Croatia denied visas to nine Russian gymnasts, then admitted four. One of them, Angelina Melnikova, later won gold.

Source: Meduza

Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova won the individual all-around title at the 2026 European Championships in artistic gymnastics, held in Croatia, scoring 55.932 points.

Russian gymnast Anna Kalmykova took second place with 54.632 points, and French gymnast Elena Colas placed third with 53.966 points. The competitors performed on the uneven bars, balance beam, vault, and floor exercise.

The win made Melnikova a five-time European champion in artistic gymnastics and gave her the first individual all-around title of her career. She had previously won gold in the team event in 2016 and 2018, on the floor exercise in 2017, and on the uneven bars in 2021.

Melnikova is also an Olympic champion — she won gold in the team event in 2020 — and a three-time world champion.

This is the first time in five years that Russian gymnasts are competing at the European Championships, doing so under neutral status.

The women’s European Championships in artistic gymnastics run in Zagreb from August 13 to 16, with the men’s tournament following from August 19 to 23.

Croatian authorities initially denied visas to nine Russian athletes seeking to compete, then reversed course a few days before the tournament began, granting visas to four Russian gymnasts: Angelina Melnikova, Anna Kalmykova, Leila Vasilyeva, and Alexey Usachev.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.

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Croatia denied visas to nine Russian gymnasts, then admitted four. One of them, Angelina Melnikova, later won gold.

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Croatia denied visas to nine Russian gymnasts, then admitted four. One of them, Angelina Melnikova, later won gold.

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