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The 2019 WDSF European Championship Latin and the 2019 WRRC European Championship Acrobatic Rock’n’Roll Main Class Free Style in Paris, France

Debrecen, HUN - 12 May © Roland

Pierre De Coubertin (1863-1937) is considered one of the fathers of the modern Olympic Games. As an Olympic gold medalist himself for literature at the 1912 Summer Olympics with his poem Ode to Sport, he has also presented the famous motto Citius, Altius, Fortius. It has been the official Olympic motto since 1924.

This Saturday his motto will be turned to reality at the venue which has been named to honor him, the Stade Pierre De Coubertin, as the best Latin couples and Acrobatic Rock’n’Roll couples in Europe will meet and go for the two European Championship titles.

Armen Tsaturyan – Svetlana Gudyno (RUS) are the reigning European and World Champions in Latin, are going for their fourth European title, but nothing comes too easy for them anymore. The first leg of the 2019 WDSF GrandSlam Series was exciting and the margins were minimal. Marius-Andrei Balan – Khrystyna Moshenska (GER) scored exactly the same points in Rumba as Armen and Svetlana, and in Jive the difference in scores was only 0.041 points in favor of the Russians. If we see the same kind of margins on Saturday, all the couples in the final will need to rise to the next level and keep pushing until the very end of the last dance. It could become a spectacle worthy of the venue named after the legend.

There are 65 couples representing 36 countries on the starting list. The 2019 WDSF European Championship Latin is certainly one of the highlights of the year, and this time it is also the first qualifying event for Latin for the World Games 2021 in Birmingham, Alabama (USA).

25 couples, representing nine countries have registered for the thrilling 2019 WRRC European Championship Acrobatic Rock’n’Roll. All the finalists from last year can be found on the starting list, including the reigning European and World Champions Alexey Kondrashin – Darina Kozlova (RUS). What makes it interesting is the fact that the runners-up in both of those Championships, Ivan Kudryashov – Margarita Charkovskaya (RUS) defeated Alexey and Darina in the World Cup event in Moscow last week. We are looking forward to the final, and a tight competition between the finalists.

But, as Mr. de Coubertin has said, the competition itself is more important than winning:

L'important dans la vie ce n'est point le triomphe, mais le combat, l'essentiel ce n'est pas d'avoir vaincu mais de s'être bien battu.

The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.

With this definition of sport spirit in mind, all the best and good luck to all couples on the dance floor on Saturday and during the weekend!