Gymnastics

Vinzenz Höck in the rings final at the European Championships in Rimini

After missing out on qualifying for the Olympics, Vinzenz Höck made it to the rings final at the European Gymnastics Championships in Rimini on Wednesday as he had hoped! 

After a dry spell of half a year, he finished third in the qualification with 14.900 points after a strong free skate. Only Greece's Eleftherios Petrounias (14.966) and Turkey's Adem Asil (14.933) were better.

"It's crazy!"
"I don't know why, but everything felt easy today," said Höck afterwards. It's just a shame that he hadn't managed a performance like this before. "It's crazy that a 14.9-point gymnast is not at the Olympics," said sports director Fabian Leimlehner.

In the entire Olympic qualification in the World Cup, not a single direct competitor came close to Höck's Rimini performance. Now Höck can redeem himself, he has a chance of winning a medal on Friday (19:30). The 20-year-olds Nicolas Ivkic and Paul Schmölzer finished 14th and 15th in the vault competition.