ilya Kovtun, a 20-year-old Ukrainian gymnast, won a silver medal in the parallel bars with a score of 15.500 points. This achievement was the culmination of his performances at the Olympic Games, where he also took fourth place in the all-around and floor exercise, reports Komersant ukrainskyi
The gold medal in this discipline was won by Chinese gymnast Zou Jinyuan with an impressive score of 16,200 points. Jinyuan, who already has Tokyo 2020 gold in this event, added silver in the rings and team awards to his collection. Shinnosuke Oka of Japan, who also became a two-time Olympic champion at Paris 2024, won bronze.
Unfortunately, the performance of another Ukrainian gymnast, Oleg Verniaiev, was less successful. He fell off the apparatus during the programme, which resulted in a low score of 13.300 points and an eighth place finish.
This year’s Olympic Games were the second for Kovtun, who already had experience of competing in Tokyo 2020. His progress is evident: from seventh place in the team competition and eleventh in the all-around in Tokyo to a silver medal and several fourth places in Paris. In addition, Kovtun already has a silver and bronze medal at the World Championships.
The Ukrainian men’s gymnastics team, which included Radomir Stelmakh, Nazar Chepurny, Oleg Vernyaev and Ilya Kovtun, took fifth place in the team all-around with a total of 254.761 points.
After Kovtun’s medal, Ukraine ranks 17th in the medal standings with 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.
Olympics 2024. Schedule of Ukrainian performances on 5 August