GB qualiy to team, bars, beam and floor finals.

Boosted by the strong performance of the juniors yesterday, Team GB's senior gymnasts came out and performed strongly in the team qualifying at the European Championships.

Competing in a high pressure 5-3-3 format (5 team members, 3 compete, all 3 scores count) the british girls excelled to place third behind Russia and Romania going into Saturday's team final. GB surprised many by winning the team silver medal in 2010 but they look poised to challenge for the medals again in 2012, even in the absense of Beth Tweddle.

In her senior international debut, Ruby Harrold of the academy made a splash with a 4th place uneven bar routine. Seasoned All-Arounder Hannah Whelan qualified in 5th to the beam final and both she and rookie Rebecca Tunney will represent GB in the floor final. Veterans Jennifer Pinches and Danushia Francis also contributed strong performances to the team title. Were there a formal all-around competition in Brussels today, Whelan would have won the bronze medal with57.633 behind Iordache and Grishina.

The format will be repeated again for the team final. Russia will have a chance to compete on a clean slate and GB will stirive to show this wasn't a one-hit-wonder!

Team Finalists
Romania – 177.472
Russia – 172.563
Great Britain – 169.431
Italy – 168.005
France – 167.122
Spain- 163.638
Germany – 163.022
Belgium-161.972

Vault Finalists
1. Chusovitina (GER); 2. Izbasa (ROU); 3. Steingruber (SUI); 4. Maksyuta (ISR);
5. Grishina (RUS); 6. Fasana ITA); 7. Masela (NED); 8. Boczogo (HUN).
R1. Paseka (RUS); R2. Sotnikava (BLR).

Bars Finalists
1. Komova (RUS); 2. Grishina (RUS); 3. Dufournet (FRA); 4. Harrold (GBR);
5. Bui (GER); 6. Kononenko (UKR); 7. Van Gerner (NED); 7. Iordache (ROU)
R1. Hill. (GER) R2. Ferrarri (ITA)

Beam Finalists
1. Iordache (ROU); 2. Ponor (ROU); 3. Komova (RUS); 4. Whelan (GBR) ;
5. Grishina (RUS); 6. Millousi (GRE); 7. Dufournet (FRA); 8. Maksyuta (ISR);
R1. Ferlito (ISR); R2. Mys (BEL).

Floor Finalists (When was the last time a European floor final contained no russians?)
1. Iordache (ROU); 2. Ponor (ROU); 3. Ferrari (ITA); 4. Whelan (GBR);
5. Croket (BEL); 6. Tunney (GBR); 7. Livchikova (UKR); 8. Pihan-Kulesza (POL);
R1. Steingruber (SUI); R2. Izurieta (ESP)

This may be the most cosmopolitan competition for a while with 16 countries represented in event finals (18 if you count the reserves). It seems everyone is raising their game in this olympic year.