Over the past weekend, Koper hosted the 16^th Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup, attended by 200 gymnasts from 30 countries. Among them were also the Slovenian gymnasts: Tjaša Kysselef on vault, Lucija Hribar on uneven bars and balance beam, Gaja Žabnikar on balance beam and Lara Crnjac on uneven bars. On the men’s side, Nikolaj Božič competed in floor exercise, Sašo Bertoncelj and Luka Kišek on pommel horse and Luka Bojanc on rings.

After the qualifiers on Thursday and Friday, five Slovenian gymnasts qualified for the finals. On the first day of the finals, which included the grand opening by the President of the Slovenian Gymnastics Federation, Damjan Kralj, MA, and the honorary guest, the President of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), Morinari Watanabe from Japan, we already saw amazing performances, especially by Tjaša Kysselef and Lucija Hribar who both stepped on the podium and won medals. Tjaša Kysselef won gold on vault and Lucija Hribar bronze on uneven bars.

This year’s Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Koper was also the last World Cup competition in front of the home crowd for Sašo Bertoncelj, currently the best Slovenian gymnast. Continuing his tradition in home World Cup competitions, at his 15^th home competition he once again qualified for the finals, where he placed 6^th on pommel horse. His last two competitions until the end of the season with which he will also mark the end of his professional career will be the World Cup competition in Turkey and the World Championships in Japan. At the end of the competition in Koper, Damjan Kralj, MA, Chief Executive Officer at BTC and President of the Slovenian Gymnastics Federation, congratulated Sašo Bertoncelj on his accomplishments.

The BTC company is proud to be a long-time supporter of the Slovenian Gymnastics Federation and of individual gymnasts, ensuring they have uninterrupted trainings and can participate in top-level competitions, where they achieve outstanding results and win medals.