Matvei Petrov

{{Infobox gymnast

| name = Matvei Petrov

| image = Matvei Petrov (RUS-ALB) 2015.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Petrov at the 2015 European Championships.

| full_name = Matvei Sergeyevich Petrov

| altname = Matvey Petrov

| nickname =

| country = {{ALB}} (2018–present)

| formercountry = {{RUS}} (until 2018)

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1990|7|16}}

| birth_place = Seltso, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

| spouse =

| training =

| height =

| discipline = MAG

| natlteam =

| club =

| gym =

| collegeteam =

| headcoach = Alon Hasa

| assistcoach =

| formercoach =

| choreographer =

| music =

| eponymousskills =

| retired =

| worldranking =

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates = {{MedalSport|Artistic gymnastics}}

{{MedalCountry|{{ALB}}}}

{{MedalCount

|FIG World Challenge Cup|4|1|2}}

{{MedalCountry|{{RUS}}}}

{{MedalCount

|FIG World Cup|0|0|1}}

}}

Matvei Sergeyevich Petrov ({{langx|ru|Матвей Сергеевич Петров}}; born 16 July 1990) is a Russian-born Albanian artistic gymnast. He is the 2020 European Champion on the pommel horse, and he is Albania's first European medalist.{{Cite web |last1=Goh |first1=ZK |date=13 December 2020 |title=Turkey claim rings and parallel bars European titles on home soil |website=Olympic Channel |publisher=International Olympic Committee |url=https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/stories/news/detail/european-mens-artistic-gymnastics-apparatus-finals-2020/ |url-status=live |access-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213152126/https://www.olympicchannel.com/en/stories/news/detail/european-mens-artistic-gymnastics-apparatus-finals-2020/ |archive-date=13 December 2020}}{{cite web |last1=Crumlish |first1=John |title=Albania's Petrov: 'In The Final, Everything Was Different' |url=https://www.intlgymnast.com/news/albanias-petrov-in-the-final-everything-was-different/ |website=International Gymnast Online |publisher=International Gymnast Media |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=25 December 2020}} He represented Albania at the 2020 Summer Olympics and was the first reserve for the pommel horse final after finishing tenth in the qualification round.

Early life

Petrov was born on 16 July 1990 in the small town Seltso, but his family moved to Kaliningrad after he was born.

Career

=Representing Russia (2006–2016)=

Petrov competed at the 2006 Junior European Championships and won three medals. He helped the Russian team win the silver medal three-tenths of a point behind Germany. He also won the silver medal on the pommel horse behind British gymnast Louis Smith, and he won the bronze medal on the horizontal bar.{{cite web |title=27th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Team Championships |url=http://www.ueg.org/media/results/24/Results_ECh_MAG_Volos%20GRE%202006.pdf |website=European Gymnastics |access-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230235733/http://www.ueg.org/media/results/24/Results_ECh_MAG_Volos%20GRE%202006.pdf |archive-date=30 December 2013 |pages=9–18 |url-status=dead}} He then won three more medals at the 2008 Junior European Championships. The Russian team won the silver medal behind Great Britain.{{cite web |title=28th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Team Championships |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/archive/2008/pdf/emj2008teams.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=9 May 2008}} Individually, Petrov won another silver medal on the pommel horse behind Daniel Keatings, and he won the bronze medal on the still rings.{{cite web |title=28th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Team Championships Men's Juniors Apparatus Finals |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/archive/2008/pdf/emj2008af.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=11 May 2008}}

At the 2010 Russian Championships, Petrov won the gold medal on the pommel horse and the bronze medal with the Central Federal District team.{{cite web |title=Чемпионат России по спортивной гимнастике |url=https://sportgymrus.ru/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Ch-R-i-PR-zh.pdf |trans-title=Russian Artistic Gymnastics Championships |website=Artistic Gymnastics Federation of Russia |access-date=1 January 2022 |language=ru}} Then at the 2010 Cottbus World Cup, he won the bronze medal on the pommel horse behind Sašo Bertoncelj and Koki Sakamoto.{{cite web |title=34th International Turnier der Meister Artistic Gymnastics FIG World Cup Cottbus (GER) |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/archive/2010/europe/ger/tdmmag.html |website=Gymnastics Results |access-date=1 January 2022}}

At the 2013 European Championships, Petrov finished thirteenth on the pommel horse in the qualification round.{{cite web |title=5th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Men's Qualifications |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/archive/euro/2013/mag/q2ph.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=17 April 2013}} He was selected to compete at the 2013 World Championships, and he qualified for the pommel horse event final where he finished seventh.{{cite web |title=44th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp (BEL) Men's Apparatus Final |url=http://www.fedintgym.com/microsites/13Antwerp/results/files/res/mag/MAG_C3_Pommel_Horse_Results.pdf |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006205606/http://www.fedintgym.com/microsites/13Antwerp/results/files/res/mag/MAG_C3_Pommel_Horse_Results.pdf |archive-date=6 October 2013 |date=5 October 2013 |url-status=dead}} At the 2015 European Championships, he finished eighth in the pommel horse final.{{cite web |title=6th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Men's Apparatus Finals |url=http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/mag/af2ph.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics |access-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160705044609/http://www.gymnasticsresults.com/euro/2015/mag/af2ph.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2016 |date=18 April 2015 |url-status=dead}}

==Nationality change==

Petrov initially retired from gymnastics after not being selected for the 2016 Russian Olympic team. He then moved to Prague to work as a coach, but he began training again in his spare time. The director of the gym he was working at, Alon Hasa, is Albanian, and he began coaching Petrov as well. The Artistic Gymnastics Federation of Russia approved Petrov's switch to Albania, and he began competing for Albania in 2018.{{cite web |title=Matvei Petrov: 'This Is How My Albanian Story Started' |url=http://66.210.158.14/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5169:matvey-petrov-this-is-how-my-albanian-story-started&catid=5:competition-reports&Itemid=221 |website=International Gymnast Magazine Online |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=10 January 2019}}

= Representing Albania (2018–present) =

Petrov made his debut for Albania at the 2018 Grand Prix of Brno, a mixed-pairs team competition where he won the gold medal with Dutch teammate Neto Tanishaley. At the 2018 Voronin Cup in Moscow, he won the bronze medal on the pommel horse.{{cite web |last1=Hopkins |first1=Lauren |title=2018 Voronin Cup Men's Results |url=https://thegymter.net/2018/12/16/2018-voronin-cup-mens-results/ |website=The Gymternet |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=16 December 2018}} He only competed on the pommel horse at the 2019 European Championships and finished thirtieth in the qualification round.{{cite web |title=8th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics Qualification |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2019/euros/documents/magq2ph.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Championships |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=10 April 2019}} Then he competed in the all-around at the 2019 World Championships and finished ninety-seventh with a total score of 75.656 and did not qualify for any finals.{{cite web |title=49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Stuttgart (GER), 4 October – 13 October 2019 Men's All-Around Qualification |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2019/worlds/documents/mag/qaa.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=6 October 2019}}

In October 2020, Petrov competed at the Szombathely World Challenge Cup and won the bronze medal on the pommel horse behind Nariman Kurbanov and Robert Seligman, and he finished sixth on the parallel bars.{{cite web |title=FIG World Challenge Cup Szombathely (HUN) 2020 Oct 2–4 |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2020/szombathely-world-cup/documents/magfinals.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=1 January 2022}} Then in December, he won the gold medal on the pommel horse at the 2020 European Championships with a score of 14.566.{{cite web |title=34th European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus Final |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2020/euros/documents/mag/magphfinal.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=13 December 2020}} This is Albania's first medal as well as the first gold medal at the European Men's Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

At the 2021 European Championships in Basel, Petrov finished twentieth on the pommel horse in the qualification round and did not qualify for the final.{{cite web |title=9th European Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics Individual Championships Men Artistic Gymnastics Qualification |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2021/euros/documents/magphqual.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=European Gymnastics |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=22 April 2021}} Then at the 2021 Varna World Challenge Cup, he finished seventh in the pommel horse final.{{cite web |title=Varna World Challenge Cup Varna, Bulgaria 2021 May 27–30 |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2021/varna-world-cup/index.html |website=Gymnastics Results |access-date=1 January 2022}} He then won the gold medal on the pommel horse at the 2021 Osijek World Challenge Cup.{{cite web |title=Double gold for Derwael in her re-emergence at Osijek World Challenge Cup |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?idNews=3181 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=14 June 2021}} Then at the Doha World Cup, he finished eighth in the pommel horse final.{{cite web |title=FIG World Cup Aspire Dome, Doha (QAT) 2021 June 23–26 |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2021/doha-world-cup/documents/mag_ph.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=25 June 2021}} Petrov received an invitation from the Tripartite Commission to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games.{{cite web |title=List of the Artistic Gymnastics Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2021/olympics/documents/mag/mag_qualifiers_list.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=1 January 2022 |page=5 |date=27 June 2021}} He only competed on the pommel horse where he finished tenth in the qualification round with a score of 14.733 which made him the first reserve for the event final.{{cite web |title=Artistic Gymnastics Men's Pommel Horse Qualification |url=https://gymnasticsresults.com/results/2021/olympics/documents/mag/mag_quals_ph.pdf |website=Gymnastics Results |publisher=International Olympic Committee |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=24 July 2021}} After the Olympics, he competed at the Koper World Challenge Cup and won the gold medal on the pommel horse after winning the execution score tie-breaker over Illia Kovtun.{{cite web |title=Olympic veterans, rising stars are class of the field at Koper World Challenge Cup |url=https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?idNews=3303 |website=International Gymnastics Federation |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=6 September 2021}}{{cite web |last1=Lloyd |first1=Owen |title=Kysselef crowned vault champion in Koper at 2021 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1112648/2021-fig-artistic-gymnastics-world-cup |website=Inside the Games |access-date=1 January 2022 |date=5 September 2021}}

He represented Albania at the 2022 Mediterranean Games held in Oran, Algeria.{{Cite web |title=Artistic Gymnastics Results Book |url=https://gdm2022-pdf.microplustimingservices.com/GAR/ResultBook/GDM2022_GAR_v1.0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220707172944/https://gdm2022-pdf.microplustimingservices.com/GAR/ResultBook/GDM2022_GAR_v1.0.pdf |archive-date=7 July 2022 |access-date=7 July 2022 |website=2022 Mediterranean Games}}