Daria Atamanov ISR at apparatus finals 36th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships 2020 on 28.11.2020

i24 News – On Saturday, Israel won first place at this year’s European rhythmic gymnastics championship held in Tel Aviv, Haaretz reported.

The 16-year-old Israeli gymnast Daria Atamanov secured the gold medal after three events in the all-around competition, scoring a total of 136.900 points.

“I’m a bit shocked. It’s exciting. It’s fun,” the Israeli gymnast told Haaretz, explaining that she did not expect to win the competition.

“You don’t think about that while competing,” she added.

Also, her coach, Ayelet Zussman, praised Atamanov’s performance, stressing that she was “very quick, electrifying, and technically excellent in her performance.”

“She [Atamanov] was just near-perfect in every routine. I’m very proud of her. I knew her routines were good enough for the top three, and [we] are very happy with this achievement,” the coach told the Israeli daily.

It is the second time in Israeli history that a gymnast obtained a European title. In 2020, the back-then 22-year-old Linoy Ashram won gold in rhythmic gymnastics.

Atamanov was not the only Israeli represented at the finals. Adi Katz also attended, ending 11th with a total of 124.450 points.