European Championships 2023: 8th place for Fien Enghels on balance beam.

Today the European championships in Antalya come to an end witht the final day of apparatus finals. Fien Enghels finished 8th in her first European balance beam final. 

Fien was the sixt gymnast to compete in this balance beam final. She had a bit to much momentum on her candlestick mount and later slipped of on her free carthwheel layout step-out combination. It wasn't the perfect routine she would have dreamed to compete in this final. But she enjoyed the experience and is motivated to work on rising her D-score. 

2016 Olympic balance beam champion Sanne Wevers from the Netherlands won the gold medal. Italian Manila Esposito impressed with her layout step-out mount immediately linked to a flick and layout-step-out. She was rocksolid on the beam. She had the same execution score as Sanne Wevers but 0.1 less in difficulty and won the silver medal. Zsofia Kovacs from Hungary won the bronze medal over British Ondine Achampong after an enquiry. 

Beam final results:

1. Sanne WEVERS NED 13.900

2. Manila ESPOSITO ITA 12.700

3. Zsofia KOVACS HUN 13.700

4. Ondine ACHAMPONG GBR 13.533

5. Alice D'AMATO ITA 13.300

6. Amalia GHIGOARTA ROU 12.900

7. Jessica GADIROVA GBR 12.166

8. Fien ENGHELS BEL 11.433

These European championships were historical for Belgian gymnastics. The main goal for the teams was to qualify for the World Championships in Antwerp later this year. They did so much more. The eight place finish from the men's team was the best team finish for a Belgian men's team ever. Lisa Vaelen and Maellyse Brassart were the first two Belgian ladies to finish in the European top 5 all-around. Lisa's fourth place was the best all-around  result ever for a Belgian gymnast at the European Championships. She also won a bronze medal on vault, 18 years after Aagje Vanwalleghem did in 2005 in Debrecen. Maxime Gentges' silver medal on pommel horse is the first medal ever for a Belgian gymnast at a European Championship.