Three handsome gymnasts from Europe have captured center stage at the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade.

They are Oleg Verniaiev from Ukraine, currently ranked No. 1 and now a two-time gold medalist at the Gwangju Universiade, Igor Radivilov, also from Ukraine and silver medalist in the vault and the rings, and Fabian Hambuechen from Germany, a gold medalist in the horizontal bar.

Verniaiev's relationship with the Universiade began in 2011 when he was ranked seventh in the vault. At the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia, he was placed third in the horizontal bar and in the men's individual all-around, winning two bronzes. At the Gymnastics World Championships in Nanning, China, in 2014, he won a gold medal in the horizontal bar, becoming the only athlete to gain over 16 points in the horizontal bar.





The men's gymnastics team from Ukraine won a bronze medal in the men's team final due to the outstanding performance by Verniaiev and his teammates, in Gwangju on July 5. The next day, Verniaiev won his first gold medal in Gwangju, showing his skills as the No. 1 ranked male gymnast and topping the men's individual all-around. On July 7, he became a two-time gold medalist in Gwangju, adding another gold medal in the horizontal bar. On the same day, he won a silver in the floor exercise and two bronzes in the rings and the vault. In total, he won six medals in Gwangju.

Another gymnast from Ukraine is Igor Radivilov, representing his country along with Verniaiev. Radivilov won a silver medal in the vault at the Gymnastics World Championships in Nanning, China, in 2014. He also won a bronze medal in the vault at the London Olympics in 2012 when Korea's Yang Hak-seon won a gold medal in the same discipline.



Igor Radivilov from Ukraine shows off his medal during the awards ceremony at the Gwangju Summer Universiade. He won silver medals in the vault and the rings. Radivilov won a silver medal in the team competition and bronzes in the vault and the rings at the 2013 Kazan Universiade. Here at the Gwangju Universiade, he has won silver medals in the rings and the vault, in addition to a bronze in the team competition.

Finally, Germany's Fabian Hambuechen is considered one of the most successful gymnasts from his country. He won medals at the Olympics in 2008 and 2012. Beginning with the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics, his first major event, he has been competing in the gymnastics field for over ten years.

Under the tutelage of his father, also a gymnast, Hambuechen started gymnastics when he was a child. He took part in his first international event when he was 12. He won bronzes in the team competition and an individual event at the Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, in 2010, but he had to take a break due to an Achilles tendon injury in 2011.



Hambuechen won a silver medal in the horizontal bar at the London Olympics in 2012 and another silver in the same discipline at the Gymnastics World Championships in 2013. He won silvers in the floor exercise and the individual all-around at the 2013 Kazan Universiade. He won a gold medal in the horizontal bar, his strongest event, in Gwangju on July 7.

By Limb Jae-un
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos courtesy of the Gwangju Summer Universiade Organizing Committee
jun2@korea.kr