Matvei Sergeyevich Petrov (; born 16 July 1990) is a Russian-born Albanian

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. He is the 2020 European Champion on the

pommel horse The pommel horse, also known as vaulting horse, is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. Traditionally, it is used by only male gymnasts. Originally made of a metal frame with a wooden body and a leather cover, the modern pommel horse has a metal bo ...

, and he is Albania's first European medalist. He represented Albania at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was the first reserve for the pommel horse final after finishing tenth in the qualification round.

Early life

Petrov was born on 16 July 1990 in the small town Seltso, but his family moved to

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

after he was born.

Career

Representing Russia (2006–2016)

Petrov competed at the 2006 Junior European Championships and won three medals. He helped the Russian team win the silver medal three-tenths of a point behind Germany. He also won the silver medal on the pommel horse behind British gymnast Louis Smith, and he won the bronze medal on the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syst ...

. He then won three more medals at the 2008 Junior European Championships. The Russian team won the silver medal behind Great Britain. Individually, Petrov won another silver medal on the pommel horse behind

Daniel Keatings Daniel Ryan Keatings (born 4 January 1990) is a retired British artistic gymnast representing Scotland and Great Britain. Both an all-around gymnast and a specialist pommel horse worker, Keatings was the first male British gymnast to medal at th ...

, and he won the bronze medal on the

still rings The rings, also known as still rings (in contrast to flying rings), is an artistic gymnastics apparatus and the event that uses it. It is traditionally used only by male gymnasts due to its extreme upper body strength requirements. Gymnasts ofte ...

. At the 2010 Russian Championships, Petrov won the gold medal on the pommel horse and the bronze medal with the

Central Federal District The Central Federal District ( rus, Центральный федеральный округ, p=tsɨnˈtralʲnɨj fʲɪdʲɪˈralʲnɨj ˈokrʊk) is one of the federal districts of Russia, eight federal districts of Russia. Geographically, the di ...

team. Then at the 2010 Cottbus World Cup, he won the bronze medal on the pommel horse behind Sašo Bertoncelj and Koki Sakamoto. At the 2013 European Championships, Petrov finished thirteenth on the pommel horse in the qualification round. He was selected to compete at the 2013 World Championships, and he qualified for the pommel horse event final where he finished seventh. At the 2015 European Championships, he finished eighth in the pommel horse final.

Nationality change

Petrov initially retired from gymnastics after not being selected for the 2016 Russian Olympic team. He then moved to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

to work as a coach, but he began training again in his spare time. The director of the gym he was working at, Alon Hasa, is Albanian, and he began coaching Petrov as well. The Artistic Gymnastics Federation of Russia approved Petrov's switch to Albania, and he began competing for Albania in 2018.

Representing Albania (2018–present)

Petrov made his debut for Albania at the 2018 Grand Prix of Brno, a mixed-pairs team competition where he won the gold medal with Dutch teammate Neto Tanishaley. At the 2018 Voronin Cup in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, he won the bronze medal on the pommel horse. He only competed on the pommel horse at the 2019 European Championships and finished thirtieth in the qualification round. Then he competed in the all-around at the 2019 World Championships and finished ninety-seventh with a total score of 75.656 and did not qualify for any finals. In October 2020, Petrov competed at the Szombathely World Challenge Cup and won the bronze medal on the pommel horse behind Nariman Kurbanov and Robert Seligman, and he finished sixth on the

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars approximately long and positioned at above the floor. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally wear ...

. Then in December, he won the gold medal on the pommel horse at the 2020 European Championships with a score of 14.566. This is Albania's first medal as well as the first gold medal at the European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships. At the 2021 European Championships in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

, Petrov finished twentieth on the pommel horse in the qualification round and did not qualify for the final. Then at the 2021 Varna World Challenge Cup, he finished seventh in the pommel horse final. He then won the gold medal on the pommel horse at the 2021 Osijek World Challenge Cup. Then at the Doha World Cup, he finished eighth in the pommel horse final. Petrov received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to compete at the

2020 Olympic Games The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. He only competed on the pommel horse where he finished tenth in the qualification round with a score of 14.733 which made him the first reserve for the event final. After the Olympics, he competed at the Koper World Challenge Cup and won the gold medal on the pommel horse after winning the execution score tie-breaker over

Illia Kovtun Illia Yuriiovych Kovtun (; born 10 August 2003) is a Ukrainian Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. He is the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2023 World all-around silver medalist and 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championship ...

. He represented Albania at the

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran 2022, was an international multi-sport event held from 25 June to 6 July 2022 in Oran, Algeria. Oran was announced as the host city at th ...

held in Oran, Algeria.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrov, Matvei Living people 1990 births Albanian male artistic gymnasts Russian male artistic gymnasts European champions in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Albania Gymnasts at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games competitors for Albania Russian emigrants to Albania Albanian people of Russian descent European champions for Albania People from Seltso Sportspeople from Bryansk Oblast 21st-century Russian sportsmen 21st-century Albanian sportsmen