Eleftherios Petrounias, the Greek “Lord of the Rings,” qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games finals on Saturday after a majestic performance in the qualifying round.
Petrounias got 15,333 points and is ready to fight for a medal in the final round. The Greek Rings champion competed in subdivision 2, and finished first, with Brazil’s Arthur Zanetti coming after him with 14,900. Watch Petrounias at the Tokyo Olympics in the video below.
The Chinese Liu Yang, who competed in the first subdivision got 15,300, only 33 points behind Petrounias.
The eight finalists will be determined after the conclusion of the third subdivision, which will take place later on Saturday.
The finals will take place on August 2.
Petrounias won Rings World Cup to qualify for Tokyo Olympics
After a memorable performance on June 25 in Doha, Petrounias had won the World Cup earning another gold medal.
Petrounias had won Gold with a massive 15.500 points. 2012 Olympic gold medalist Arthur Zanetti came second and Ahmad Kohani of Iran won the bronze.
The thrilling effort of Petrounias’ has confirmed his amazing talent and huge mental reserves after many years of competition and surgery on his shoulder. In order to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, he needed a very high score — at least 15,334 points and above.
When he climbed on the rostrum to receive his gold medal he was clearly moved. He seemed to be holding back tears during the Greek National Anthem.
Petrounias the Olympic and World Champion
The 31-year-old Greek gymnast is the 2016 Olympic champion, three-time World champion (2015, 2017, 2018) and a six-time (2011, 2015-18, 2021) European medalist on the still rings, where he walked away with five gold medals and one bronze.
Petrounias was the first torchbearer for the Olympic torch relay after the flame was ignited at Olympia on April 21, 2016.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Lord of the Rings qualified for the rings final in second place with a score of 15.833.
On August 15, 2016, he won the gold medal in the event with a score of 16.000, 0.234 points higher than the silver medal winner, Arthur Zanetti of Brazil. His gold medal was Greece’s first medal in the rings since Dimosthenis Tampakos won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
In April 2017, Petrounias competed at the 2017 European Artistic Gymnastics Championships where he secured his third European Championship Rings title, scoring 15.433 during the final.
In late 2017 at the Gymnastics World Championships held in Montreal, he successfully defended his World Title on Rings, scoring 15.433 during the final.
He also won the European Championship in 2018. At the 2018 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Doha, Petrounias successfully defended his title, earning his third world championship gold on Rings with a score of 15.366 in the event finals.
In April 2021 Petrounias won the gold medal at European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Basel. This was the fifth gold in a row for the Greek athlete who has become one of the greatest gymnasts of all time and one of the greatest athletes in the world of sport.
He was named the Greek Male Athlete of the Year for the years 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018.
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