These two gymnasts became the 1987 European Champions. They combined difficult routines with impeccable style and grace. Liukin was known for his amazing daring and was the first person in the world to compete a triple back on floor. He also pioneered the full twisting Tkachev on high bar. Also competing at that competition was Soviet stalwart Yuri Korolev and rising East German star, Sylvio Kroll who placed 2nd and 4th respectively. Liukin's score ranged from a 9.95 on floor to a 9.75 on rings for a 59.150 All Around score.

In the event finals, Liukin again reigned supreme but not without steller performances from other gymnasts. In his first of six finals, Liukin won floor with a 19.85 (out of 20 with combined EF and prelims scores). He won by almost .3 over Korolev. But France's Laurent Barbieri tumbled a daring double-double or full in, full out en route to 4th place. Duplicating his bronze medal feat in the All Around, Gyorgy Guczoghy placed third on floor also with a clean exercise. On pommel horse, Liukin picked up his third victory of the competition. He beat out Bulgarian Lubomir Geraskov and Marian Rizan of Romania for the win. Liukin's winning streak came to a halt on rings where teammate and pommel master, Valentin Mogilny, won his first and gold of these championships. Liukin was one tenth behind Mogilny. West Germany picked up their only medal with Andreas Aguilar's bronze on rings. Guczoghy placed 6th with his innovative double backs within the rings. Korolev won another gold for mother Russia (well it wasn't Russia yet but...). Vault and rings were the only events Liukin did not win. And he medaled on those two events also. Kroll won silver and teammate Holger Behrendt tied with Liukin for third. Guczoghy, who also made all six finals, was 5th. Liukin was tops for the 4th time on parallel bars. His clean and free swinging routine was appreciated by the judges who gave him first place by .25 (a rather large margin in event finals). Behrendt was 2nd and exhibited the typical East German style. The bronze was shared by Rizan and GDR daredevil, Maik Belle. Belle introduced the giant immediate double back between the rails, and since then it has been named for him and given a value of "E" by the Code of Points. Liukin was at his best on high bar for his 5th (of a possible 7) gold medal. He displayed his same great swing technique on this event also, and added a full twisting layout Jaeger from inverts (which is also named after him, and rated an "Super E"). Kroll took his second silver and Guczoghy snatched his third bronze. Another notable performance came from Romanian Marius Gherman who showed effortless one-arm giants (one before a Def) and a one-arm Gienger to opposite one-arm catch!

In the women's competition, Daniela Silivas won by .3 over Soviet Aleftina Pryakhina. Prayakhina was another one of the USSR's famous reserve gymnasts that showed up for 2 or 3 meets with outrageous difficulty and style, but seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. Silivas's scores ranged from a 9.9 on vault to a perfect 10.0 on floor for a total of 39.775 (out of a possible 40). Prayakhina was not in as good form with a 9.8 on beam, and two 9.9's on vault and bars. A 9.875 on floor gave her a 39.475. Bulgaria (then a major power in gymnastics) placed Diana Dudeva on the podium tied with Soviet (and future 1988 Olympic All Around champion) Elena Shushunova. Shushunova's explosive style backfired on her with a low 9.5 on bars. Three 9.9s gave her a 39.200. Other noteable gymnasts competing were Eugenia Golea (5th), Boriana Stoyanova (6th), Camelia Voinea (8th), Svetlana Baitova (10th) and Iveta Polokova (31st).

Event finals gave Silivas three more golds for a total of four. The one event she lost was vault which Shushunova won with a 19.856 over the Romanian's 19.806. Shushunova's double twisting Yurchenko was the best of her two (a full twisting one I think was her other). Silivas had less difficulty, but good form helped her take 2nd over the powerful Golea. Prayakhina crashed to 7th while former vaulting World Champion, Boriana Stoyanova was 8th. On bars, Silivas again proved that she was the "bars queen". She scored a 19.9 to Dudeva's 19.838. Prayakhina and East German, Dorte Thümmler claimed the bronze with very different routines. With many of the competitors falling, Silivas was able to safely win beam over Golea by over .2. West German sesation Anja Wilhelm (who would go on to win beam later that year in the DTB Cup) placed third. Shushunova was 4th after she put her hands on the beam following a bad ff-layout-layout sequence. Aleftina Pryakhina was in the hunt for a medal until she came off on a crooked gainer Rulfova. Her routine was lightyear ahead of its time though. She competed a Teza like mount (starting perpendicular to the beam, RO, full twisting FF to hip circle). She included a standing full (one of the first in the world to perform it) and a full in dismount! Floor was the real highlight of the competition with Daniela winning her last gold medal of the championships with a perfect performance (equaling that of her preliminary score of 10 which carried over to the final). Her 20.0 was impossible to beat, but teammate Camelia Voinea came closest with a fine 19.938 for her routine which had a double layout, double tuck punch front and a full in. Prayakhina won her third European medal for a routine that included a double-double and ending with a full in. Shushunova put her hands down on her final pass for 7th place.

Of course there have been other European Championships of high caliber, but with such great performances, I cannot think of another competition even close to the 1987 Europeans.