Ilia Kovtun Becomes Silver Medalist of the 2024 Olympics in Parallel Bars

Ukrainian gymnasts Ilia Kovtun and Oleg Verniaiev competed in the final event of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Kovtun has secured a silver medal in the parallel bars event, marking a historic victory for the country. This is Ukraine’s first Olympic medal in gymnastics since 2016, and the 13th overall in the sport’s history. Kovtun’s achievement also marks his first Olympic medal after a previous unsuccessful attempt at the Tokyo Games.

This was the third Olympic final for both Kovtun and Oleg Verniaiev. While Verniaiev finished eighth in the all-around and fifth on the pommel horse, Kovtun placed fourth in both the all-around and floor exercise.

The parallel bars final saw two other Ukrainian gymnasts, Nazar Chepurnyi (sixth) and Ihor Radivilov (eighth), compete in the vault.

Kovtun and Verniaev faced stiff competition from Olympic all-around silver medalist Zhang Bohen, as well as previous Olympic parallel bars medalists Zou Jinyuan, Lucas Dauser, and Ferhat Arikan.

Ukraine now has a total of seven medals at the 2024 Olympic Games.