Illia Kovtun

Kovtun competed at the 2018 European Championships where he helped Ukraine finish fifth in the team finals. Individually he won the junior title on the parallel bars.[2]

Kovtun competed at the Stella Zakharova Cup where he placed first in the junior all-around division. He was selected to represent Ukraine at the inaugural junior World Championships alongside Nazar Chepurnyi and Volodymyr Kostiuk. Together they finished second as a team behind Japan. Individually he won the bronze medal in the all-around behind Shinnosuke Oka and Ryosuke Doi. During event finals Kovtun finished sixth on pommel horse and fourth on parallel bars.[1][3][4]

Kovtun next competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Baku, Azerbaijan, again alongside Chepurnyi and Kostiuk. They won gold as a team and individually Kovtun won gold in the all-around and on parallel bars and horizontal bar; additionally he won silver on floor exercise behind Chepurnyi.

Introduction

Pommel horse

Parallel bars

Horizontal bar

Kovtun at the 2019 Junior World Championships

Kovtun competed at the 2020 European Championships held in Mersin, Turkey. While there he led the Ukrainian junior team to gold.[5][6] Individually he won gold in the all-around and on pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars and silver on vault.[6][7] He also won the silver medal in the junior vault event.[8]

Kovtun turned senior in 2021 and made his senior international debut at the 2021 European Championships. He won the bronze medal in the all-around competition behind Nikita Nagornyy and David Belyavskiy. Kovtun next competed at the World Challenge Cups in Varna and Cairo; he picked up five gold medals and two bronze medals.

Kovtun at the 2020 Olympic Games

Due to the postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics, Kovtun was age-eligible to compete at them in 2021. He was named to represented Ukraine alongside Petro Pakhnyuk, Igor Radivilov, and Yevhen Yudenkov. They qualified to the team final and individually Kovtun qualified to the all-around final. During the team final Kovtun competed on floor exercise, pommel horse, parallel bars, and high bar, contributing towards Ukraine's seventh place finish. During the all-around final Kovtun finished 11th.

After the Olympic Games Kovtun returned to competition at the World Challenge Cups in Koper and Mersin where he picked up an additional gold and bronze medal and three silvers. He ended up winning the series titles on floor exercise, pommel horse, and parallel bars.[9]

In October Kovtun competed at the 2021 World Championships where he won the all-around bronze medal behind Zhang Boheng and Hashimoto Daiki. Additionally he placed seventh on horizontal bar. He next competed at the Arthur Gander Memorial where he placed third behind Yul Moldauer and Nikita Nagornyy. Kovtun then competed at the Swiss Cup where he was partnered with Yelyzaveta Hubareva; they finished second behind the Russian team of Nagornyy and Angelina Melnikova.[10]

In December Kovtun was awarded with the title «Merited Master of Sports of Ukraine». [11]