A positive projectile: what to expect from the Russian men's national gymnastics team at the World Cup

The Russian men's national gymnastics team can compete at the European Championships in Zagreb no less successfully than the women's team, which confidently won the medal standings. In Croatia, the Russians, led by Angelina Melnikova, won three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The men's main hopes are connected with Daniel Marinov and Arseniy Dukhno. On the very first day of the tournament, they can compete for gold and silver in the individual all-around.

Visa problems of the Russian national team

In May, World Gymnastics lifted all restrictions on the participation of Russians and Belarusians, and European Gymnastics decided to follow this decision, however, a transitional procedure is applied for the European Championships in Croatia. The Russian flag, anthem, national symbols and identifiers are not used at the tournament, and the team is designated as WG2 in the starting documents. The Russian Gymnastics Federation (FGR) separately emphasized that it was not about returning athletes to a neutral status, but about an exclusive mechanism for competitions, the rights to which were distributed earlier.

In addition to the lack of a flag and anthem, our athletes had a hard time getting visa documents to travel to Croatia. So, the women's national team was left without Olympic champion Victoria Listunova, who objectively has no equal in Europe on uneven bars (the only non-medalist sport for us in Croatia). The men's national team also has losses. Unfortunately, Sergey Naidin found himself in the same situation as Listunova. The FGR reported that he had been refused a Croatian visa twice. Mukhammadjon Yakubov received a visa at the last moment and flew to Zagreb only on August 17.

As a result, Alexey Usachev took Naidin's place in the application. Yakubov was declared the sixth athlete as an individual participant. According to the regulations, such a gymnast can perform on a maximum of three rounds. Thus, the visa problem did not reduce the Russian representation to five people, but changed the composition of the team.

— Naidin scored well on the crossbar, horse, uneven bars and floor exercises. Let's see how things will turn out in the team tournament without him," European champion Emin Garibov told Sport Express. — I think that the coaches will find the right solution to put the strongest on each shell. That's why we're counting on gold here, too. Our main competitor in the team tournament is Great Britain.

Marinova and Dukhno's medal chances

The main intrigue for Russia is already planned on the first day — in the individual all-around. In Zagreb, adults do not have a separate final of the absolute championship: Medals will be awarded based on the results of the qualification on August 19. Daniel Marinov is one of the main contenders for gold according to World Gymnastics. He's coming to CHE in good shape. At the 2025 World Championships in Jakarta, Marinov took bronze on parallel bars. At the July 2026 Russian Championships, Daniel won the vault and uneven bars, became the second in floor exercises and collected the most medals in individual sports.

Another important point: Marinov performed in the Indonesian capital after shoulder surgery. But even after that, he immediately reached four World Cup finals. Now the situation is completely different: Daniel has finally fully recovered and says himself that he is 100% fit for gymnastics. A healthy Marinov is a completely different story. Great difficulty, clean execution, World Cup experience, and the ability to fight multiple rounds at once.

Arseniy Dukhno turned 18 on August 5, and the World Cup in Zagreb will be his first start at the adult level. In November 2025, Arseny won the junior World Championship in the individual all-around, and in July 2026 he became the absolute champion of Russia with a total of 84.065 points. Will Dukhno be able to show all that he is already called a phenomenon for at the very first major launch? If so, we will see the beginning of a great story in Zagreb.

The second place at the Russian Championship in the individual all-around was taken by Savely Sredin with a score of 81.798 points. Therefore, the hopes in the absolute championship are connected not only with the more experienced Marinov. According to Emin Garibov, our chances of winning medals are on almost all shells.

"We really hope that men will have no less successful results in Croatia than girls," the expert emphasized. — Our two leaders, Marinov and Dukhno, will compete one hundred percent and will fight for gold and silver at the European Championships. I am absolutely convinced of this.

At the same time, the competition in the Croatian capital will be very serious. Turkey's Adem Asil is defending the European all-around title, Switzerland's Noe Seifert won the bronze medal at the World Championships a year ago. Olympic champion Eleftherios Petrunias will try to win his ninth European gold on the rings, Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan will face reigning European champion Hamlet Manukyan on horseback.

Olympic champion Artyom Dolgopyat remains one of the favorites in floor exercises, and Ukrainian Nazar Chepurny remains one of the favorites in vault. The application also includes experienced Marios Georgiou (Cyprus), Joe Fraser, Harry Hepworth (both from Great Britain), Ferhat Arican (Turkey), Ryderley Zapata (Spain) and a number of other gymnasts with medals of major tournaments.

This European Championship is interesting not only for the high level of competition in all its forms, but also for the fact that it depends on getting to the World Cup, which will be held in the Netherlands in October. By the way, Russian gymnasts will also need a visa there. And, according to the federation, it has already deployed all resources to minimize risks and arrive there in an optimal composition.

Schedule of the Men's European Championship-2026

August 19th

15.00–22.30 (Moscow time) — qualification and medal draw in the individual all-around. Russia performs in the second shift (15:00-18:30).

August 21st

19.00–21.30 — finals in floor exercises, horse riding and rings.

August 22nd

17.30–20.00 — finals in vault, parallel bars and crossbar.

August 23rd

15.00–18.05 — adult team final.

The composition of Russia: Daniel Marinov, Arseny Dukhno, Savely Sredin, Ilya Zaika, Alexey Usachev, Mukhammadjon Yakubov.