalleghem and Gaelle Mys' 6th place finish at the European Championships in 2005 and 2006.

In Debrecen in 2005, Aagje Vanwalleghem also won a bronze medal on vault, the first ever medal for Belgium at Euros. On Saturday, Nina Derwael might write another page of history for her country, in the uneven bars final.

Full results AA here