Italy Dominates Field To Win Fourth European Gymnastics Championship

LEIPZIG, GERMANY – MAY 26: Gold medallists, Team Italy, pose for a photo during the medal ceremony … More for Women’s Team Final on day one of the 2025 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships on May 26, 2025 in Leipzig, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

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The 2024 Olympic silver medalists continue to deliver on the international stage. On Monday, May 26, Italy’s women’s national artistic gymnastics team secured gold at the 2025 European Gymnastics Championships in Leipzig, Germany.

The Italians defeated silver-medalist Germany by over 3.6 points—a staggering margin in artistic gymnastics. France followed for bronze, another 1.5 points behind. This gold marks the Italian women’s third European title since 2022 and fourth overall, signaling prolonged success for the budding gymnastics powerhouse.

Manila Esposito Leads Italy To Gold

Olympic medalist and defending European All-Around Champion Manila Esposito led the way for her team. With Sunday’s team final doubling as the qualification round for individual event finals, Esposito vaulted to the top of the all-around standings, qualifying for the event finals on bars, beam, and floor.

The 18-year-old star will look to defend her 2024 all-around win on Thursday, May 29.

LEIPZIG, GERMANY – MAY 26: Manila Esposito of Team Italy performs on the Uneven Bars during day one … More of the 2025 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships on May 26, 2025 in Leipzig, Germany. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)

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Alice D’Amato, Italy’s first Olympic gold medalist in women’s gymnastics, struggled in Leipzig, falling on her gold-medal event and failing to qualify for any event finals. Italian rookies Emma Fioravanti, Giulia Perotti, and Sofia Tonelli joined the two Olympians on Monday’s podium.

Germany Continues To Climb

26 May 2025, Saxony, Leipzig: Gymnastics: European Championships, Team, Women, The German gymnasts … More celebrate the silver medal. Photo: Marijan Murat/dpa (Photo by Marijan Murat/picture alliance via Getty Images)

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The silver medal is historic for the Germans, marking their best finish at a European Championships, and only their second podium finish. The team delivered history in front of a home crowd for the second time in recent memory.

Their previous best finish was bronze at the 2022 European Championships in Munich. 2024 Olympian Helen Kevric was stellar for the Germans, posting the highest qualifying score on uneven bars and the third-strongest all-around score. Her bar work impressively defeated a hit routine from Olympic Champion and three-time World Champion Nina Derwael (BEL).

Romania’s Ana Barbosu Delivers

Romanian gymnast Ana Barbosu poses after being awarded an Olympic bronze medal for the women’s floor … More exercise at the Paris 2024 Olympics, during a ceremony in Bucharest, Romania, Aug. 16, 2024. The bronze medal was reallocated to Barbosu after a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week that voided an appeal by Team USA coach Cecile Landi during the Aug. 5 floor exercise final in Paris, which had vaulted Chiles into third place and pushed Barbosu down to fourth. (Photo by Cristian Cristel/Xinhua via Getty Images)

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Though known for her implication in the 2024 Olympic bronze medal scandal with Jordan Chiles (USA), Romania’s Ana Barbosu looks to add to her trophy case. The Stanford Gymnastics commit finished second in the all-around qualifications behind Esposito, leading her team to a fourth-place finish.

The Olympic medalist was also stellar on her trademark events: floor exercise and balance beam, qualifying second and fourth. On Thursday, May 29, she will face off with Esposito and Kevric for the all-around title.

Swedish Star Emerges

Jennifer Williams of Sweden, another Stanford Cadinal commit, impressed fans and judges on Monday. The 19-year-old from Spånga posted a staggering 14.533 on balance beam to lead the field, edging out Olympic bronze medalist on beam, Esposito (ITA).

If Williams can clinch gold on Friday’s apparatus finals, she will become the first Swedish women’s gymnast to win a European title.

The 2025 European Championships continue Tuesday with the men’s qualification round. All scheduling, streaming, and results can be accessed here.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolineprice/2025/05/27/italy-dominates-field-to-win-fourth-european-gymnastics-championship/