On a warm August evening in Zagreb, Illia Kovtun stood at the centre of the Arena floor and heard a roar he had never known. Competing for Croatia for the very first time, the 23-year-old claimed the senior men's all-around title at the 2026 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships by the smallest margin the sport allows.
A title decided by one thousandth of a point
Kovtun posted a total of 82.833 across six apparatuses. Arsenii Dukhno, the 18-year-old junior world champion, finished right behind him with 82.832. Because scores are truncated rather than rounded, the difference was exactly 0.001 — had they been rounded, the tie-break would have gone to Dukhno.
From Olympic podium to a new national story
For Kovtun, the Zagreb title carries a particular weight. He had already stood on world and Olympic podiums under the Ukrainian flag, winning parallel bars silver at Paris 2024 and world all-around silver in 2023. This time he wore a different national emblem, in front of a crowd that has only just begun to call him its own.
The switch was not swift. Ukraine did not release him immediately, and for nearly two years he competed in limbo, appearing in European league meets but no major championships. He arrived in Zagreb as Croatia's reigning national champion, but this was his true debut.
A double crown begins to take shape
The all-around final was not his only statement. Kovtun also topped the parallel bars qualification standings, putting an eighth European medal within reach. The final would follow on Saturday 22 August, and after the drama of Tuesday night, he entered it as the man to beat.
Dukhno took silver, and his teammate Daniel Marinov claimed bronze with 81.899. The margin behind them, however, told a story that belonged entirely to the gymnast in the white-and-red leotard. On a night when every landing mattered, Illia Kovtun gave his new nation a European champion.
