Takeaways from 2025 Euros

[Puffin]

The things I have reflected on

1. Armenia's MAG potential - what a competition for them. I hope they can develop their AA programme and challenge for AA and Team titles.

2. The resurgence of Romania WAG and the relaxed attitudes from (most of) the team. Loved seeing Barbosu and Golgota happy and Barbosu chatting with everyone. Sabrina need to rethink her routines if she wants to make future finals - but is anyone prepared to take on mama Voinea in Romania?

3. The emergence of Nordic gymnastics with Norway, Sweden and Finland making finals and being genuine medal contenders.

4. Stanford's NCAA WAG team will be one to watch next year with Ana Barbosu and Jennifer Williams joining the team

 

[IratePanda]

Vanesa Masova (CZE) is very promising.

 

[irichluck21]

Armenia tends to produce event specialists. But yeah the potential is there if they can produce another strong all arounder to fill in gaps in a team competition.

 

[Sasha]

1. Italy has good depth, and, with Fiorvanti and Perroti (and to some degree, Esposito), they're showing that they're not overly reliant on their old guard. They appear to have developed some sustainable momentum and should continue to be a team medal threat for the foreseeable future.

2. I'm extremely impressed with Barbosu, and happy that she's still competing in spite the difficult periods she's been through in recent years.

3. I think I'm a pommel horse fan now?

4. Euros continues to be one of my favourite competitions in the gymnastics calendar.

 

[Sanzhirovka]

Same. Love Euros. Looking forward to seeing Romania climb back and it will be interesting to see how the new leadership handles it, especially in terms of the national coaching staff.

 

[Ms Motts]

Euros has long been my favourite non Olympic competition on the calendar.

I just watched Ruby Evans’ Olympics then Euros floor routines back to back and she has really levelled up her artistry. I think she’s shaping up to be the Alice Kinsella of this quad - the hardworking, generally reliable AA backbone of team GB who comes fourth a lot. I’m officially a fan now.

I would love to see Sabrina Voinea with a new coach. She looked sort of broken this competition, and that’s so sad.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

She did.

It's been obvious for a long time that Sabrina has huge potential that's not being well nurtured, but it was easier to look past the issues when she was still delivering good routines and didn't look like she was struggling.

 

[Puffin]

She did.

It's been obvious for a long time that Sabrina has huge potential that's not being well nurtured, but it was easier to look past the issues when she was still delivering good routines and didn't look like she was struggling.

Yes Sabrina has huge talent. I remember really rooting for her as an early teen throwing incredibly difficult routines. But she doesn't really seemed to have matured into her senior career as I thought she would in 2023 - she still just chucks difficulty with rough form. Barbosu has left her behind and developed into a lovely gymnast.

Does Sabrina attend school? Is University an option for her either in Romania or abroad? Or perhaps one of the professional leagues would be an option? But sadly nothing will improve while she continues to train distanced from the team with mama Voinea as coach.

 

[MaryClare]

Yes Sabrina has huge talent. I remember really rooting for her as an early teen throwing incredibly difficult routines. But she doesn't really seemed to have matured into her senior career as I thought she would in 2023 - she still just chucks difficulty with rough form. Barbosu has left her behind and developed into a lovely gymnast.

Does Sabrina attend school? Is University an option for her either in Romania or abroad? Or perhaps one of the professional leagues would be an option? But sadly nothing will improve while she continues to train distanced from the team with mama Voinea as coach.

I don’t think she has attended school since pre 2020. Whether she does homeschooling or not, I don’t know but her educational arrangements are different to what is normal for the national team. That’s not to say that she isn’t getting an education. Cosman has different arrangements because she follows an American homeschool programme. But I have my doubts regarding Voinea.

 

[Hatsumomo]

It has to be hard to sit with the fact that she was sold on the idea that she would be the star of the Romanian team and the one coming away with a collection of hardware instead of being on the sidelines watching somebody else do all the winning. Plus, a judging error and her mother being a crap coach not catching it in time had her losing out on an Olympic medal.

 

[phoenix7]

My takeaways:

Scandinavia had a great competition. That Northern European Championship that always looks so random could be much more competitive over the next few years. But a shame Ireland didn't compete, on that note.

Wales had a great competition. Ruby Evans thinks she's not a dancer, but she's wrong. UK, France, Italy, Germany and Hungary are all shepherding in a new generation nicely.

Romania had a great competition. People sometimes talk as if the "foreign coaches" were the be-all and end-all, but they're not. FRG was never going to be in a position to pay internationally competitive salaries for them beyond the key final year of the Olympic cycle. The question is how they develop their home-grown culture - and it's looking good. At the beginning of the last cycle, they couldn't even afford to send a team to Euros without emergency fundraising.

Morgane Osyssek-Reimer has incredible style. The hair, the make-up, the sang-froid on the black cubes of doom. Hope to see lots more of her.

 

[makam]

It has to be hard to sit with the fact that she was sold on the idea that she would be the star of the Romanian team and the one coming away with a collection of hardware instead of being on the sidelines watching somebody else do all the winning. Plus, a judging error and her mother being a crap coach not catching it in time had her losing out on an Olympic medal.

She is a bit Skinnerish--too good to leave off a team, not good enough to be the star she thinks she should be. And without a trajectory change, unlikely to progress.

 

[Angelika]

I feel sorry for Sabrina - she seems like a lovely kid with an overpowering mother. Still, Ana has turned into a beautiful gymnast as the return of Golgota was much needed (and what a beauty she has become as well).

Ruby Evans has really matured in the year after the Olympics - such an elegant gymnast who has now fixed her place in the team (I'm not convinced both Gadirovas will actually return to gymnastics).

But where was GMF - she wasn't injured as she has just won Beam at one of the world Cups a couple of weeks ago?

 

[Kara]

Sabrina really reminds me of Skinner; high difficulty with questionable technique, poor coaching, people around her encouraging an I'm better than everyone attitude. Though Skinner at least seemed to try to appear to be a decent teammate at competitions and never would have skipped that vault. Sabrina's biggest hurdle is that her terrible coach is also her mother which makes it harder to get away from her. Though, in my opinion, Skinner going to Utah didn't really help her gymnastics or attitude, so who knows if a coaching change would fix Sabrina's issues.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

She is a bit Skinnerish--too good to leave off a team, not good enough to be the star she thinks she should be. And without a trajectory change, unlikely to progress.

Very apt comparison. There's all those things, plus very clear talent not being coached in the optimum manner.

@Angelika GMF said she wasn't intending to go for Euros as she was tired. She's not injured but has taken her foot off the pedal a bit. Not sure yet whether she's attempting worlds.

 

[Matilda23]

Re Sabrina not vaulting in the TF. Did she warm up vault, or vault in Podium Training? I haven’t seen her vault since 2024 Olympics.

 

[ruby]

Comparing Sabrina to Skinner is an insult to the latter. Skinner has an inflated ego and mediocre coaching but she was a solid AA gymnast with ok enough technique on bars to perform a decent routine. Sabrina does not have any technical ability on bars at all and honestly - even a great coach and a completely different mindset would be hard pressed to improve her enough to learn a consistent basic 4 CR + D dismount routine that doesn't have a lot of deductions. Go back and find training videos of 8-11 year old Sabrina on Youtube (if they are still there). There was no concept to her bars development, no enforcement of basic shaping and technique. The other apparatus turned out ok because she has rare tumbling ability and great air sense and figured out adequate technique through repetition. The basic technique ist not there either and it is very obvious when you watch her RO-BHS + set into saltos on floor.
Sabrina has always been her mother's project, the cute tiny prodigy Camelia has been living through vicariously.
Gymnastically she actually has an lot in common with Shallon Olsen who was coached by someone who used the same approach.