22-year-old, who finished eighth in the floor final at the Beijing Olympics, finishes third at European Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
By ALLON SINAIAlexandr Shatilov 224 88(photo credit: AP)
Alexander Shatilov claimed Israel's first ever medal at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships on Sunday, finishing third in the floor exercise final in Milano.
The 22-year-old, who finished eighth in the floor final at the Beijing Olympics, recorded a result of 15.350, the same score as Greece's Eleftherios Kosmidis, who also won the bronze medal.
Fabian Hambuechen won the gold medal with 15.450 points, with Matthias Fahrig finishing second (15.400).
"It was a very tough battle," said Shatilov, who ended the all-around final on Saturday in eighth position.
"The difference between first and third was a tenth of a point and that shows you the high level of competition. I'm happy I made history. "My next goal is the World Championships and I hope to succeed there as well.
"This medal is a Passover present for the people of Israel."
Shatilov finished in seventh and fifth place, respectively, in the floor exercise at the last two World Championships and is now setting his sights on scaling the podium at the same event in London in October.
In the women's beam final, Israeli Valeria Maksuta finished in sixth place with a score of 13.725 points.
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