France! And…Romania. The goal for France here will be to be in first place after this subdivision, which is absolutely doable. The goal for Romania is to not start crying, especially starting on bars.

TEAMS: France, Romania
INDIVIDUALS: Argyro Afrati (GRE), Elvira Katsali (GRE), Ioana Xoulogi (GRE), Gabriela Janik (POL), Teja Belak (SLO), Tjasa Kysselef (SLO), Adela Sajn (SLO), Katriel de Luna (VEN), Milca Leon (VEN)

In arena highlights of Baby Fabian scoring 16.125 on HB in 2007. Oh, the 2008 CoP.

Rotation 1

Boyer – FX – 2.5 to front pike, just a little short with a step – switch 1/2, pretty nice – Memmel, will get credit – double tuck, short, a little shuffle forward – double pike, good, small hop. Nice.

Ghiciuc – UB – clear hip to Shap, some legs – bail, a bit of back arch – shoot to high – jaeger, caught with some feet – giant full and then another giant and she can’t get up to vertical and hops off.

Getting through all of your actual skills and then falling on a giant is peak Romanian bars.

12.966 for Boyer.

Charpy – FX – Memmel turn, good – double front, small bounce forward – double tuck, bounce back – split leap full, solid split position – front full, a bit mushy and a hop forward – very secure landing on double pike. Another useful routine.

11.466 for Ghiciuc –

Holbura – UB – shap to pak – 1/2 turn and toe shoot – piked jaeger with flexed feet but caught that and jaeger – DLO, step. A hit!

13.233 for Charpy. France on track.

12.233 for Holbura. They got into the 12s!

Golgota – UB – Toe Shap to clear hip 1/2, short of hs – blind change to jaeger, caught – giant full to tkatchev – pak and struggles casting out of it – looks like her couch put his hands on her on her shap 1/2, we shall see – double front, step

Friess went OOB on her first pass. Double tuck is nice and clean –

12.200 for Golgota.

Crisan – UB – weiler 1/2, short – Stalder shap to slear hip full to tkatchev to pak totally straddled – toe shoot – DLO, quite low and an awkward landing with a bounce forward – lots of form.

Well, technically, Romania did not count a fall on bars, and that’s something.

MDJDS – FX – DLO 1/1, very strong landing, just a little built in pike on that and a small adjustment on landing – full in, step – wolf turn double and Paseka rolls out of it – front losoo to double tuck, bounce back – double pike, stuck, chest down

Janik falls on beam on a punch front, and then immediately again on an aerial. Nearly again on a side somi. She’s having a time.

37.099 on bars for Romania, which is better than Egypt and Czech Republic.

We’re still waiting on the score for Melanie. I think they just forget. They were like, you get a twelveteen point September.

We finally have a score for her and it’s 13.966, the top floor score, obviously.

Rotation 2

Ghiciuc – BB – side jump, small check – bhs back pike, hit solidly – switch 1/2, short of split but secure – side aerial to split – a couple checks but this is going OK – finishes with a gainer 1.5. Good work.

Boyer hits a nice full, solid amplitude and form – bounce backward

Good DTY for Melanie, a fairly large bounce back, but a comfortable vault for her, chest up

12.600 for Ghiciuc.

You know it’s Olympic qualification when the Slovenians are dusting off their other events, Belak down on her first pass on FX

Golgota has to grab the beam on her mount series. And now she’s off on her acro series. Oh Denisa. wolf 1.5 – double tuck, hop back. Girl, you’ve got to watch out for your teammates.

Very nice rudi from Aline Friess, slide back. It’s a 15.000 for Friess. France cleaning up in this vault rotation.

Pontlevoy – VT – DTY – not as strong as the other vaults, but a successful DTY, some chest position and a step to the side.

14.300 for Pontlevoy. France well out in front.

11.833 for Golgota on beam.

Crisan – BB – switch mount to switch 1/2 to swing down – full turn – bhs loso loso series, feet but secure – side aerial, large break and she comes off. Looked like she was on, maybe just a little check necessary but then she adjusted and it was all over – side somi, arm wave – split jump 1/2 from side, lean – bhs bhs 2/1, step back.

Sajn – FX – double pike, bounce back, keeps it in bounds – quad spin, just leans out of it at the end – split leap full – front full, knees, secure landing – 2.5, really solid landing there

11.733 for Crisan

Holbura – BB – candle mount – side aerial to bhs, small lean – switch to split ring, arm wave – switch 1/2, step back – aerial to split to swing down – double tuck, solid landing. She’s just like, BYE DENISA OLYMPIC SPOT MINE.

12.733 is the top beam score for Romania.

Romania did put up the 4th-best beam rotation so far by hitting two of four.

Rotation 3

Ghiciuc – FX – held leg double turn, a little short of two turns – double tuch, small shuffle –

Friess – UB – toe full to toe shap to pak, pretty, legs right together – van leeuwen – clear hip – jaeger a little tight but caught – double front, saves what could have been a fall with a quick bounce back

11.966 for Ghiciuc. 13.566 for Friess.

Charpy – UB – shap 1/2, a bit of legs – piked jaeger is nice – Ricna to pak, cleanly done – Can leeuwen – toe full FTDT, stuck, nice job.

Holbura with another solid routine including a double pike.

Janik has such an out of control landing on her handspring front full that she ends up sprinting off the mat entirely.

Melanie – UB – Galante to pak, perfect – Maloney to Bhardwah, a little close but the form was perfect – shap 1/2 with legs together – inbar – DLO 1/1, just a touch deep, slide back. Nice.

12.366 for Holbura.

Crisan – FX – split jump full – full in, only a small slide back – double pike, bounce back – front tuck through to 2/1, step back – double tuck, chest down but only a small hop. Good one.

14.600 for Melanie on bars, into 3rd there

Pontlevoy – UB – Shap to Ricna – pak to Stalder Shap 1/2, goos – inbar 1/2 to piked jaeger that’s pretty laid out – double front, one step. It’s a little sloppy in places but also huge difficulty.

At this point, we’re looking at a French team that is comically better than any other team we’ve seen so far today.

12.066 for Crisan.

14.400 for Pontlevoy

Golgota – FX – pike full in, straddled, small bounce back – double arabian sat it down. Seriously, Maria Holbura is going to get the Olympic spot at this point – full in, well short, stumble forward with two lunges – struggling to control her wolf turns as well – double tuck, hop back

11.000 for Golgota. Her highest score is on bars.

Teja Belak has put in an inquiry on vault, so this may be our first us of the robot judging to evaluate the inquiry.

Does that mean we have to stop all the events though?

Inquiry for Belak has been denied. OK, if they’re really using the Fujitsu judging, we need some kind of visual representation of that.

Afrati – BB – pause in her dance series and has to add an extra element – side somi, wobble back and forth – hits loso series – switch to switch 1/2, check – switch side attempt I believe, she lands on the beam but totally off balance and has to belly splat onto the beam, which whips her off like a damp rag doll as she crashes onto the mat.

Rotation 4

France is so far ahead that there’s little suspense about the French making the TF. Right now it’s about how truly medal contending they are. Romania has its internal fight for an individual qualifier, and Slovenia has to go to bars, so there’s a lot.

Charpy – BB – loso mount, solid – bhs loso, only a small lean – wolf turn triple, pulls it around, as well as the double – side aerial, check – switch – double back dismount, deep landing but hit under control

Ghiciuc hit a full, staggered legs, hop

Holbura – VT – full, bounce back, knee form

Final for Holbura is 50.632.

Crisan hits her 1.5, step to the side. 13.833

Golgota – VT – deep DTY with a step forward. Second vault is Tsuk full, a little jarring with a hop back.

Kysselef got up on bars and did like two skills as her routine and she’s my hero.

Belak – UB – blind change to forward giant to jaeger – horizontal handstand to hip circle to rest on the high bar – clear hip, she comes off the bar and sits down and is really just like FML but gets up to continue – toe on to bail, nice vertical position – giant full, loses her swing again and hops off.

Charpy 12.600 on BB

MDJDS – BB – a little check on her front mount – front pike, step back – bhs layout, solid – switch 1/2 – aerial to split to bhs, smoothly connected – switch to sissone – double tuck, hop back. Not her very strongest but a good one.

Belak got 7.833 on bars. Now Sajn has to do bars.

Sajn – UB – toe shoot – toe on – toe on 1/2 – front gitnat, front giant 1/2 annnnnd a layout dismount.

13.316 for Melanie on BB – 56.482 AA total has the lead.

Boyer – BB – great save on her layout as one foot was totally off – switch 1/2, small check – L turn, little lean into full turn – side aerial – split leap to side somi, hit – split jump 1/2 from side – double pike, hop back

13.166 for Boyer, behind Melanie.

Friess – BB – front pike mount, excellent – wolf jump to sissone – round off layout, leg up check – front tuck, solid – switch – switch 1/2 – back tuck, solid – wolf single – double tuck, bounce back. Finishing off a fab day for France.

Confirmation that Holbura was the strongest Romanian at 50.632 and that Golgota was last among the Romanians.

WHOA. Melanie bumped up 3 tenths after inquiry on beam. 13.616.

12.700 for Friess to finish at 53.999

France has destroyed everyone and is in first place by a million. Egypt has officially been eliminated from Olympic qualification. Romania is in 8th.