Russian Gymnastics Federation requests explanation of scores after the European Cup in Baku
The Russian Gymnastics Federation submitted an official complaint to the organization European Gymnastics after the European Cup in rhythmic gymnastics held in Baku from April 30 to May 3, 2026. According to information published by specialized sports media, the Russian side did not request the annulment of the results, but additional clarification of certain scores in group exercises, especially after the final cross-battles. At the center of the dispute are the judges' scores which, according to the interpretation of the Russian Gymnastics Federation, affected the medal distribution in one of the most-watched disciplines of the competition. As of May 17, 2026, European Gymnastics had not published a public statement in which it would respond in detail to the Russian request. For that reason, the case currently remains open more as a question of transparency in the judging procedure than as a formal dispute with a clearly announced disciplinary or legal outcome.
The complaint refers to group exercises and cross-battles
According to reports by the Russian Sport-Express, the Russian Gymnastics Federation confirmed that it had sent European Gymnastics a letter requesting additional explanation of certain scores in group exercises at the European Cup in Baku. The same report states that the document had previously spread on social networks and specialized channels, after which the federation confirmed its existence. The Russian side specifically questioned the scoring in cross-battles, a format in which groups or individuals directly face each other in elimination rounds. Such a format increases the visibility of differences in scores because the overall impression of the audience is often compared with very precisely separated judging components. In rhythmic gymnastics, this regularly opens discussions about how difficulty, execution, artistic impression and possible errors are evaluated.
According to available information, the Russian national team, competing under neutral status, won a total of ten medals in Baku, seven of them gold. Despite such an overall performance, the complaint refers to a segment of the competition in which the Russian representatives did not receive a result that their federation considered proportional to the performance. Russian media reported that the gymnasts in group exercises won bronze in the cross-battle, although part of the expert public in Russia claimed that they had a cleaner performance than part of the competition. Such an assessment has not been officially confirmed by an independent source, so it should be viewed as the position of the Russian side, and not as an established fact. Judges' protocols and official results remain the basis for the formal evaluation of the competition until the competent body publishes a different interpretation.
The European Cup in Baku had an expanded format and a large number of participants
The 2026 European Cup in rhythmic gymnastics was the third edition of that competition in Baku, and European Gymnastics stated in its announcement that after final entries it expected 35 countries and 267 gymnasts, including 158 seniors and 109 juniors. On the eve of the competition itself, the organizer announced that the National Gymnastics Arena, or MGA Arena in Baku, would host approximately 200 athletes from 32 countries, which shows that the final number of participants in sports competitions can change between entries and actual participation. The FIG competition calendar states that the event was approved, that it was held in Baku from April 30 to May 3, 2026, and that it included rhythmic gymnastics in individual and group competition, for juniors and seniors. These data confirm that it was an officially registered international competition, and not an invitational tournament without a formal competitive framework. That is precisely why the question of judging explanations has broader significance than the medal distribution itself.
According to the competition directives, the European Cup in Baku was organized in accordance with the current rules of FIG and European Gymnastics, including technical regulations, the Code of Points for rhythmic gymnastics, general and special rules for judges, anti-doping rules, and ethical and safety provisions. The document issued in January 2026 provides that all participating federations accept those rules and that federations that do not respect them cannot compete. This is important because a complaint about scores does not automatically mean that a rule has been violated, but that one side is seeking an explanation of the application of the rules in specific performances. In a sport in which both objectively measurable elements and artistic impression are assessed, the difference between dissatisfaction with the result and a provable judging error can be large. For that reason, an official explanation, if published, may have a more important role than the complaint itself.
How the cross-battle format works
Cross-battles are one of the recognizable special features of the European Cup in rhythmic gymnastics. According to the official directives for Baku, in the senior individual competition the 16 best gymnasts from the qualifying all-around enter the cross-battles, with a limit on the number of representatives per national federation. In senior groups, it is planned that the six best groups from the qualifying all-around qualify for the final part, which takes place through elimination stages. The winner of such a contest receives the title of European Cup winner in the cross-battle. This format brings greater drama and more direct comparisons, but at the same time puts additional pressure on the judging panels because every difference in score immediately turns into advancement or elimination.
In the classic all-around system, the result is built through a series of performances, while the cross-battle emphasizes the current performance in a face-off with a competitor or competing group. For the audience, this format is simpler and more attractive, because the winner of each duel is seen immediately. For experts, however, it is important that the scores are still based on the same complex scoring system, in which the difficulty of the exercise, artistic value and quality of execution are evaluated separately. If one group had a more difficult program and the other a cleaner performance, the total score does not necessarily have to match the impression of an observer who followed only visible mistakes. It is precisely in such situations that requests for additional explanations of judges' decisions most often appear.
The neutral status of Russian and Belarusian athletes remains a sensitive topic
The case in Baku is taking place in the broader context of the return of Russian and Belarusian gymnasts to international competitions under neutral status. After the initial bans linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIG established rules for the participation of individual neutral athletes, and they include competing without national symbols and restrictions for persons connected with state or military structures. The official ad hoc rules of FIG also state that Russian or Belarusian state officials may not be invited or accredited to FIG events in the capacity of support persons. European Gymnastics, according to media reports about the congress held in Prague in November 2025, approved the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to European competitions from January 1, 2026, under neutral conditions. That decision did not remove the political sensitivity of their appearances, but it opened the path for a return to the continental calendar.
For that reason, every dispute involving Russian athletes is viewed through two layers. The first is sporting, namely the question of whether the scores were in accordance with the rulebook and whether all competitors had equal treatment. The second is political-institutional, because the return of Russian representatives to European gymnastics continues to provoke different reactions among federations, organizers and part of the public. In such an environment, even a usual request for clarification of a judging score can gain greater public weight than it would have in a competition without a broader political context. This does not mean that the complaint should be interpreted as a political act, but it does mean that the response of European Gymnastics will be observed even outside the narrow circle of rhythmic gymnastics experts. For the credibility of the competition, it is important to separate the political background, the sports result and the formal procedure for checking scores.
What can be expected from the response of European Gymnastics
If European Gymnastics responds to the Russian letter, the most likely scenario is not an automatic change of results, but an additional explanation of the application of scoring criteria. In rhythmic gymnastics, federations may request clarifications or file a complaint in accordance with prescribed procedures, but such procedures most often refer to individual components of the score and to strictly defined deadlines. According to Russian media reports, the European organization emphasized in its communication that federations may request information about certain judging components of their athletes, while the scores of other national teams are not discussed in the same way. Such a restriction is common in judged sports because the complaint procedure must not turn into a general review of the entire ranking at the request of one delegation. The final effect of the letter will therefore depend on whether European Gymnastics finds any basis for additional analysis at all or whether the response remains at the level of expert interpretation.
For athletes and coaches, the most important thing is to receive clear feedback on which elements were credited, which were not, and why the total score was formed in a certain way. Such explanations have practical value because they are used in preparing the next performances, especially in a season in which other major competitions are also important. If the judging decision is not changed, but the criteria are clearly explained, the federation can adjust the difficulty and structure of the exercises. If, on the other hand, a procedural error were established, that would open the question of an official correction or additional measures, but for now there are no publicly available confirmations that such a scenario is on the table. Until the publication of an official response, it is necessary to distinguish a request for explanation from a proven irregularity.
Why scoring transparency is crucial for rhythmic gymnastics
Rhythmic gymnastics combines highly technical elements with artistic performance, so the comprehensibility of scoring is important both for athletes and for the audience. In the score of one exercise, the complexity of throws, catches and body work, synchronization with music, execution cleanliness, spatial organization and penalties for mistakes may overlap. A viewer most easily notices a dropped apparatus, loss of balance or lack of synchronization in a group, while some of the most important differences are found in the difficulty of elements and the way in which they are declared, performed and credited. For that reason, transparent communication by judging bodies serves not only to resolve disputes, but also to improve understanding of the sport. When a competition uses attractive formats such as cross-battles, the need for such explanations becomes even more pronounced.
The case from Baku therefore cannot be reduced only to the dissatisfaction of one federation with a bronze medal. It raises the question of how much judged sports can publicly explain their decisions while protecting the authority of judges and the integrity of the competition. If complaints are rejected without clear explanation, space for doubts and interpretations grows. If, however, every sports result turns into a long public debate, the competition loses stability and confidence in the final rankings. The balance between the right to clarification and respect for the official result is therefore one of the key challenges for organizers of rhythmic gymnastics.
Baku remains an important center of international rhythmic gymnastics
In recent years, Baku has consolidated its status as one of the important hosts of major gymnastics competitions. FIG's official calendar for the 2026 European Cup lists the MGA Arena as the venue, and the official directives indicate that the host of the competition was the Azerbaijan Gymnastics Federation. European Gymnastics emphasized in its announcements that the European Cup in Baku continues as a competition for juniors and seniors, in individual and group competition. Such a profile of the tournament makes it important for the development of gymnasts moving from the junior to the senior program, but also for national teams that want to test line-ups in an international environment. For that reason, every discussion about judging at that competition also resonates in preparations for the rest of the season.
In sporting terms, the Russian performance in Baku showed that gymnasts with neutral status are again joining European competition, but also that their return is taking place under scrutiny. In terms of results, ten medals show a high level of preparation, while the complaint about certain scores shows that the reintegration process is not taking place without tensions. For European Gymnastics and FIG, it is important that such cases are resolved within the rules and with available explanations, because only in this way can the credibility of the judging system be preserved. For the Russian federation, the response will be important as expert feedback and as a test of the way in which European gymnastics bodies treat neutral athletes. For other national teams, it is equally important that the procedure not turn into a precedent that would call into question the finality of results without a firm procedural basis.
At present, there is no publicly available confirmation that European Gymnastics has changed the results of the competition in Baku or opened a broader disciplinary procedure because of judging decisions. Available information indicates that this is a request for explanation, and not a proven failure. Official results remain valid until the competent organization publishes a different decision. In the meantime, the case remains an important indicator of how sensitive the boundaries are in rhythmic gymnastics between sporting impression, judging expertise and institutional transparency. It is precisely the way in which European Gymnastics responds to the letter that will determine whether this episode remains a short-lived controversy or an example for future handling of similar cases.
Sources:
- Inside The Games – report on the complaint by the Russian Gymnastics Federation regarding scores at the European Cup in Baku (link)
- European Gymnastics – official page of the competition European Cup in Rhythmic Gymnastics Baku 2026 (link)
- European Gymnastics – announcement with data on registered countries and number of gymnasts for Baku 2026 (link)
- FIG / World Gymnastics – official details of the event European Cup 2026 Baku, including dates, status, discipline and venue (link)
- European Gymnastics / FIG – official directives of the competition in Baku 2026, including the cross-battle format and organization rules (link)
- Sport-Express – report on confirmation by the Russian Gymnastics Federation that it sent a letter to European Gymnastics (link)
- Sovetski Sport – report on the letter of the Russian Gymnastics Federation and claims about the possible scope of score clarifications (link)
- FIG / World Gymnastics – ad hoc rules on the conditions of participation of individual neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus (link)
- Forbes – report on European Gymnastics' decision on the return of Russian and Belarusian gymnasts under neutral conditions from 2026 (link)