Illia Kovtun

Kovtun competed at the 2018 European Championships where he helped Ukraine finish fifth in the team finals. Individually he won the junior title on the parallel bars.[2]

Kovtun competed at the Stella Zakharova Cup where he placed first in the junior all-around division. He was selected to represent Ukraine at the inaugural junior World Championships alongside Nazar Chepurnyi and Volodymyr Kostiuk. Together they finished second as a team behind Japan. Individually he won the bronze medal in the all-around behind Shinnosuke Oka and Ryosuke Doi. During event finals Kovtun finished sixth on pommel horse and fourth on parallel bars.[1][3][4]

Kovtun next competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, again alongside Chepurnyi and Kostiuk. They won gold as a team and individually Kovtun won gold in the all-around and on parallel bars and horizontal bar; additionally he won silver on floor exercise behind Chepurnyi.

Introduction

Pommel horse

Parallel bars

Horizontal bar

Kovtun at the 2019 Junior World Championships

Kovtun competed at the 2020 European Championships held in Mersin, Turkey. While there he led the Ukrainian junior team to gold.[5][6] Individually he won gold in the all-around and on pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars and silver on vault.[6][7] He also won the silver medal in the junior vault event.[8]

Kovtun turned senior in 2021 and made his senior international debut at the 2021 European Championships. He won the bronze medal in the all-around competition behind Nikita Nagornyy and David Belyavskiy. Kovtun next competed at the World Challenge Cups in Varna and Cairo; he picked up five gold medals and two bronze medals.

Kovtun at the 2020 Olympic Games

Due to the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Kovtun was age-eligible to compete at them in 2021. He was named to represent Ukraine alongside Petro Pakhnyuk, Igor Radivilov, and Yevhen Yudenkov. They qualified to the team final and individually Kovtun qualified to the all-around final. During the team final Kovtun competed on floor exercise, pommel horse, parallel bars, and high bar, contributing towards Ukraine's seventh place finish. During the all-around final Kovtun finished 11th.

After the Olympic Games Kovtun returned to competition at the World Challenge Cups in Koper and Mersin where he picked up an additional gold and bronze medal and three silvers. He ended up winning the series titles on floor exercise, pommel horse, and parallel bars.[9]

In October Kovtun competed at the 2021 World Championships where he won the all-around bronze medal behind Zhang Boheng and Hashimoto Daiki. Additionally he placed seventh on horizontal bar. He next competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial where he placed third behind Yul Moldauer and Nikita Nagornyy. Kovtun then competed at the Swiss Cup where he was partnered with Yelyzaveta Hubareva; they finished second behind the Russian team of Nagornyy and Angelina Melnikova.[10]

In December Kovtun was awarded with the title Merited Master of Sports of Ukraine.[11]

Kovtun competed at the Cottbus World Cup in February. On the first day of qualifications Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Kovtun's home country of Ukraine. Despite news of the ongoing war, Kovtun won gold on parallel bars and silver on pommel horse and finished fourth and fifth on floor exercise and horizontal bar respectively.[12] Kovtun next competed at the Doha World Cup where he qualified to all six apparatus event finals. On the first day of event finals he won silver on floor exercise behind Artem Dolgopyat and placed fifth and sixth on pommel horse and rings respectively. On the second day of event finals he won gold on parallel bars and bronze on horizontal bar behind Alexander Myakinin and Robert Tvorogal and placed sixth on vault.[13] During the medal ceremony for the parallel bars Russian gymnast and bronze medalist Ivan Kuliak wore a Z on his chest – a military symbol and a sign of support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine – despite sharing a podium with Kovtun, a Ukrainian athlete, and Kazakh gymnast and silver medalist Milad Karimi who lives and trains in Ukraine.[14][15] At the Cairo World Cup Kovtun won his third consecutive gold medal on the parallel bars.[16] Kovtun finished the World Cup circuit competing at the Baku World Cup. He won his fourth consecutive gold medal on the parallel bars, completing a clean sweep of the titles. Additionally he won the bronze on horizontal bar.[17]