The International Gymnastics Federation has officially named a new gymnastic element performed on parallel bars the Kovtun after the Ukrainian18-year-old athlete Illia Kovtun, among five new elements named for their creators in the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Code of Points.
The Kovtun is the back toss from upper arms with a quarter turn to one rail, performed for the first time during the 2021 Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Koper, Slovakia, by Ukrainian Illia Kovtun. The difficulty of the Kovtun is C or 0.3: that many points would be added to a gymnast’s final score for the flawless performance of the Kovtun.
Born in central-Ukrainian Cherkasy, Illia Kovtun took part in the 2020 Olympic Games and this October he won bronze at the World Gymnastics Championships in individual all-around. This year he also became a bronze medallist in individual all-around at the European Championships. Earlier, he had won two medals at junior world championships.
