Ukrainian gymnast Anastasiia Kurashvili became the first athlete from Ukraine to win a gold medal at the European Championship in sports aerobics. The tournament took place in the Azerbaijani city of Ganja.
In the final of the individual women’s competition, the 21-year-old from Sumy scored 20.050 points, edging out Turkish athlete Ayse Onbashi by just 0.050 points to claim the gold medal.
Previously, Ukraine’s best result was Kurashvili’s silver in the individual competition in 2023. For both the gymnast and her coach, Oksana Dubinska, this is their third medal at European championships: she also won bronze in the team competition in 2023.
“The journey of 21-year-old Anastasiia Kurashvili in aerobics began at the age of five in a small gym. She is called ‘Grace’ for her unmatched elegance, natural artistry, and unique ability to turn every movement into a story. During the war, her hometown was occupied, so today Anastasiia continues training in a border town, despite cold gyms, air raid alerts, and power outages. She has become a world champion, European champion, World Cup winner, and bronze medalist at the World Games. And her story is far from over: with every performance, she continues to write a new chapter in the history of Ukrainian gymnastics,” European Gymnastics says about her.
