--- title: "Elena Colas wins beam title and silver on floor at the European Championships in Croatia; Four medals at first senior championships" sdDatePublished: "2026-08-18T14:04:00Z" source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/european-gymnastics-championships-2026-rising-stars-on-challenges-of-stepping-up-to-senior-competition" topics: - name: "sport" identifier: "medtop:15000000" - name: "sport event" identifier: "medtop:20001108" - name: "competition discipline" identifier: "medtop:20000822" - name: "artistic gymnastics" identifier: "medtop:20001152" locations: - "Dakar" - "Zagreb" - "Vercelli" - "Cottbus" - "France" - "Italy" - "Croatia" - "Senegal" --- Elena Colas wins beam title and silver on floor at the European Championships in Croatia; Four medals at first senior championships European Gymnastics Championships 2026: Rising stars Elena Colas, Giulia Perotti, Helena Finc and Elisabetta Cardelli on the challenges of stepping up to senior competition European Gymnastics Championships 2026: Rising stars Elena Colas, Giulia Perotti, Helena Finc and Elisabetta Cardelli on the challenges of stepping up to senior competition At the European Championships in Croatia, some of the next generation gymnasts talked to Olympics.com about the tough transition to the senior ranks. "Strange," is how Elena Colas described competing against her artistic gymnastics idols when talking to Olympics.com after competing in the apparatus finals at the European Championships of Women's Artistic Gymnastics on Saturday (15 August). The 16-year-old phenom from France was standing in the mixed zone with two medals around her neck, a gold and a silver, having bested some of those legends to win the beam title and finish second on floor. Two days prior the teenager had also claimed bronze in the individual all-around competition, and the day after the interview would be part of the French side that claimed third place in the team competition. So, with four medals from her first senior championships, the Chambray-lès-Tours native will need to get used to not only competing with, but challenging those she has watched for years. "It's strange, but I'm very happy to be here. If I'm here, it means that I've worked hard and that I deserve my place, and like Manila (Esposito) and (Angelina) Melnikova," Colas says of the former, a two-time Olympic medallist from Italy, and the latter, the reigning all-around world and European champion. "they deserve their place. I think we all have a place here." Colas is not the only next-generation gymnast already making their mark on the senior events with just two years to go until LA28 based on the quality of talent on display at the recently concluded women's European Championships. European Gymnastics Championships 2026: Next gen sparkle in apparatus finals with Colas, Kevric among the winners 2026 European Gymnastics Championships: Schedule, final results, scores, and medals - full list European Gymnastics Championships 2026: WG2 wins women's team title in Zagreb with Italy second and France third Women's Balance Beam | Artistic Gymnastics | Olympic Games Paris 2024 This Artistic Gymnastics session took place at the Bercy Arena, France, on 05 2024. Gold medal was deserved by Alice D'Amato (ITA), while Zhou Yaqin (CHN) took the Silver and Manila Esposito (ITA) collected the Bronze. Steep learning curve from junior to senior gymnastics Giulia Perotti already has a full set of European medals having been part of the Italy side that won the team competition in 2025 in her first year as a senior. She also won a silver in the event this time around, and a first individual bronze medal, on uneven bars, which brought a teary response from the 16-year-old on the podium. "I’m still very emotional," the Vercelli-born Perotti told Olympics.com after claiming the podium place on uneven bars behind compatriot Elisa Iorio . "To be honest, I wasn’t expecting this, and all the hard work over the past few months has paid off because I’ve put in so much effort and even changed several routines, and I couldn’t wait to bring all of this to these European Championships." Talking about competing against the very best, Perotti stated: "It’s a huge thrill, especially to be back in the final with Eli (Iorio), with whom I also reached the final at the World Cup in Cottbus – it was brilliant." The likes of Colas, a four-time European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) gold medallist, and Perotti, a junior world champion on floor from 2023, are making the transition from junior to senior success look easy, but that's not so, they said. "I’m finding it a bit of a struggle to settle into the senior world, more mentally than anything else," said Perotti. "As a junior I didn’t have so many thoughts going round my head, now I’m trying to work on precisely that and I’m improving with every competition." "At first, it wasn't easy at all. I had some physical problems that delayed me a bit on some routines, but I was able to recover and re-mobilise myself." It has also been a steep learning curve at these European Championships for Great Britain's Helena Finc , who was managing one of those curveballs which no preparation can help with, bar going through it. A few days before the junior competition began, the 15-year-old became ill, and only just recovered in time to compete. "I'm proud of myself," the EYOF silver medallist on bars told us, who also made the final on the apparatus in Zagreb. "I've learned I can do a competition even without perfect preparation." Her compatriot Elisabetta Cardelli , also competing in the junior event, showed great maturity talking about how she won the bronze medal on the most nervy apparatus of them all. "I just told myself that no matter what happens I'll be eighth in Europe on beam, but it went better than that," said the 14-year-old with a smile. So, what do the senior gymnasts feel about this next generation of super talent emerging? "In my opinion," said Esposito, just 19 herself but already a 13-time European medallist including seven golds, "the young athletes are very strong. They’ve got a long way to go but looking at the results they’re achieving, they’re on the right track." Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates - the official Motto | Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games The motto – “Africa welcomes, Dakar celebrates” – underscores the uniqueness of this edition of the YOG, with Senegal being the first African country to host an Olympic sporting event. The YOGOC has emphasised that the YOG will be an event for the entire African continent.