2017 EYOF: Two bronze medals and six finals!

Last week, our young gymnasts traveled to Györ (Hungary) for the European Youth Olympic Festival, one of the most prestigious competitions for the Juniors. In Hungary, Team Belgium qualified for 6 finals and brought home 2 bronze medals!

Credit: GymFed

On the men's side, Mattis Bouchet, Ward Claeys and Justin Pesesse started their competition on Tuesday with individual qualifications and team final. They ranked 6th, a great results for the boys, against some of the strongest teams in Europe. The team competition was won by Russia, followed by Great Britain and Switzerland.

Results Team Final

1. Russia 161.450

2. Great Britain 159.000

3. Switzerland 158.450

...

6. Belgium 155.000

Individually, Justin Pesesse qualified for the all-around final, along with Mattis Bouchet who also qualified for the horizontal bar final. Ward Claeys would compete in the pommel horse final. On Thursday, Justin Pesesse ranked 10th in the all-around final, won by Great Britain's Jamie Lewis. Mattis Bouchet ranked 23rd, after strong performances on vault, floor and horizontal bar.

Results All-around Final

1. Jamie Lewis (GBR) 82.200

2. Iurii Busse (RUS) 80.100 

3. Nicolau Mir Rossello (ESP) 78.550

...

10. Justin Pesesse (BEL) 76.250

23. Mattis Bouchet (BEL) 72.800

But the best was yet to come. Both Ward Claeys and Mattis Bouchet qualified for an apparatus final. And both of them won a bronze medal. On pommel horse, Ward scored 12.466 to place 3rd, just 0.1 away from silver, won by Mauro Nemcanin (Croatia). Russia's Sergei Naidin won the gold with 13.600.

Credit: GymFed

Results Pommel Horse Final

1. Sergei Naidin (RUS) 13.600

2. Mauro Naimcanin (CRO) 12.566

3. Ward Claeys (BEL) 12.466

4. Jamie Lewis (GBR) 12.100

5. Quentin Begue (FRA) 11.766

6. Iurii Busse (RUS) 11.633

7. Dominic Tamsel (SUI) 11.566

8. Davide Bieri (SUI) 11.433 

Saturday's competition must have been a rollercoaster of emotions for Mattis Bouchet. he was up last on horizontal bar, the last event of the day. After a successfull routine, he was ranked 5th. But Team Belgium then put an inquiry on his start value, which was judged too low. After the judges' review, Mattis's score got upgraded and secured him the bronze medal!

Credit: GymFed

Results Horizontal bar Final

1. Aleksandr Kartsev (RUS) 13.166

2. Nicolo Mozzato (ITA) 13.166

3. Mattis Bouchet (BEL) 13.133

4. Nicolau Mir Rossello (ESP) 13.133

5. Andrin Frey (SUI) 13.033

6. Iurii Busse (RUS) 12.900

7. Sviataslau Dranitski (BLR) 12.866

8. Lucas Kochan (GER) 11.866

Last time Belgium won a medal on the men's side was in 2011, with Maxime Gentges taking the bronze on pommel horse. Mattis and Ward's medals look really promising for the future.

On the women's side, Julie Vandamme, Margaux Daveloose and Kay-Li De Neef ranked 11th as a team. The competition was won by Russia, ahead of Italy and Germany.

Results Team Final

1. Russia 107.700

2. Italy 106.500

3. Germany 104.950

... 

11. Belgium 99.300

Both Margaux and Julie qualified for the all-around final, where Margaux had the better day, placing 12th with good performances on vault and floor. Julie placed 21st, after a tough performance on uneven bars.

Credit: GymFed

Results All-around Final

1. Kseniia Klimenko (RUS) 54.450

2. Asia D'Amato (ITA) 53.750

3. Varvara Zubova (RUS) 52.850

...

12. Margaux Daveloose (BEL) 50.000

21. Julie Vandamme (BEL) 47.650

Our girls come home with no medals but with a ton of international experience, with Tokyo 2020 as the bigger picture. They'll now enjoy a break before going back to the gym.

Full results here

Videos here