Zsófia Kovács (gymnast)

Zsófia Kovács (; born 6 April 2000) is a Hungarian artistic gymnast who competed at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. She is the 2017 and 2023 European all-around silver medalist, the 2020 European champion on uneven bars, as well as the 2020 and 2022 European champion on vault.

Early life

Kovács was born on 6 April 2000 in Dunaújváros. She started gymnastics at the age of six.

Junior gymnastics career

Kovács competed at the 2014 European Championships where she placed nineteenth in the all-around. At the 2015 European Youth Olympic Festival Kovács finished fifth in the all-around, fourth on vault, and seventh on both uneven bars and balance beam.

Senior gymnastics career

2016

Kovács became age-eligible for senior competition in 2016, and made her senior debut at the Austrian Team Open, where she won the all-around ahead of Giulia Steingruber and Barbora Mokošová. She then competed at the Doha World Challenge Cup, where she took the bronze medal on floor behind Steingruber and Diana Bulimar.

In April, Kovács competed at the Olympic Test Event in Rio de Janeiro, which served as a qualifier for the 2016 Summer Olympics. She finished fourteenth in the all-around, earning an individual berth for the Olympic Games. In the qualification round of the Olympic Games, Kovács placed 33rd in the all-around and did not advance to any finals.

Following the Olympics, Kovács competed at the Szombathely World Challenge Cup, where she won the bronze medal on the uneven bars. She also competed at the Cottbus World Cup, where she won the gold medals on uneven bars and balance beam, and also picked up the bronze on vault.

Also in 2016, she performed in the German Gymnastics Bundesliga (premier league) for the team TZ DSHS Köln. On the second competition day, she showed the best all-around performance of all gymnasts.

2017–2018

At the 2017 European Championships in Cluj-Napoca, Kovács won the silver medal in the all-around behind Ellie Downie, becoming the first Hungarian woman to land on the podium since Adrienn Varga did so in 1998 when she won vault. Additionally Kovács finished sixth on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She also competed at the 2017 World Championships in Montreal, but did not make any finals.

Kovács was forced to miss the 2018 European Championships due to an abdominal injury. However she competed at the 2018 Szombathely World Challenge Cup, where she won the gold medal on balance beam final. She went on to compete at the 2018 World Championships in Doha, where she qualified to the all-around final, finishing twentieth with a score of 51.765.

2019–2020

In March Kovács competed at the 2019 Stuttgart World Cup and placed ninth in the all-around. In April she had to withdraw from the 2019 European Championships due to a foot injury. She returned to competition at the Koper World Challenge Cup in June, where she won the gold medals on the uneven bars and balance beam. In September, Kovács competed at the Paris World Challenge Cup, where she took the bronze medal on the uneven bars behind Mélanie de Jesus dos Santos and Anastasia Agafonova. In October she competed at the 2019 World Championships in Stuttgart, where she placed thirtieth in the all-around during qualifications. Although she did not qualify to the all-around final, she earned an individual berth to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Most competitions in 2020 were canceled or postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In December Kovács competed at the rescheduled 2020 European Championships in Mersin, where the Hungarian team of Kovács, Csenge Bácskay, Dorina Böczögő, Mirtill Makovits, and Zója Székely won the bronze medal behind Ukraine and Romania. The Hungarian team's placement on the podium was the first time in European Championship history. Individually Kovács won gold on vault and uneven bars with scores of 14.050 (the average score of 14.350 and 13.750) and 13.850 respectively.

2021

Kovács competed on the uneven bars and balance beam at the 2021 European Championships, but did not make the finals. At the 2021 Osijek World Challenge Cup she won silver on the uneven bars behind Nina Derwael. She next competed at the Doha World Cup and won silver on the balance beam behind Diana Varinska.

Kovács represented Hungary at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, her second Olympic Games. In the qualification round, she qualified to the all-around final, and placed fourteenth on the uneven bars, making her the third reserve for the final. In the all-around final, she finished fourteenth with a score of 53.433.

Kovács then competed at the 2021 World Championships in Kitakyushu, but was limited to the uneven bars due to a leg injury. She qualified to the uneven bars final, where she finished fifth.

2022

Kovács started her 2022 season at the Cairo World Cup, where she took the silver medal on the balance beam. In June, she competed at the Koper World Challenge Cup, winning three gold medals on vault, uneven bars and balance beam.

In August, Kovács competed at the 2022 European Championships in Munich, where she was considered to be one of the favorites to medal in the all-around. However, in the qualification round of the competition, which also determined the all-around results, she fell twice on the balance beam and also fell on her uneven bars dismount. Despite the falls, she managed to score 52.765, finishing ninth in the all-around. Additionally, she qualified to the vault final in first place as well as the floor exercise final in seventh place, and helped Hungary qualify to the team final. Hungary finished seventh in the team final. In the vault final, Kovács won the gold medal ahead of Asia D'Amato and Aline Friess, winning her second European title on the event. In the floor exercise final, she fell on her third tumbling pass and placed eighth.

At the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, Kovács was limited to the balance beam due to an abdominal muscle injury. She qualified to the final, where she finished seventh.

2023–2024

At the 2023 European Championships Kovács helped Hungary finish fourth in the team competition. Additionally, she qualified to the all-around, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise finals. During the all-around final, she won the silver medal behind Jessica Gadirova. During apparatus finals she placed fifth on the uneven bars, eighth on floor exercise, and won the bronze medal on the balance beam.

In September Kovács tore her ACL and was unable to compete at the 2023 World Championships.

Kovács returned to competition in June 2024 to compete at the RomGym Trophy. During qualifications she scored a 10.600 on the uneven bars and initially did not qualify to the final. However, after Ana Filipa Martins withdrew, Kovács was substituted into the final where she scored 14.200 and won the silver medal Kaylia Nemour. As a result the Hungarian Gymnastics Federation decided to give their non-nominative Olympic berth to Kovács. During podium training at the 2024 Olympic Games Kovács injured her knee and was unable to compete; she was replaced by Zója Székely.

Competitive History

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacs, Zsofia
2000 births
Living people
Hungarian female artistic gymnasts
Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic gymnasts for Hungary
European champions in gymnastics
Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Gymnasts from Dunaújváros
Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
21st-century Hungarian sportswomen