Shatilov finishes fifth in Euro high bar final

Shatilov was hoping to claim a continental medal in the high bar for the first time in his career.

By ALLON SINAI
Alex Shatilov (photo credit: OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF ISRAEL)
Alex Shatilov
(photo credit: OLYMPIC COMMITTEE OF ISRAEL)
Alex Shatilov ended the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships without a medal on Sunday after finishing the high bar final in fifth place in Montpellier, France.
After missing out on a podium finish in the floor exercise for the first time since 2008 on Saturday, Shatilov was hoping to claim a continental medal in the high bar for the first time in his career.
However, his score of 14.566 was only good enough for fifth, one tenth of a point behind Vlasios Maras of Greece who finished in third place.
The 28-year-old Israeli, who had scaled the podium in each of his previous five appearances at the European Championships, will now turn his focus to October’s World Championships in Scotland where he will hope to secure his qualification for next year’s Rio Olympics.
Shatilov has twice won a bronze medal in the floor final at the global championships, but not since 2011.
In an attempt to increase his chances of claiming a medal at the Rio Olympics next year, Shatilov has put together a new, more difficult, floor drill. However, his level of execution wasn’t good enough to claim a medal in Montpellier.
Also Sunday, Israel’s Andrey Medvedev ended the vault final in seventh place with a score of 13.833.