They modeled themselves on the Red Devils, but gymnasts missed out on the European Championship team final: “We peaked next to it”

Advance to the team final of the European Championship with 247 points and take revenge for the World Cup. That was the main goal of the Belgian gymnasts in Rimini, but things went wrong on the horse and the horizontal bar. “It was about a millimeter,” Noah Kuavita grumbled. The Belgians came 14th (out of 30 participants), only the top 8 advanced.

“Everyone is fit, including mentally, to perform.”

The Belgian men started the qualifications for the European Gymnastics Championships with a lot of self-confidence. The goal: to reach the team final for the first time.

But after the first event, the pommel horse, the Belgians faced an extremely difficult task.

Strongman Maxime Gentges, who won European Championship silver last year, fell. The worst score does not count, but Luka Van den Keybus and Victor Martinez also fell off the horse.

“Disappointed and a bit angry,” Glen Cuyle, who watched from the sidelines, described his feeling. The message was to quickly swallow the disappointment. Captain Van den Keybus called the Belgian team together. “If one person falls, the whole team falls,” he declared. “We had to reset as a team.”

Successfully. Glen Cuyle got “motivation from the disappointment” and performed a very strong exercise in the rings. With 14,500 he had a chance of reaching an individual final, but Cuyle finished just short of the top 8.

The bridge and jump also presented no problems for the Belgians. Could it still be possible? Noah Kuavita’s strongest song was yet to come with the high bar.

But there too it became “a downer” for the Belgians. Kuavita, in the final last year, fell twice.

“It is dramatic,” said Van den Keybus. “Noah has the potential to become world champion, but he’s letting it slide a bit here.”

Kuavita was therefore “very disappointed”. “It’s a shame that it doesn’t work out when it should, but things can always go wrong in gymnastics,” he said.

“I had prepared well and I was confident, but something went wrong on one of the easier parts of my exercise. That had never happened in training. It’s about a millimeter.”

The Belgians tried to limit the damage on the floor exercise, but with 241.529 they remained far below their goal of 247 points. A qualification for the team final also evaporated.

At the World Cup, the Belgians finished 15th and missed out on tickets for the team final and the Olympic Games. In Rimini they looked for revenge, but it turned out to be a disappointing 14th place.

“We compared ourselves to the Red Devils, the golden generation,” Kuavita revealed. “They also had the potential to reach a World Cup or European Championship final.”

But just like on the football field, it didn’t work in the gym. “We now have to go back to the training room to get it done next time.”

Van den Keybus comes to the same conclusion. “You can’t continue without a peak moment. We wanted to do it now, but we’re peaking next to it.”

This was a mental learning experience for me towards the Games.

Noah Kuavita

Kuavita and Van den Keybus have an Olympic ticket in their pockets and can now focus on Paris.

“This was a mental learning experience for me towards the Games,” Kuavita said. “I’m going to take the good things with me, such as my preparation and my game plan. I’ll leave that millimeter here.”

“An Olympic final? That’s what I dream of and what I’m working towards. It’s incredible that someone from Belgium can dream of that.”

21-year-old Glen Cuyle also dreams, who with his strong ring exercise may also be able to claim the 3rd Olympic ticket that Belgium can still hand out.

“I was under a lot of stress, but the exercise went well,” he said. “This was my best practice ever.”

“The Games? I am very motivated. Before I could not deal with the stress, now I can convert it into self-confidence. I can even enjoy an exercise.”

“I’m still not feeling well about it,” opens gymnastics commentator Inge Van Meensel in Rimini. “I went to the training and it looked so good.”

Was it a disadvantage to start on the horse? “It’s actually not a good place anywhere. It’s like the women’s beam: wonderful when things go well, but so terrible when things go badly.”

After the horse, the Belgians put their heads together for a moment. “They give each other everything, it is a really strong team,” said Van Meensel. “Things are going very well on the rings.”

But things go wrong again on the horizontal bar. “Noah Kuavita took action after two Belgians had already fallen. Did that play a role? It’s just a death zone. He has so much potential, but it has not worked out too often.”

“This is not a good experience for Paris. This is such a shame for the team, because everyone sees and knows that they can do it.”

European Gymnastics Championships in Rimini

No finals for Belgians

The qualifications have become the final destination for the Belgian team. The final required a top 8, while the Belgians finished 14th in the qualifications (out of 30 countries). No individual apparatus finals were reached either.

No final for Glen Cuyle

Glen Cuyle misses out on a place in the finals. With 14,500 he has dropped out of the top 8 in the rings.

Cuyle didn’t get a bad score, but the level is high. The difference between numbers 1 and 8 is barely 3 tenths. That’s 1 step upon landing.

Cuyle: “Never did a better exercise”

Disappointed Kuavita: “It is one of the easier elements, it has never failed during training…”

Van den Keybus: “If 1 person falls, the whole team falls”

Belgium provisionally 3rd

With 241,529, the Belgians remain far below their target of 247 points in the European Championship qualifications. After the first division they are 3rd in the team rankings. The Netherlands and Hungary are currently above Belgium. Only the top 8 countries will advance and many strong nations will still take action. Qualifying for the team final therefore seems to be a nail-biter.

Belgians finish on floor

With a 4th place on the floor, Noah Kuavita can call himself the best Belgian. He receives a score of 13.666 from the jury. Luka Van den Keybus ends his European Championship qualifications with 13,600. Glen Cuyle’s injury is a major blow for the Belgians.

The floor exercise ends in a fizzle for Glen Cuyle. He has to give up because of pain in his ankle. Our compatriot can look back on a very clever exercise on the rings.

Noah Kuavita’s exercise on the horizontal bar

Horizontal bar is disappointing

After the pommel horse, the horizontal bar also proves to be a difficult event for the Belgians. Victor Martinez, Maxime Gentges and Noah Kuavita fall during their exercise. Kuavita also had a problem with the dismount, meaning he had to settle for 12,200. Luka Van den Keybus records the best score with 12,833, although the Belgians are far below the Dutch and Hungarians on this device.

Noah Kuavita’s exercise on the parallel bars

Exercise by Luka Van den Keybus on the bridge

Also good exercise on the bridge

Noah Kuavita has not disappointed with “his” device. He performed a good exercise on the parallel bars, which was rewarded with a score of 14,200. Luka Van den Keybus also achieved a good result with the same score. For the time being, they are in the top 3 on parallel bars and have put important points in the Belgian basket.

Jump by Victor Martinez

The Belgians are recovering

On the jump, the Belgians seem to put the failed first exercise on horseback behind them. Noah Kuavita scored with a great first jump, as did Victor Martinez and Glen Cuyle.

However, it is uncertain whether that will be sufficient for the team final. They are aiming for a total of 247 points to be among the top 8 countries.

Exercise by Glen Cuyle on the rings

Very strong Glen Cuyle in rings

Glen Cuyle is currently 1st on the rings after a very strong exercise. With 14,500 he has a street lead over the first pursuer, although there are of course still many athletes to work on. But he seems to already have a ticket for the individual apparatus final in his pocket.

Exercise by Maxime Gentges on pommel horse