Krisztián Berki

Krisztián Berki
Krisztián Berki, 2019
Personal information
Nationality:	Hungary
discipline	Apparatus gymnastics
Society:	Újpesti TE
Trainer:	István Kovács
Birthday:	March 18, 1985
Place of birth:	Budapest
Size:	178 cm
Weight:	70 kg
Medals
Olympic games gold 2012 London Pommel horse  World championships silver 2007 Stuttgart Pommel horse silver 2009 London Pommel horse gold 2010 Rotterdam Pommel horse gold 2011 Tokyo Pommel horse gold 2014 Nanning Pommel horse  European championships bronze 2004 Ljubljana Pommel horse gold 2005 Debrecen Pommel horse gold 2007 Amsterdam Pommel horse gold 2008 Lausanne Pommel horse gold 2009 Milan Pommel horse gold 2011 Berlin Pommel horse gold 2012 Montpellier Pommel horse silver 2013 Moscow Pommel horse silver 2014 Sofia Pommel horse  Universiade gold 2009 Belgrade Pommel horse

Krisztián Berki (born March 18, 1985 in Budapest ) is a Hungarian gymnast . His greatest successes to date are the 2012 Olympic gold medal on the pommel horse and two world and six European championships in the same discipline. With a height of 1.78 meters, his competition weight is 70 kilograms.

Life

Krisztián Berki was born in Zugló , a district of Budapest, and grew up in the Hungarian capital. He first came into contact with gymnastics at the age of five in the local kindergarten. According to her own statements, Berki was fascinated by the physical exercises and movements and continued to pursue gymnastics. At the age of twelve he took part in his first competitions.

In 1997 Berki was appointed gymnast in the Hungarian national senior team. The first successes in international junior tournaments began in the early 2000s. Due to an ankle injury suffered in 2002, Berki was forced to turn away from the all-around competition and henceforth to concentrate on the pommel horse. In the same year he was the first Hungarian champion on this device. In 2004 he won bronze with his special device at the European Championships in Ljubljana, the first medal at the International Senior Championships.

The first international title on the pommel horse followed in 2005 at the home European championships in Debrecen , where Berki was able to secure the European title ahead of the Romanian Marius Urzică and Nikolaj Krjukow from Russia. At the European championships the following year in Volos , Greece , his practice was retrospectively rated lower, whereupon he lost a medal and the title on the pommel horse went to the Romanian Flavius ​​Koczi . In the same year Berki won the DTB Cup in Stuttgart (15.750 points) in his favorite discipline and took second place at the World Cup in Maribor behind the Croatian Robert Seligman . At the World Cup final in São Paulo , Berki did his hitherto best rated pommel horse exercise and had to admit defeat to the Chinese Xiao Qin (16,100) with 16.025 points .

2007 turned out to be the most successful year for Berki to date. At the European Gymnastics Championships in Amsterdam he again won the gold medal on the pommel horse with 15,800 points ahead of the British Daniel Keatings (15,450) and Flavius ​​Koczi (15,325). At the world championships in Stuttgart he won his first world championship medal with silver on his special device, behind the world champion Xiao Qin. This was followed by four victories in international world cups, which Berki won with at least 16,000 points or more - including the 25th DTB Cup in Stuttgart (16,000), the World Cups in Gent (16.075) and Maribor (16.150) and the championship tournament in Cottbus (16,000 points). The following Olympic year began for Berki with a fourth place at the World Cup in Doha , which was followed by the championship tournament in Cottbus. There he did his highest rated pommel horse freestyle (16.225 points). At the European Championships in Lausanne , Berki won the title on his showpiece for the third time. This was followed by third place at the World Cup in Moscow and with 15.675 points second place at the World Cup in Barcelona behind the Chinese Zhang Hongtao (16.250). However, Berki failed to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . He was also denied a wild card from the FIG International Gymnastics Federation . The Olympic victory went to Xiao Qin (15.875 points), who won ahead of the Croat Filip Ude (15.725), whom Berki was able to refer to silver at the European Championships , in the absence of the Hungarian . The year 2008 ended Berki with a victory at the Grand Prix in Glasgow (15,950 points) and with a second place (16,100) at the World Cup final in Madrid behind Zhang Hongtao (16,375).

After silver at the 2009 World Championships in London behind Zhang Hongtao, Berki remained unbeaten on his flagship device at the major international championships in the following years. In 2009 , 2011 and 2012 he won the European title, in 2010 and 2011 he was world champion. There were also six World Cup victories by the summer of 2012. Qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Berki moved into the device final on the pommel horse in fifth with 15.033 points. There he achieved a score of 16.033 points and was level with the best qualifier, Louis Smith from Great Britain. Because of his better posture grades, he was awarded the gold medal ahead of Smith. It was the fifth Olympic victory for Hungary on this device after the successes of István Pelle (1932), Zoltán Magyar (1976 and 1980) and Zsolt Borkai (1988), which Berki counted among his role models. At the following European Gymnastics Championships in Moscow in 2013 , Berki moved into the finals on the pommel horse as the best in qualifying, but where he had to admit defeat to the British Daniel Keatings and won silver.

Krisztián Berki is a student and lives in Budapest. He is a member of the gymnastics team of the Újpesti TE club and has been coached by István Kovács since 2007, whom he has known since childhood and with whom he says he has a closer relationship than his parents. The eight-time national champion is nicknamed "hosszú" (English: The Tall One ) in Hungary .

Awards (selection)

• Hungary's Sportsman of the Year (2010, 2011, 2014)
• Hungary's Gymnast of the Year (2005-2011)

Web links

• Krisztián Berki in the database of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (English)
• Profile at london2012.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Krisztián Berki in the database of the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (English) (accessed on February 9, 2016).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Profile at london2012.com (accessed August 11, 2012).
3. ↑ Spiridonov gymnastics for the silver medal . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , May 8, 2006, p. 25.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Berki Krisztián egyperces regénye at nol.hu, December 10, 2011 (accessed on August 12, 2012).
5. ↑ Berki takes Pommel Horse gold at london2012.com, August 5, 2012 (accessed August 12, 2012).
6. ↑ 5th ECh in Artistic Gymnastics in Moscow: apparatus finals 1st part at ueg.org, April 20, 2013 (accessed April 22, 2013).
7. ↑ Berki alaposan megdolgozott álmáért at nol.hu, August 5, 2012 (accessed on August 12, 2012).