Eva Serrano

Eva Serrano
Serrano in 1998
Personal information
Born (1978-04-22) 22 April 1978 (age 46)
Nîmes, France
Gymnastics career
DisciplineRhythmic gymnastics
Country represented France
Medal record
Representing  France
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Berlin Hoop
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Berlin Ribbon
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2000 Zaragoza Hoop
Silver medal – second place 1997 Patras Rope
Silver medal – second place 1997 Patras Ribbon
Silver medal – second place 1998 Porto Clubs
Silver medal – second place 2000 Zaragoza Ribbon
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Porto Hoop
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Budapest All-around
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Budapest Ball
Summer Universiade
Gold medal – first place 1997 Sicily Hoop
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Sicily Rope

Eva Serrano (born 22 April 1978 in Nîmes) is a French former individual rhythmic gymnast. She competed at two Olympic Games (1996, 2000), was the 1999 European all-around bronze medalist and is France's most decorated and successful rhythmic gymnast. She is also a six-time consecutive French National all-around champion (1993-1998).[1]

Career

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Serrano's international career spanned eight years, and she competed in two Olympic cycles. She started rhythmic gymnastics at age eight. Serrano competed at her first World Championships in 1992, where she placed 26th; the following year, she placed 19th, which was the last year she placed outside of the top 10 at the World Championships.[2]

She placed 7th at the 1994 World Championships, which was the first time a French gymnast had placed within the top 16 at the World Championships,[3] and 9th in the 1995 World Championships.[2] At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, she placed 7th in qualifications, 8th in the semi-final round and placed 6th in the finals.[2][4]

She made her career breakthrough in 1997, winning France's first European Championship medals (silver with rope and ribbon).[5] She repeated her success by winning two bronze medals (hoop, ribbon) at the 1997 World Championships, where she placed 7th after a poor all-around hoop exercise.[2][6] She won two more, a silver (clubs) and bronze (hoop), at the 1998 European Championships, where she placed 4th overall.[7] In an interview, Serrano noted the difficulty of receiving recognition as a French gymnast in a discipline traditionally dominated by Eastern European countries such as Russia and Bulgaria.[2]

Early in 1999, Serrano competed in the International 3-on-3 event at the American Cup; the event featured teams of a rhythmic gymnast, men's artistic gymnast, and women's artistic gymnast from each country participating in the event. Serrano received a good score of 9.787 for her ball routine, but mistakes from her teammates Ludivine Furnon and Yann Cucherat meant that the French team finished 8th.[8]

At the 1999 European Championships, she won the all-around bronze medal in addition to a bronze in the ball final.[9] She also competed at the 1999 World Championships and finished in 4th place.[10]

She was 4th in the all-around at the 2000 European Championships and qualified for every apparatus final; she won gold with hoop and silver with ribbon.[11] She went on to compete in her second Olympics in 2000 Sydney, where she placed 4th in qualifications and finished 5th in the finals.[12] Serrano's final competition was the Zenith Tournament in Paris in December 2000, where she won every gold medals. She shared the ball title with her friend Olena Vitrychenko. The Zenith event also served as a tribute, as Serrano announced her retirement.[13]

She was elected to sit as the first president of the International Gymnastics Federation Athletes' Commission, a position she held until 2009.[14] Serrano became a judge in 2003 and has judged at international events such as the European Championships.[15] She has a son named Oihan, born in 2008.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Gymnastique Rythmique". French Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e Crumlish, John (May 1999). "Serrano settles in at the top". International Gymnast. Vol. 41, no. 5. p. 19. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  3. ^ "Championnats du monde Méthodes bulgares" [World Championships Bulgarian Methods]. Le Monde (in French). 11 October 1994. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Games of the 26th Olympiad Rhythmic Gymnastics". gymnasticsresults.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Avec Eva Serrano, la GRS française prend une dimension mondiale" [With Eva Serrano, French rhythmic gymnastics takes on a global dimension]. Le Monde (in French). 23 October 1997. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  6. ^ Miranov, Zina (January 1998). "Poetry in motion". International Gymnast. Vol. 40, no. 1. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  7. ^ Crumlish, John (September 1998). "All around the world". International Gymnast. Vol. 40, no. 8/9. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  8. ^ Crumlish, John (April 1999). "Mixed blessing: Ukraine, U.S. unite for 3-on-3 win". International Gymnast. Vol. 41, no. 4. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  9. ^ "15th European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships Budapest/Hungary May 28-30 1999" (PDF). European Gymnastics. 30 May 1999. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  10. ^ "World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships 1999 - Results Women". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  11. ^ "XVI Championnats D'europe De Gymnastique Rythmique Saragosse 1–4 Juin 2000" [XVI European Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics Saragosse 1-4 June 2000] (PDF). European Gymnastics. 4 June 2000. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  12. ^ "Games of the 27th Olympiad Rhythmic Gymnastics Sydney (AUS) September 18-25, 2000". gymnasticsresults.com. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  13. ^ Crumlish, John (February 2001). "All around the world". International Gymnast. Vol. 43, no. 2. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  14. ^ "The Athletes Commisssion: A Vital Artery Between Gymnasts and Authorities". International Gymnastics Federation. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  15. ^ "Championnats d'Europe GR - Eva Serrano : un retour aux sources de la GR" [European RG Championships - Eva Serrano: a return to the roots of RG]. French Gymnastics Federation. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  16. ^ "Eva Serrano". figbeijing2008.sportcentric.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013.
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