Russia take two gold on final day of Euros

MONTPELLIER, France (AFP) –

Russian Aleksandr Balandin competes on the rings during the individual final for the 30th Artistic Gymnastics European Championships for Men in Montpellier, southern France. Balandin won the gold medal.

Aleksandr Balandin and Emin Garibov claimed two gold medals for Russia on the final day of the European men’s gymnastics championships here on Sunday.

A day after having to settle for silver behind Britain, who took their first ever international team title, rising 22-year-old star Balandin won gold on the rings while Garibov took the horizontal bar title.

Hungary’s Krizstian Berki, the reigning two-time world champion, won the pommel horse for a sixth European title, ahead of British rival Louis Smith, who helped his team to gold on Saturday.

Romanian Flavius Koczi lost his title on floor but took vault gold, with Greece’s Eleftherios Kosmidis, the 2010 world champion on floor, taking gold in that discipline.

It was a disappointing championships however for Germany and their star Philipp Boy, with the two-time world silver medallist going home without a medal after falling twice off the horizontal bar in the final.

Marcel NGuyen gave Germany gold on the parallel bars after the defending champions finished sixth in the team event.

“It’s like a hammer blow,” said Boy, with just two months to go to the London Olympics.

“I spent the entire European championships in a hole. I have to now train to try and regain the confidence which was missing here,” said Boy who injured his collarbone earlier this year.

Hosts France took just one medal – Gael Da Silva’s bronze on the floor.