A quick glimpse over the results of the 2005 European Championships and you may even mistake them for those of the French Nationals. Held in Debrecen, Hungary, the French gymnasts nearly dominated the competition. Although no team competition was held, a team gold was certainly not out of reach for the trio of Emilie Lepennec, Marine Debauve, and Isabelle Severino.

   By defeating Russia's Anna Pavlova by .014 of a point, Marine Debauve made history as the first French gymnast to win the all-around title and the first gymnast from a non-Eastern bloc country to ever win as well. The all-around was previously dominated by gymnasts from the former Soviet Union or Romania. Debauve showed impressive composure and skills on all events to average a 9.275 and grab the title. Her Yurchenko 1 1/2 vault was sloppy and low for an 8.962 but she was impressive on beam, where she showed an array of skills: arabian, punch front, flip flop + 2 foot layout, tuck jump full + Omelianchik, front aerial + side somi, switch leap + back tuck, 2 flip flops + 2 1/2 twist for a 9.487. She was clean on bars (Shaposhnikova + overshoot + toe shoot, clear hip 1 1/2 + Jaeger, Kim + double front) for the same score. She stumbled a bit on floor with some low landings and hops on her tumbling (tucked-full in, double arabian, front through to 2 1/2 twist, double pike) but her dance combinations were a bit cleaner, including a perfect triple turn, to earn her a score of 9.162. Debauve finished fourth on bars and second on beam in event finals. Pavlova nabbed silver with some impressive routines of her own. She showed decent tumbling on floor, nailing her opening full-in and 2 1/2 twist, but coming up short on her triple twist, double pike, and dance combinations for a 9.125. Her beam routine was pretty and solid, showcasing her clean lines and difficulty: front aerial + side somi, Kolesnikova, Kochetkova series, switch leap + double stag, Rulfova, Onodi, and a triple twist for a 9.462. She vaulted a mighty double-twisting Yurchenko for a 9.450 and showed clean inverts and release moves (Jaeger, Pak) for a 9.037. She was second on vault and third on beam in event finals.

   Yulia Lozhecko, the runner-up in last year's Junior Europeans, was third in Debrecen. She vaulted a low front pike 1/2 for a 9.037 but was strong on bars for a 9.325 (inbar stalder + inbar stalder 1/1 + Tkatchev, Pak, Khorkina/Markelov, full-in). She showed more big skills on beam but had too many wobbles to bring in a number higher than 9.150: switch leap + tour jete 1/4, front aerial + side somi, tour jete 1/2 + beat jump, flip flop + back tuck, punch front, arabian, straight jump 1 1/2, tuck jump 1 1/2, double tuck. Her acro skills were all crisp and powerful but her jumps were sloppy and landed insecurely; her routine is also really unbalanced.. the opening section is all jumps, the middle is all acro, the end is more jumps. Her lean and lanky stature resembles that of Svetlana Khorkina, and the fact that she competes some of Khorkina's signature skills draws all the more comparison. On floor she instead conjures images of Olympic Champion Simona Amanar, especially given the beam shoes she dons to tumble. Her passes are impressive and very explosive given her tiny frame: roundoff + immediate double arabian, front handspring + double front, two whips through to double pike. Her choreography is very nice and her dance combinations (double tuck jump, Gogean) were good enough for a 9.237 here. She finished 6th in the floor event final. Suzanne Harmes finished just out of the medals in 4th, which isn't exactly a real disappointment for us. Alright, she's a great tumbler and her dance combinations were clean enough for a 9.375 (hop on piked full-in, nice triple twist, roundoff + 2 1/2 twist + front full, front double twist) but shows no expression and her other events do not measure up. On bars, her powerful build is a bit of a hindrance on her lines but she throws a toe-on 1 1/2 + Jaeger, toe-on 1/1 + overshoot, and toe-on 1/2 + double front with a step for a 9.250. Given there are three combinations in the entire routine and all three involve a toe-on skill, she should really develop some other pirouetting skills - not to mention her handstand positions aren't very good. She gave away the most points on beam by scoring an 8.950: 1 arm flip flop + layout, front aerial + Rulfova, tuck jump 1/1, side somi, switch leap + Khorkina, 2 1/2 twist. On paper her routine looks nice but her connections were all a little paused and her balance was a little off everywhere. Her Olympic floor routine was so much better than the one she competed here but somehow she managed to grab the silver in the event final, as well as 7th on vault and 5th on beam. 

   Francesca Benolli provided more highlights for this meet, mainly by winning the vault title and becoming the first Italian woman to win a gold medal at the Europeans. She finished 5th, with a total of 36.137, in the all-around with a gorgeous Yurchenko double-twist that earned a 9.462. She showed clean form on bars with some unique skills (inbar stalder + inbar stalder shoot, stalder 1/2 + Jaeger, overshoot + stalder 1/1, full-in) for a score of 9.075. She came to grief on her acro series of switch leap + 1-arm flip flop + layout on beam; she looked hesitant throughout the combination, pausing between the first two elements. The rest of the routine was clean (switch ring, tuck jump 1/1, Popa, front aerial, switch side 1/4, double twist) but some of her jumps weren't fully rotated for an 8.425. She scored a 9.175 on floor with strong tumbling passes (whip through to piked full-in, beautiful triple twist, double pike) and clean dance combinations (tuck jump 2/1, switch ring + Gogean, cat leap 2/1). She finished 5th in the floor final. With her long lines and grace, combined with power and impressive skills, we couldn't love Benolli more! Belgian star Aagje Vanwalleghem shocked fans and spectators alike by finishing 6th. Although not flashy, she was clean and consistent. She tumbled a full-in, front through to double twist, 2 1/2 twist, and a double pike (along with .4 in dance) to score an 8.637 on floor. On beam she mounted with a roundoff + layout stepout to score an 8.737 for a routine that also contained flip flop + layout, switch leap + straight jump 1/1, tour jete, sheep jump, punch front, switch ring, and a double twist. She was impressive on bars (jump to handstand + toe-on 1/1, toe-on 1/2 + Jaeger, clear hip 1/2 + Dawes + overshoot + toe shoot, double layout) for a 9.237 and vaulted a nice Yurchenko 1 1/2 for a 9.275. She also earned berths to the vault and beam finals, where she finished third and seventh respectively. Vanwalleghem made history herself by becoming the first Belgian gymnast to medal at Europeans!

   Florica Leonida was seventh after some disappointing performances. Beam, usually one of her highest scoring events, was the source of a lot of problems for her. She fell on her back tuck 1/1 but the rest of her routine was up to par (switch side 1/4, side somi, 1-arm flip flop + layout, wolf 1/1, 2 flip flops + under rotated triple twist) for an 8.525. The worst part of this routine is the fact that it contains almost NO choreography unless you count the numerous arm swings and jerks. She tumbled a piked full-in (low, steps), tucked full-in (stuck), 2 1/2 twist + punch front, and a double pike (low, awful form) for an 8.775 and her choreography wasn't all that bad! She had two steps on her Yurchenko 1 1/2, which earned a 9.187, most likely due to the awful form on the preflight. Oddly enough, her highest score came on uneven bars, an event the Romanian team generally struggles with. She showed a jump to handstand + stalder shoot, Tkatchev, sloppy inverts, giant 1/1 + overshoot + toe shoot, and a full-in for a 9.312. Emilie Lepennec, who won another gold on bars here, had an upsetting competition in the all-around by finishing 8th. She tumbled a piked full-in, 2 1/2 twist + front 1/1, and an under rotated triple twist; she also had clean dance combinations for a 9.475. She vaulted a decent Yurchenko double-twist (one big step to the side) for a 9.200. She competed a revamped bars routine with a hop 1/1 + Def, Hindorff, giant 1/1 + overshoot + toe shoot, and a full-in dismount for a 9.637. All she needed on beam to win was better than an 8.786, a score she was easily capable of. Unfortunately it was not to be... she threw incredibly difficult skills (wolf jump 1/1, punch front, Kochetkova, 1-arm flip flop + layout, switch leap + Ruflova, 2 flip flops + 2 1/2 twist) but fell on her standing arabian for a 7.325.

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Best of the Rest

    Daria Zgoba, competing in her first major senior international competition, finished 9th. She showed some strong tumbling on floor (full-in, whip through to double pike, double front, 8.100) and she had beautiful work on bars, including inbar stalder + inbar stalder 1/2 to L + Ono + Jaeger, Pak + stalder 1/2, toe-on 1/2 to L + double front, for a 9.525, her only score above 9. She also finished third in event finals! She vaulted a Lucconi (8.937) and showed impressive skills on beam for an 8.725: front aerial, switch side 1/4 + tuck jump 1/1, punch front + sheep jump, switch ring, Popa, 2 foot layout, split leap 1/1, switch side, double tuck. Monica Bergamelli, 10th, vaulted only a Yurchenko full (8.925) and tumbled a triple twist, double pike, and double twist (8.537). She showed some nice combinations on beam (punch front, front aerial, switch leap + Rueda, switch ring, switch side, Shushunova 1/2 to hip circle) but wobbles and a relatively low start value prevented her from scoring higher than 8.725. Loes Linders, 11th, vaulted a sloppy Lucconi (8.887) and competed in beam finals (Rulfova, switch side, Kochetkova, punch front, side somi, double pike). She tumbled a double arabian, 2 1/2 twist + layout, double twist, and a double pike (very low) for an 8.687. She never once scored over a 9.0 but her lean frame provides her with pleasing lines. Laura Campos, 12th, made bar finals with a strong routine (jump to handstand + toe shoot, clear hip 1/2 to L + front 1/1 + front 1/1 + straddled Jaeger, hop change + piked Jaeger, Pak, double layout) but scored only an 8.425 in the all-around. Jana Sikulova, 13th, had a textbook front pike vault with only a small step (8.912) but her highest score came on bars, where she qualified to finals (9.300, inbar stalder + inbar stalder 1/1 + toe shoot, stalder 1/2 + double front)

     Stefani Bismpikou and Tina Erceg, generally crowd-pleasers, both had poor competitions here, finishing 14th and 23rd respectively. Bismpikou scored a 9.300 on beam and tumbled a 2 1/2 twist + front layout, triple twist, double pike, and a double pike with pleasing ballet-style choreography but made mistakes for an 8.387. Erceg fell on her front pike 1/2 vault but had a nice floor routine (triple twist, double pike, front through to double twist, 2 1/2 twist) for an 8.437. Melanie Marti, 15th, had a strong competition other than a disastrous beam routine that involved multiple twisting jumps. Her tumbling was clean but weak (double pike, front layout 1/1 + front tuck 1/1, double twist) for a 8.875. Katerina Maresova was right behind her in 16th with an impressive bar routine (clear hip 1/2 to L grip + front 1/1 + Jaeger, overshoot + toe shoot, giant 1/1 + Kim + double front) that scored a 9.162. 

     Olga Sherbatykh, 18th, also had a poor competition, despite having strong routines on paper. On beam she showed a switch leap + tuck jump 1/1, flip flop + layout, split jump 1/1 (touch down), punch front, Kochetkova, front aerial + side somi (pause), switch side, and a double tuck but wobbled throughout the routine for an 8.462. She showed front 1/2 to L + front 1/1 + Ono + Jaeger (fall), stalder 1/2 + Pak, and a double arabian on bars for an 8.162. Danielle Englert, 19th, vaulted a gorgeous front pike 1/2 with a step on the landing being the only mistake (9.150). She opened on floor with a running double front (low, large step) but the rest of her tumbling passes weren't nearly as difficult (front through to full twist, double pike) and used sloppy dance combinations to get the majority of her start value (8.425). Heike Gunne had a very poor meet, placing 22nd, with her best performance coming on vault; she showed only a Yurchenko full and took a large step back to score an 8.937. Beth Tweddle, who could've challenged for a medal, vaulted a clean Yurchenko 1 1/2 for a 9.175 but injured herself during bar warmups and had to leave the arena on a stretcher.

All-Around Results
Name	VT	UB	BB	FX	AA
1. Marine Debauve - FRA	8.962	9.487	9.487	9.162	37.098
2. Anna Pavlova - RUS	9.450	9.037	9.462	9.125	37.074
3. Yulia Lozhecko - RUS	9.037	9.325	9.150	9.237	36.749
4. Suzanne Harmes - NED	9.012	9.250	8.950	9.375	36.587
5. Francesca Benolli - ITA	9.462	9.075	8.425	9.175	36.137
6. Aagje Vanwalleghem - BEL	9.275	9.237	8.737	8.637	35.886
7. Florica Leonida - ROM	9.187	9.312	8.525	8.775	35.799
8. Emilie Lepennec - FRA	9.200	9.637	7.325	9.475	35.637
9. Daria Zgoba - UKR	8.937	9.512	8.725	8.100	35.274
10. Monica Bergamelli - ITA	8.925	9.075	8.725	8.537	35.262
11. Loes Linders - NED	8.887	8.800	8.775	8.687	35.149
12. Laura Campos - ESP	9.362	8.425	8.300	8.825	34.912
13. Jana Sikulova - CZE	8.912	9.300	8.125	8.412	34.749
14. Stefani Bismpikou - GRE	8.950	8.012	9.300	8.387	34.649
15. Melanie Marti - SUI	9.150	8.837	7.662	8.875	34.524
16. Katerina Maresova - CZE	8.975	9.162	7.962	8.262	34.361
17. Joanna Skowronska - POL	9.275	9.012	7.425	8.612	34.324
18. Olga Scherbatykh - UKR	9.237	8.162	8.462	8.412	34.273
19. Danielle Englert - SUI	9.150	9.062	7.612	8.425	34.249
20. Marta Pihan - POL	8.775	8.887	8.175	8.187	34.024
21. Carina Hasenoehrl - AUT	8.987	8.725	8.250	7.875	33.837
22. Heike Gunne - GER	8.937	8.425	8.100	8.225	33.687
23. Tina Erceg - CRO	8.400	9.112	7.687	8.437	33.636
24. Beth Tweddle - GBR	9.175				9.175