Nina Derwael

Nina Derwael (Dutch pronunciation: [dɛrʋaːl] or [dərʋaːl]; born 26 March 2000)[3] is a Belgian artistic gymnast and Olympian. She is a two-time World champion (2018, 2019) and a two-time European champion (2017, 2018) on the uneven bars as well as a two-time Belgian national all-around champion (2015, 2018). She is the first Belgian gymnast to become a world champion.[4][5]

Nina Derwael
Full nameNina Derwael
Country represented Belgium
Born (2000-03-26) 26 March 2000
Sint-Truiden, Limburg, Belgium
ResidenceSint-Truiden, Belgium
Height168 cm (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Weight46 kg (101 lb)
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
ClubTK Sta Paraat Hasselt
Head coach(es)Marjorie Heuls
Assistant coach(es)Yves Kieffer
ChoreographerIrina Shadrina
Eponymous skillsDerwael-Fenton[2] (F): Stalder to Tkatchev with 1/2 turn (Uneven Bars)
Medal record
Representing  Belgium
World Championships
2018 DohaUneven Bars
2019 StuttgartUneven Bars
2017 MontrealUneven Bars
European Games
2019 MinskBalance Beam
European Championships
2017 Cluj-NapocaUneven Bars
2018 GlasgowUneven Bars
2018 GlasgowBalance Beam

Career

2016

Derwael became a senior gymnast in 2016. At the 2016 European Championships, she just missed out on competing in the team final after the Belgian squad placed ninth in qualifications. She represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics where she competed in the all-around final and placed nineteenth.

2017

Derwael found greater success in the 2017-2020 quadrennium. In 2017, she became the first Belgian female gymnast to win a gold medal in the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships by winning the uneven bars final.[6] At the 2017 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, she placed third on the uneven bars behind defending world champion Fan Yilin of China and first-year senior Elena Eremina of Russia.[7] This made her the first Belgian female gymnast to medal at the world championships in history. At these world championships, she and Georgia-Mae Fenton of Great Britain successfully competed a difficult original skill (Stalder to Tkatchev with 1/2 turn), after which it was named after both of them in the code of points.[8] She also placed eighth in the all-around competition.

2018

In 2018, Derwael continued to dominate on the uneven bars, while also showing greater all-around potential. She regained the Belgian national all-around title and medalled on every event individually in March. She later debuted a challenging Nabieva (toe-on laid out tkatchev release) which replaced the Ricna as the new opening of her routine. At the 2018 European Championships, Derwael qualified in second place to the uneven bars final behind 2013 European runner-up Jonna Adlerteg of Sweden, and surprised many by qualifying in first to the balance beam final. Additionally, the Belgium team qualified in third place to the team final but withdrew to prevent injuries to any team members. In event finals, she successfully defended her European title on uneven bars by placing ahead of Adlerteg and Russian national bars champion Angelina Melnikova. She then won the silver medal on balance beam behind reigning Olympic Champion Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands.

Derwael led the Belgian team at the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Doha, Qatar at the end of October. Individually, she qualified to the all-around, uneven bars, and balance beam finals. In the all-around, strong performances on her specialty events resulted in a fourth-place finish, the highest all-around placement in Belgian history. She scored less than a tenth of a point behind silver medalist Mai Murakami of Japan.[9] She entered the uneven bars final as the favorite for the gold medal given her recent European title and the absence of reigning champion Fan Yilin. She delivered an exceptional routine in the final to score 15.200, winning the title by half a point over American Simone Biles while recording both the highest difficulty and execution scores in the final. By doing so, she became the first Belgian gymnast to ever win a world gold medal, making her one of the most successful Belgian gymnasts in history.[10][11] She placed fourth on balance beam to conclude a historic performance for Belgium.

2019

Derwael competed at the Doha World Cup in March where she qualified to the uneven bar and balance beam finals in first place.[12] In event finals she won gold ahead of Fan Yilin of China and Anastasia Ilyankova of Russia.[13] In April Derwael announced that she would forgo competing at the 2019 European Championships in order to focus on helping Belgium qualify a team to the 2020 Olympics at the 2019 World Championships.[14]

In June Derwael competed at the European Games. During qualifications she only competed on balance beam and uneven bars. She qualified to both event finals in first and second (behind Becky Downie of Great Britain) respectively. During the uneven bars final she fell on her signature move and finished fourth. Shortly after she competed in the balance beam final and won gold.[15]

In October Derwael competed at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart. During qualifications she helped Belgium finish in tenth place; while they didn't qualify for the team final, they did qualify as a team for the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo. Individually Derwael qualified for the all-around, uneven bars, and floor exercise finals. During the all-around final she finished in fifth place but received the highest uneven bars score of the day.[16] During the uneven bars final Derwael scored 15.233, earning the gold medal and retaining her World title on the uneven bars. Derwael became the fifth woman in World Championships history to successfully defend her uneven bars title after Maxi Gnauck, Daniela Silivaș, Svetlana Khorkina, and Fan Yilin. Afterwards, she withdrew from the floor exercise final, citing her previous foot injuries and wishing to remain healthy in the lead up to the Olympics.[17]

2020

In February it was announced that Derwael would represent Belgium at the Tokyo World Cup taking place on April 4.[18] The Tokyo World Cup was later canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[19]

Eponymous Skills
Apparatus Name Description Difficulty Added to Code of Points
Uneven Bars Derwael-Fenton Stalder to straddle tkatchev release over high bar with ½ twist F 2017 World Championships

Competitive history

Junior
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2014International Gymnix158
Belgian Championships5
Beaumont en Véron Friendly20
European Championships6
Elite Gym Massilia55
Top Gym145
2015Belgian Championships
Flanders Team Challenge
European Youth Olympic Festival45
Elite Gym Massilia455

Senior
Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
2016International Gymnix7
European Championships9
Dutch Championships65
Olympic Games19
Memorial Joaquim Blume
2017France Top 12 Championships56
City of Jesolo Trophy712
European Championships[20]7
Flanders Team Challenge
Paris Challenge Cup6
World Championships8
2018DTB Pokal Team Challenge
Doha World Cup[21]
National Championships
Heerenveen Friendly4
European Championships
Varsenare Friendly
World Championships44
Cottbus World Cup
2019Doha World Cup
FIT Challenge
European Games4
World ChampionshipsR25WD

Awards

References
  1. "DERWAEL Nina".
  2. "Nine Original Women's Elements Submitted at 2017 World Championships".
  3. http://www.tbilisi2015.com/en/medals/6/4/11/1707
  4. "Flemish gymnast makes history with first gold medal at World Championships | Flanders Today".
  5. "Nina Derwael wins Belgium's first medal at World Gymnastics Championship". 2018-11-02.
  6. "Derwael claims Belgium's first-ever European Artistic Gymnastics Championships gold".
  7. "Derwael on Historic Bars Bronze: 'It's All So Surreal'".
  8. https://www.flogymnastics.com/articles/6014610-nine-original-womens-elements-submitted-at-2017-world-championships
  9. http://www.ueg.org/en/Derwael-best-on-bars,-Biles-miles-ahead-elsewhere-2018-10-28-1800
  10. http://www.flanderstoday.eu/flemish-gymnast-makes-history-first-gold-medal-world-championships
  11. "Nina Derwael wins Belgium's first medal at World Gymnastics Championship". 2018-11-02.
  12. "12th FIG Artistic Gymnastics Individual Apparatus World Cup Doha (QAT) Qualification Women Uneven Bars" (PDF). Sportlicht Ltd. March 20, 2019.
  13. "Carey wins women's vault title at Doha World Cup". USA Gymnastics. March 22, 2019.
  14. "Derwael and Klinckaert will miss Euros". Gymnovosti. April 2, 2019.
  15. https://www.hln.be/sport/meer-sport/nina-derwael-valt-op-brug-maar-blijft-mentaal-ijzersterk-met-goud-en-pr-op-balk~af13c1b7/
  16. "Biles wins record fifth world All-around title". FIG. October 10, 2019.
  17. "Wereldkampioene Derwael schrapt grondfinale: "Met het oog op Tokio"". Sporza (in Dutch). October 12, 2019.
  18. "Simone Biles heads star-studded field for Tokyo World Cup". International Gymnastics Federation. February 14, 2020.
  19. @FIG_media (March 17, 2020). "Japan Gymnastics Association has decided to cancel the #Tokyo All-Around World Cup that was scheduled on 4-5 April 2020" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. "Nina Derwael wins gold in the European Gymnastics Championships". 2017-04-27.
  21. "Box".
  22. https://www.hln.be/sport/opnieuw-een-prijs-voor-nina-derwael-18-turnster-verkozen-tot-sportvrouw-van-het-jaar-2018~a1bc3160/
  23. "19-jarige Remco Evenepoel is Sportman van het Jaar, Nina Derwael volgt zichzelf op als Sportvrouw van het Jaar".
  24. "Eerste 'prijs' van het jaar voor Nina Derwael: Wereldkampioene wint Nationale Trofee voor Sportverdienste".
  25. "Gymnaste Nina Derwael wint Vlaamse Reus: "Ik ben zelf toch een beetje verbaasd"".
  26. https://www.hln.be/sport/meer-sport/nina-derwael-steekt-voor-het-tweede-jaar-op-rij-vlaamse-reus-op-zak~a985557b/
  27. "Nina Derwael krijgt met Vlaams Sportjuweel alweer een trofee". 2018-12-03.
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