Budapest hosted the 33rd European Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics in May 2017. It was the first European Championships of the new Olympic cycle, and like artistic gymnastics, rhythmic had a revised Code of Points to digest.
Format of an odd year
Rhythmic European Championships alternate their programme between years. In odd years the focus was on senior individual gymnasts performing on the apparatus and junior groups, with team rankings built from those scores. Senior groups and the individual all-around took centre stage in other years. This rotation keeps the championships manageable while giving every category regular European competition.
The apparatus
Senior individuals perform with four of the five rhythmic apparatus in a season: hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon were the standard set for this cycle, with rope used mainly in junior competition. Each routine is judged on difficulty, artistry and execution, and the apparatus must stay in motion and under control throughout.
A code with more emphasis on risk
The 2017 rules gave significant value to dynamic elements with rotation, where a gymnast throws the apparatus high, performs rotations underneath it and catches it, often without looking. Those risks became the signature of the cycle. Budapest showed the first versions of routines that would grow more daring each year until Tokyo.
What to look for
- Apparatus handling under the risk elements: how close to the body the catches are. - Musicality. In rhythmic gymnastics, artistry is a scored component and the best routines feel like choreography first. - Junior groups: five gymnasts working with exchanges of apparatus, where one dropped club can cost a podium.
Related
Our rhythmic apparatus guide explains hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope, and the 2019 Baku championships show the same format two years on.
