Teja and Lucija took charge in exciting the Slovenian crowd

“Today was the first day of finals in Koper, which wrapped the Bonifika Arena in Slovenian colors, as Teja Belak and Lucija Hribar made sure that the Zdravljica filled the hall. They were joined on the winners’ podium by Anže Hribar, who won the silver medal.”

The first day of finals began beyond the expectations of Slovenian gymnastics fans. We had representatives in every discipline. The Saturday final opened with the floor exercise, where we eagerly awaited the performance of Anže Hribar. Anže had already won a silver medal earlier this season at the World Cup in Antalya, so the home crowd was hopeful for another podium finish. He executed his routine flawlessly, with just a minor step out on the second diagonal, which cost him 0.1 points. His performance thrilled the audience, and the judges awarded him a score of 13.800, putting him in the lead. Next up was Taiwan’s Min-Han Chiou, who narrowly overtook Anže with a score just 0.033 points higher. The final competitor was Turkey’s Alperen Ege Avci, the only one who could have threatened Anže’s silver medal. However, his routine didn’t go as planned—he received a score of 13.333 and placed fifth. Anže thus celebrated his first medal on home soil and fired up the Slovenian crowd. “I’m very pleased with today’s final performance. Despite one small mistake, I managed to win the silver medal. I’m happy with what I showed to the home audience, as I performed the routine to the best of my abilities,” Anže said, overjoyed with the medal. The bronze went to Italian Filippo Castellaro with a score of 13.666.

Next up was the vault, where Slovenia had two strong contenders: the experienced Teja Belak and Tjaša Kysselef. Tjaša started off well with her first vault, earning a score of 13.233. However, she made a major error on her second vault. With an average score of 12.316, she finished in 6th place. Tjaša was visibly dissatisfied with her performance: “I’d say the first vault felt even a bit better than expected. I think the score was better too, if I’m not mistaken. As for the second vault, I thought I had improved it compared to the qualifications, especially based on the feeling I had during the run-up. Unfortunately, in the air I didn’t get a good sense of where I was, and I opened up too early. I had the impression that I was lower than I actually was—at least according to others. Suddenly I was on the ground, landing with straight legs, which was a bit dangerous, but luckily I didn’t suffer any injuries or pain in my legs. I still have a few days before the European Championships, and I hope I can fix the feeling in the air on my second vault, even though I don’t have any issues with it at home. Now I need to figure out what’s happening to me in the air during that second vault so I can avoid a similar situation again.”

Teja Belak was the last to perform on vault, having won the qualifications on Thursday. Energized by the enthusiastic home crowd, she executed two excellent vaults, receiving scores of 13.033 and 13.600, which propelled her to the top of the leaderboard with an average score of 13.516. “I’m a bit less satisfied with today’s vaults. In qualifications, I really delivered a top-level first vault. My goal for today was to improve on that because I’m a perfectionist, which makes it hard for me to be truly content. However, the second vault was performed very well, so I feel like it made up for the first one. The final score was also one of the highest this season. Looking at the competition as a whole, I’m happy with it—especially because I managed to handle the pressure of performing in front of a home crowd.” As for the European Championships, I don’t know what to expect. The rules change after the Olympic Games, and the competition changes too, with many new girls entering the scene—athletes we don’t yet know. Right now, I can’t really say where I stand, especially with the new starting value for this vault. I just hope for a clean performance in the qualifications, and we’ll see where that takes me,” said Teja with joy. Second place went to Croatia’s Tijana Korent with a score of 13.199, while third place was claimed by Britain’s Abigail Roper with 12.916.

The pommel horse final followed, with Gregor Rakovič representing Slovenia. Gregor attempted a more difficult routine than in qualifications, but things didn’t go as planned. During the routine, he suffered a fall from the apparatus and received a score of 10.300, placing him 8th. “I’m not entirely sure what happened during the routine. On the second flop, something went wrong and it threw me off rhythm. Maybe I slowed down the tempo a bit. I did the first two elements at full intensity. I thought I was in rhythm, but apparently I wasn’t. Now we can focus on next week and prepare for the European Championships, and fix the mistake from today’s competition,” Gregor said after his performance. The pommel horse final saw a double victory for Kazakhstan: Diyas Toishybek claimed the gold with a score of 14.033, and Zeinolla Drissov took silver. The bronze went to Albania’s Matvei Petrov, who earned a score of 13.200.

The uneven bars final followed, where Lucija Hribar faced a tough challenge as she was defending her gold from last year’s competition. The Olympian, who is used to performing under pressure, encountered some difficulties during her routine. Despite a fall, she received the highest score of the final—12.400—and claimed her second gold medal. Immediately after her performance, she said: “I can’t say I’m really satisfied with today’s routine, because I had a fall. But the routine was otherwise very nice, without any real problems, and in the end, it luckily turned out well for a medal. I wasn’t exactly expecting it, but I’m happy I managed to do it in front of the home crowd. For tomorrow, my main wish is just to make it through and hopefully avoid any falls. I want to enjoy it, and then we’ll see where I end up. I don’t really have big expectations.” The silver and bronze medals went to Brazil’s Gabriela Rodrigues Barbosa with a score of 12.266 and Gabriela Boucas with 12.166.

“A dream outcome—out of two possible medals, we won both. I have nothing negative to say. We can only be happy that Teja and Lucija managed to achieve this. It’s a very good springboard for the upcoming European Championships. I truly hope that all the girls will show the same level of readiness at the European Championships, and that we’ll finally manage to perform the routines there perfectly as well,” said Andrej Mavrič, head coach of the senior women’s national team.

The last final of the day saw the gymnasts compete on rings, with Luka Bojanc representing Slovenia. Last year, he won his first bronze medal in front of the home crowd. This time, Luka delivered an excellent routine, with only minor issues on the final handstand, which ultimately cost him another bronze. He received a score of 13.200, missing the podium by just 0.233 points. The bronze went to Taiwan’s Yi-Hsiang Wang with a score of 13.433. The rings final also ended with a double celebration—this time for Turkey. Silver was claimed by Yunus Gundogdu with a score of 14.000, and gold went to Ibrahim Colak, who scored 14.033. Luka was slightly disappointed after his performance: “My feelings are a bit mixed. Honestly, the moment I landed the routine, I already had a sense it wouldn’t be enough for a medal, mainly because of the final handstand, where I estimate I lost up to 0.3 points. The landing wasn’t perfect either. So I kind of knew it probably wouldn’t be enough for the medal I was secretly hoping for. I’m satisfied with 4th place, but it comes with a bitter aftertaste.”

“It was great. Anže won a medal, which is fantastic. It’s also great to know that, despite the medal, he still has some reserve. I feel sorry for Gregor because I know he’s well-prepared, but unfortunately he didn’t manage to show what he’s truly capable of. Luka delivered a nice routine, but made a small mistake at the end that cost him a medal. Still, I’m very happy for all the guys and proud of them. In a week, we’re heading to the European Championships, where we aim to deliver strong routines and are targeting a place in the finals,” said Sebastijan Piletič, head coach of the Slovenian men’s national team.

Tomorrow marks the final day of the 19th FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics, where Slovenia will be represented in the finals by Beno Kunst on vault, Zala Trtnik on beam, and Lucija Hribar in two finals—on beam and floor. The finals will begin at 1:00 PM.