The Downie sisters, Becky and Ellie, took gold and two silvers in the final day of the European Championships in Bern (SUI). Becky was crowned the bars champion, repeating her performance from 2014, whilst 16 year old Ellie took superb silver on both the and . Elsewhere placed 4th on floor and 5th on vault with Gabby Jupp 7th on bars and Becky joint 6th on beam.

European champion Becky Downie spoke afterward saying: “I’m so pleased, not only to win the European title but to also put out my more difficult routine - it feel’s amazing. I’ve been working on this routine for about a year now and really wanted to show people what I could do in a major championships. I made the decision to go for it in this final and it’s paid off, I need to do routine like that if I’m to reach my ultimate goal - if selected for Rio - of an Olympic medal.”

Ellie said “I’m so pleased with both medals today. On vault I couldn’t have done any better, I qualified in second and kept that place so really happy. Floor was definitely more unexpected, it was the last routine of the whole championships so I just went for it. Its been an emotional day, seeing Becky win the title made me burst into teers”

Vault

On vault Claudia Fragapane’s first pass was well executed to score 14.933, with her second she lost some form in the air as she didn’t get much height of the vault to score 14.166 for an average total of 14.549 to equal her qualification total for 5th place. was outstanding, both of the 16 year olds vaults were well executed and high on difficulty, she scored 15.066 and 14.8 to average 14.933 and take European silver.

Bars

Becky Downie on bars was superb, her routine was the most difficult of the competition and she completed it masterfully. Moving from high to low bar, releasing and re-catching and dismounting to land stuck perfectly she was a class above for an outstanding score of 15.500 for the gold medal to match her title form 2014. Gabby Jupp in her return to European action after injury also made the final but unfortunately an early fall after losing grip on a big release skill proved costly, she jumped back on and completed very cleanly to score 13.400 for 7th place.

Beam

Fresh from being crowned the bars champion Becky Downie was straight on to beam. She had a few wobbles and had to fight hard at time to remain on the beam but did so, completed for a score or 14.066 for joint 6th place.

Floor

Claudia Fragapane put everything into her floor routine and had to fight hard to stay upright on landing her difficult tumbling passes. Her performance level as always was very high and greatly appreciated by the crowd she scored 14.300 to place 4th. Last up was Ellie Downie, her floor performance combined difficulty with tight execution, scoring her 14.566 for her second silver medal.

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

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