The world's top Greek athlete Lefteris Petrounias proved once again that he is the "lord of the rings" as he emerged for the 8th time European Champion in the rings and became the only specialist with eight gold medals and also the first athlete in the 70 years history of the institution, from 1955 until today, who reaches a double-digit number of medals in the same event!
HDN Newsroom
Lefteris Petrounias continues to make history, winning his 8th gold medal in the rings at the European Gymnastics Championships in Leipzig.
Another gold medal and another impressive record was made in Leipzig by Lefteris Petrounias, who became European champion in the rings for the eighth time in his career and became the only specialist in the entire history of the European Gymnastics Championships to have won ten medals in the same event!
In the first major event of the 2025-2028 Olympic cycle and with a new schedule adapted to the new Scoring Code, the "lord of the rings" showed that the top still belongs to him: Competing 3rd in a row among the eight finalists, he accumulated 14,400 points (difficulty degree: 5,700, execution degree: 8,700) and took the victory, although a step in his exit did not allow him to reach an even higher harvest.
Along with Petrounias, the gold medal was shared by Egyptian-born Turkish Adem Asil, who tied at the top, as he also had 14,400 points with an equal degree of execution and difficulty. The trio of medals was won by the Armenian Artur Avetisyan with 14.366 points, in the most balanced final of all, as the 1st from the 6th place was only 0.067 b..
The Greek super champion, who was also the top of all in Tuesday's (27/05) qualifier with 14,700 points, now counts eight European titles, after the respective triumphs in Montpellier 2015, Bern 2016, Cluj 2017, Glasgow 2018, Basel 2021, Munich 2022 and Rimini 2024, while his collection also includes two bronze medals (Berlin 2011, Antalya 2023).
With his new achievement, Lefteris Petrounias became the only specialist with eight gold medals, but also the first athlete in the 70 years of the institution from 1955 until today, who reaches a double-digit number of medals in the same event!
With his tenth European medal in the rings, he leaves behind the Hungarian Christian Berki who had won 9 medals in the sidebar between 2004 and 2017 (6 gold – 2 silver – 1 bronze) and the Slovenian Mitja Petkovsek with 9 medals in the doubles between 1998 and 2012 (4-3-2). The relevant list is followed by another Greek champion, Vlasis Maras, with 8 medals in the bar between 2002 and 2015 (5-1-2).
At the same time, the 34-year-old "lord of the rings" reached a total of thirteen gold medals in top events, counting his triumphs in three World Championships (2015, 2017, 2018), the 2015 European Games and of course the "Rio 2016" Olympic Games.
The results in the final of the rings:
1. Lefteris Petrounias (GREECE) 14,400 b.1. Adem Asil (Turkey) 14,400 b.3. Artur Avetisyan (Armenia) 14,366 b.4. Nikita Simonov (Azerbaijan) 14,333 b.5. Courtney Taloch (Britain) 14,333 b.5. Harry Hepworth (Britain) 14,333 b.7. Vahagn Davtian (Armenia) 14,166 b.8. Samir Ait Said (France) 14,066 b.
The new huge success of Lefteris Petrounias in Leipzig brings to the number of 33 medals that Greek gymnastics has celebrated in its history at the European Men's and Women's Championships.
The "lord of the rings" now has ten medals in European Championships (8 gold), all in the same event, two more than Vlasis Maras who has won eight in the single beam (5 gold), while five medals have been won by Lefteris Kosmidis on the ground (1 gold), four by Demosthenis Tabakos in the rings (2 gold), three by Vassilis Tsolakidis in the double (1 gold), two Ioannis Melissanidis in the cross country and jump (the only one who has won in two different instruments) and one Stefani Bisbikou in the balance beam.
After a dramatic final, Lefteris Petrounias won the first place together with the Turkish Adem Asil, with whom he had exactly the same score.
After the end of the match, the two champions, wrapped in the flags of Greece and Turkey, climbed the podium, a fact that Lefteris Petrounias stood by with a post on social media.
"I'm the 8th time European Champion! I don't know how to describe my feelings! A pedestal full of beautiful messages! Proud to share the podium with this guy!", wrote the "lord of the rings".
