Andrey Medvedev (gymnast)

Medvedev was born in Russia and took up gymnastics at the age of six.[2] At age 12 he immigrated to Israel with his family, settling initially in Haifa.[2] He later relocated to Tel Aviv to train with Maccabi Tel Aviv's gymnastics club.[2] He became known as a vault specialist, the discipline that would define his international career.[1]

Medvedev's international breakthrough came in April 2014, when he earned his first medal in a World Tour competition.[2] A May 2014 report also noted that he had won silver on vault at a competition in Ljubljana.[4] He continued to build his record on the World Cup circuit, winning gold at the Koper World Cup in Slovenia in May 2017.[2]

At the European Championships, Medvedev won silver in the vault in both 2019 and 2021.[2][5] His standing in European competition was also evident at the 2019 European Games in Minsk. He qualified for the vault final in third place with 13.466 points.[6] He finished fourth overall, posting an average of 14.633 in the final and a top vault score of 14.766.[7] Following the competition, he was selected to carry Israel's flag at the closing ceremony. Reacting to the selection, he said, "I am very excited. It is a great privilege for me... I always dreamed that I too would enter this prestigious list."[6]

In June 2021, Medvedev won bronze in vault at the World Cup in Doha, with Japan and Ukraine placing first and second respectively, a result that raised hopes of Olympic qualification.[2] Later that year, at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, he delivered the defining performance of his career. Competing as the oldest contender in his category at age 31, he secured bronze in the vault final with an average score of 14.649, drawn from efforts of 14.533 and 14.766.[3] Carlos Yulo of the Philippines took gold with 14.916 and Hidenobu Yonekura of Japan claimed silver with 14.866.[3] By that point Medvedev had accumulated six international medals, including two golds.[3] "I still have not digested what happened. I'm up in the clouds," he said after the final.[3]

Despite his medals at the European and world levels, Medvedev did not compete at the Tokyo Olympics. A 2021 review said he did not achieve the qualification standard, with the COVID-19 pandemic making qualification more difficult.[8] Separately, Ynet reported that he broke his leg before the Games and therefore did not compete.[9] Fellow Israeli gymnast Alex Shatilov said that without Medvedev's injury, Israel would already have fielded a complete gymnastics team at those Olympics.[9] The remark reflected Medvedev's importance to Israel's artistic gymnastics program.