2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships


The 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships was the 37th edition of the Rhythmic Gymnastics European Championships, which took place on 9–13 June 2021 at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria. This was the first year that Bulgaria hosted the European Championships.
The event was the last chance for European gymnasts to qualify a quota to compete at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics, with one individual quota and one group quota available. It also, for the first time, served as a qualification event for country quotas at the 2021 World Championships. The Olympic quotas were won by Fanni Pigniczki and the group representing Ukraine.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all persons involved in the event were required to undergo tests for Covid, and the arena was restricted to 50 percent of its total capacity.
Russian gymnasts dominated the event, winning over a third of the available medals and nine of the twelve titles. Arina Averina won the all-around, her second European title after the 2018 European Championships, and was joined on the podium by her twin sister, Dina Averina, who won bronze and also won three of the apparatus finals. The silver medalist, Boryana Kaleyn, won Bulgaria's first European all-around medal in more than twenty years, since Maria Petrova won the 1994 European Championships. The previous year's European champion, Linoy Ashram, was in fourth place in the all-around but won the clubs final, the first time since the 2011 European Championships that a non-Russian gymnast won a European apparatus final.
Rachel Stoyanov, representing North Macedonia, won the "Shooting Star" award.

Entrants and event format

Each member nation of European Gymnastics could send either two or three individual gymnasts, who could perform a maximum of eight routines between them in the qualification round; a gymnast's three highest scores were used to determine qualification to the all-around final. The eight gymnasts with the highest scores per apparatus in the qualification round advanced to the apparatus final. Each member nation could also send a senior and a junior group. Each country's senior entrants formed a team, with the scores of all individual and group routines in the qualification round being added to determine team rankings.
37 countries entered 321 gymnasts in the competition. The countries participating in the competition were:

Competition schedule

  • Wednesday June 9
  • *10:00–11:40 Junior groups qualification & AA ranking
  • *11:55–13:35 Junior groups qualification & AA ranking
  • *18:30–19:00 Opening Ceremony
  • *19:00–19:40 Junior groups 5 Balls Final
  • *19:55–20:35 Junior groups 5 Ribbons Final
  • *20:35–20:50 Award ceremony Junior groups All-Around
  • *20:50–21:05 Award ceremony Junior groups Apparatus Final
  • Thursday June 10
  • *10:00–12:00 Set A Senior Individuals qualifications
  • *12:15–14:15 Set B Senior Individuals qualifications
  • *15:15–17:15 Set C Senior Individuals qualifications
  • *17:30–19:30 Set D Senior Individuals qualifications
  • Friday June 11
  • *10:00–12:00 Set C Senior Individuals qualifications
  • *12:15–14:15 Set D Senior Individuals qualifications
  • *15:15-17:15 Set A Senior Individuals qualifications
  • *17:30–19:30 Set B Senior Individuals qualifications
  • Saturday June 12
  • *10:00–12:25 Senior Individuals AA Final
  • *12:40–15:05 Senior Individuals AA Final
  • *15:05–15:20 Award Ceremony AA Seniors Individuals
  • *16:30-18:00 Senior Groups
  • *18:15–19:40 Senior Groups
  • *19:40–19:55 Award Ceremony AA Senior Groups
  • *19:55–20:10 Award Ceremony Team
  • Sunday June 13
  • *10:00–11:05 Senior Individuals Hoop & Ball Finals
  • *11:10–12:15 Senior Individuals Clubs & Ribbon Finals
  • *12:15-12:30 Award Ceremony Senior Individual Apparatus finals
  • *13:00–13:40 Senior Groups 5 Balls Final
  • *13:45–14:25 Senior Groups 3 Hoops + 4 Clubs Final
  • *14:25–15:00 Award Ceremony Senior Groups Apparatus finals
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