Gymnastics: Moscow Hosts 2nd European Team Championship

Moscow's Olympiisky sport centre is hosting a second European team gymnastic championship, this weekend. The contestants were selected proceeding from the results of last year's continental championships and the first European team championship of 2001. Apparatus and modern gymnasts are contesting in Moscow together. That makes the current championship specific, organising committee PR said to Novosti.

The championship has brought together the teams of Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Russia, the UK and Ukraine.

The Russian team includes top-notch stars Svetlana Khorkina, Elena Zamolodchikova and Nikolai Kryukov in apparatus events, and Alina Kabayeva and Irina Chaschina for modern gymnastics.

The present championship is the last official contest outside Olympic eliminations. The athletes will have no more chance to experiment in public with parts of their Olympic programmes.