Olympians Headline Paris World Challenge Cup

Olympians Headline Paris World Challenge Cup

Many Olympic and World Championship medal-winning gymnasts, including Oksana Chusovitina, headline the 2019 FIG Paris World Challenge Cup.

Sep 12, 2019 by Amanda Wijangco
Olympians Headline Paris World Challenge Cup

The 2019 FIG Paris World Challenge Cup has a competitive field featuring many Olympians and World Championships medalists from all over the world, meaning there are several talented athletes to watch for at this meet. 

The Paris Challenge Cup takes place Sept. 14-15, and FloPro users in Canada can stream the competition live here on FloGymnastics.

Oksana Chusovitina (Women's VT)

This gymnastics legend needs no introduction as she's been competing in the sport at the senior Olympic level since 1990. Besides her longevity in the sport, Chusovitina is known for her vaulting prowess. She's one of the few women's gymnasts to successfully compete the difficult Produnova vault. While she no longer competes the elusive vault, she's still an excellent vaulter. Chusovitina has won four silver medals in this year's FIG World Cup circuit.


Melanie de Jesus dos Santos (Women's FX)

Not only is de Jesus dos Santos the reigning European all-around champion, but she's also the reigning European floor champion. Last year, she also won three golds on floor, including the titles at the Paris Challenge Cup, European Championships, and French National Championships. Her tumbling is clean and powerful, including her full-twisting double layout and tucked full-in. 


Tomas Gonzalez (Men's FX)

The Chilean Olympian is known for excelling on the power events. Gonzalez won gold on floor at the Koper World Challenge Cup and bronze at the Osijek World Challenge Cup with scores of 14.600 and 14.367, respectively. In addition, he also won the Pan American Games floor title with a strong score of 14.600.


Aleksandr Kartsev (PB)

In his second year as a senior, this Russian gymnast won a bronze medal at the 2019 Osijek World Challenge Cup, his first international medal. He doesn't have the most difficult routine, but he has clean lines and hit handstands.


Zsofia Kovacs (UB)

The Hungarian Olympian has already won a gold on uneven bars at a World Challenge Cup this year in Koper, Slovenia, and she has the chance to do it again in Paris. Kovacs has room to improve, but she has a great rhythm and swing on the event in addition to good releases and connections.


Rhys McClenaghan (PH)

McClenaghan is an Irish gymnast who's known for pommel horse. He's the reigning Commonwealth Games pommel horse champion and won the event at the 2018 European Championships. He also won two medals on the event in the World Challenge Cup circuit this year, including gold in Koper and bronze in Zhaoqing, China.


Andrey Medvedev (Men's VT)

The Israeli gymnast won a silver medal on vault at this year's European Championships and has also found success on the apparatus during the World Challenge Cup circuit. Medvedev won bronze at both the Koper and Osijek World Challenge Cups. 


Eleftherios Petrounias (SR)

The Greek Olympian is one of the best all-time gymnasts when it comes to still rings. Petrounias is the reigning Olympic champion on the event as well as the reigning world champion. In fact, he has three world titles on rings, one European Games title, and four consecutive European Championship titles.


Andrey Rostov (PB)

Rostov has competed in a handful of World Cup and World Challenge Cup meets this year and has found the most success on high bar. At the Doha World Cup, he made the high bar final and finished fifth. The Russian improved upon that result at the Osijek World Challenge Cup, winning the event with a 13.733.


Diana Varinska (BB)

Ukrainian women's gymnastics is on the rise, and Varinska leading the way. She won a bronze medal on beam at the 2019 European Championships and won the event at the Stella Zakharova Cup. Varinska competes a back handspring layout layout series and has great leaps.