2002 Patras European Championships

2002 Patras European Championships
City	Patras, Greece
Team Gold Medalist	Senior: Russia Svetlana Khorkina Natalia Ziganshina Ludmila Ezhova Elena Zamolodchikova Ekaterina Chuster Junior: Russia Anna Pavlova Elena Anochina Polina Miller Maria Kryuchkova Gulwara Ziganshina
All-Around Gold Medalist	Senior: Svetlana Khorkina (RUS) Junior: Anna Pavlova (RUS)
Vault Gold Medalist	Senior: Natalia Ziganshina (RUS) Junior: Anna Pavlova (RUS)
Uneven Bars Gold Medalist	Senior: Svetlana Khorkina (RUS) Junior: Alina Kozich (UKR)
Balance Beam Gold Medalist	Senior: Ludmila Ezhova (RUS) Junior: Florica Leonida (ROU)
Floor Exercise Gold Medalist	Senior: Alona Kvasha (UKR) Junior: Mirabella Akhunu (UKR)
Preceded by	2000 Paris European Championships
Succeeded by	2004 Amsterdam European Championships

The 24th European Artistic Gymnastics Championships took place in Patras, Greece on April 18-21 2002.

Format of Competition

All participating gymnasts, including those who were not part of a team, participated in a qualification round. The results of this competition determined which teams and individuals participated in the remaining competitions, which included:

• The team competition, in which the eight highest scoring teams from qualifications competed. Each team of six gymnasts could only have three gymnasts perform on each apparatus, and all three scores counted toward the team total.
• The all-around competition, in which only the twenty-four highest scoring individuals in the all-around competed. Each country was limited to only two gymnasts in the all-around final.
• The event finals, in which the eight highest scoring individuals on each apparatus competed. Each country was limited to two gymnasts in each apparatus final.

Competition Schedule

April 18	Qualifications
April 19	Senior Team Final & All-Around
April 20	Junior Team Final & All-Around
April 21	Senior Event Finals
	Junior Event Finals

Results

Seniors

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Team	Russia Svetlana Khorkina Natalia Ziganshina Ludmila Ezhova Elena Zamolodchikova Ekaterina Chuster	Netherlands Verona van de Leur Suzanne Harmes Gabriella Wammes Renske Endel Monique Nuijten	Italy Monica Bergamelli Teresa Gargano Ilaria Colombo
All-Around	Svetlana Khorkina Russia (RUS)	Verona van de Leur Netherlands (NED)	Alona Kvasha Ukraine (UKR)
Vault	Natalia Ziganshina Russia (RUS)	Verona van de Leur Netherlands (NED)	Oana Petrovschi Romania (ROU)
Uneven Bars	Svetlana Khorkina Russia (RUS)	Verona van de Leur Netherlands (NED)	Beth Tweddle Great Britain (GBR)
Balance Beam	Ludmila Ezhova Russia (RUS)	Svetlana Khorkina Russia (RUS)	Verona van de Leur Netherlands (NED)
Floor Exercise	Alona Kvasha Ukraine (UKR)	Natalia Ziganshina Russia (RUS)	Verona van de Leur Netherlands (NED)

Juniors

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
Team	Russia Anna Pavlova Elena Anochina Polina Miller Maria Kryuchkova Gulwara Ziganshina	Romania Florica Leonida Iuliana Chindea Monica Roşu Alexandra Eremia Elena Velicu	France Gaelle Richard Émilie Le Pennec Marine Debauve Coralie Chacon Soraya Chaouch
All-Around	Anna Pavlova Russia (RUS)	Florica Leonida Romania (ROU)	Elena Anochina Russia (RUS)
Vault	Anna Pavlova Russia (RUS)	Iuliana Chindea Romania (ROU)	Monica Roşu Romania (ROU)
Uneven Bars	Alina Kozich Ukraine (UKR)	Maria Mastrogiannopoulou Greece (GRE)	Inna Teslenko Ukraine (UKR)
Balance Beam	Florica Leonida Romania (ROU)	Anna Pavlova Russia (RUS)	Elena Anochina Russia (RUS)
Floor Exercise	Mirabella Akhunu Ukraine (UKR)	Florica Leonida Romania (ROU)	Monica Roşu Romania (ROU)

Controversy

• Russia's Svetlana Khorkina won the European All-Around title over Verona van de Leur of the Netherlands despite crashing her vault. Many, including commentator and former USA Olympic gymnast Bart Conner, felt that van de Leur should have won, and that Khorkina only won due to favoritism from judges.

Medal Count

Rank	Country				Total
1	Russia	5	2	0	7
2	Netherlands	0	4	2	6
3	Ukraine	1	0	1	2
4	Greece	0	1	0	1
5	Italy	0	0	1	1
6	Romania	0	0	1	1
7	Great Britain	0	0	1	1
8	France	0	0	1	1