We have a big day of men’s gymnastics in front of us, and I’ll be here for all of it, even rings.

Subdivision 1

TEAMS: Italy, Kazakhstan, Taiwan
KEY INDIVIDUALS: Rhys McClenaghan (IRL), Vincenz Hoeck (AUT)

Rotation 1

Tang can’t get up to handstand on an opening scissor element on PH. No fall, though

Edalli shows four sticks in his first four passes, so that’s a way to start. Just a little shuffle in his final 2.5. Nice opener.

Stuck front in, 1/2 out for Adam Steele on PB, nice routine.

Hsu PC comes off pommel horse on a flare Magyar

Mozzatto – FX – very strong double double tuck – the 2.5 to rudi gets a little ragged, with a hop – 2/1, a touch short with a little hop – 3/1, small step back. Two solid routines for Italy.

Nice Kolman from benda on HB, though he pikes down his DLO 1/1 quite a bit with a hop.

Lee – PH – beatiful on his spindles and flares, tremendous routine, one of his good ones – he started to teeter on his dismount but he completed it with a stick

Bartolini – FX – double front pike, stuck – double double tuck – stuck – holds the stick really well on a front 2/1 combo pass despite coming in short – 2.5 to front full, small hop – 3/1, holds the stick but with a large lean and a bend at the hips – #1 sign to the crowd -Sure.

14.966 for Lee

Medvedev hits his Tsuk double pike (well, puck) – lunge to the side – but successfully landed

Lodadio – FX – double front pike, hop forward – double front tuck, 1/2 out – a little too hoppy, even on things like the 2/1 –

Medvedev – VT 2 – goes for a Dragulescu and has less control than on his first vault – large lunge to the side and off the mat and then other steps

Shaio does nearly as well as Lee on PH – 14.683. Two low scores to start, but it will still be competition because of those last two numbers.

Live scores aren’t dropping the low for the team so far. Y’all. (You can tell I’m sitting with Kensley.)

Pretty nice Kas 1.5 from Dolgopyat, nearly was able to hold the stick, steps after an initial pause.

DTY from Shatilov, lunge back –

Italy goes 41.933 on FX, Taiwan 41.719 on PH. Excellent for both, really.

Rotation 2

Mozzatto is off PH. Oh Italy it was going so well. For a second.

Steele – HB – tkatchev to a fall on a tkatchev 1/2 attempt. Finishes DLO 1/1 with hop forward

Bartolini flops off PH trying to lower down from handstand. Italy counting a fall now –

Karimi nearly sticks his Kas 1.5, almost held it but ended up stepping

11.400 for Bartolini. Unlucky.

Edalli in a must-hit position for Italy now – generates quite a bit of pike and really has to muscle up that dismount, but he got through with a hit.

We have athletes in this floor rotation doing a pass that’s just a front tuck. You can at me all you want, but that’s not world championship content. You don’t grow small programs by inviting athletes to worlds. You grow it with money. Give them money to buy equipment and pay coaches, and then maybe they’ll get to the level that can be at a world championship.

It’s a miracle that Macchini hit because he started to get slow and leg separatey right at the beginning, but he pulled it out and Italy will at least have two hits to its score on horse, and there will be plenty of countries that do worse over the next two days.

Funny PBars dismount from Kevin Crovetto as he landed a double pike and kept hopping back like he was doing a coal walk

Seriously, we just saw a round-off back tuck floor dismount.

Italy has fallen behind by having to do PH, but even with that counting fall, has continued to improve on its 14th-place team score from 2018. Taiwan is also destroying its pace from 2018.

Rotation 3

Mozzatto struggles a little in a handstand and has to lower into his straddle sit, not bad overall – double front pike, nice

Really strong Kas 1.5 from Lee CK

Edalli also sticks his double front pike rings dismount, with a little more security in his holds than Mozzatto.

Dolgopyat is on to HB – Yam, rather piked – loses his hand on a tak 1/1 attempt and has to come off

Jantykov just hand-walked fully

Lodadio sticks his double double tuck rings dismount. A hit on HB from Shatliov

Steele – FX – front lay to double front 1/2 out, nice – really solid landings here – front rudi, a bit short with a hop, his first trouble landing – 3/1, bounce back

40.832 on rings well undershoots Italy’s total from 2018, so they’ve given back some ground. Taiwan continues blowing last year’s pace out of the water and currently leads the team standings (with Italy going to vault).

Benda pirouettes exactly sideways on his pommel horse dismount, but he finishes it, so that’s something.

Rotation 4

Rhys has made his first appearance in the arena as it’s time for him to go to horse. We also have Israel going to floor.

So Medvedev is doing floor, which is interesting. Can you…do that? His dismount was a back layout, so there’s that. 2.9 D score. 9.433.

14.000 leadoff vault for Edalli. Mozzato – Kas 1.5, landed low with a lunge back to secure himself

Dolgopyat to floor – Zapata, very strong – front fullto randi is a little low wwith a hop – double double, solid – 2.5 to front 2/1, perfectly stuck – 1.5 to rudi, secure – double arabian 1/2 out, step to the side

Really strong vault from Bartolini – 14.700, but followed by a fall from Lodadio.

Rhys time – scossor up to handstand – russians on one pommel, nice – really fast russians between the pommels – magyar to sivado, loses just a little rhythm in his difficult Russian travel – has to rush through his dismount a little bit, but it’s a good one

15.200!

Shatilov – stuck randi – 2.5 to front 2/1, small hop – double double tuck, small slide – missed the end because Rhys. 14.300

Hoeck went 14.300 for his rings set, puts him 2nd behind Lodadio. Benda hits a double double tucked on rings with a little hop.

After four events, Taiwan has a lead of three points on Italy. Our event final favorites from this session—McClenaghan, Lee, and Dolgopyat—all hit and set the marks. Though it’s going to be very interesting what kind of score it takes to make PH final, because it’s going to be high.

Rotation 5

Azizov nearly falls, stumble back but saves it

Mozzatto – PB – healy to peach with form – tippelt, pretty low – diam to stutz was stronger, crisp – double front 1/2 out with step back

Shatilov stayed on pommel horse and everything!

Edalli finishes Pbars with a nice peach and diam but totally rushed his double pike dismount and lands short, multiple large stumbles forward

Macchini – PB – can’t push up to handstand out of his Makuts for a large deduction – diam and stautz is nice

lee – HB – take full, pretty late but not the worst – layout tkatchev, just a little elbows on catch – tkatchev is good – DLO 2/1, stuck

14.433 for Karimi on floor puts him in 2nd

Tang – HB – nice high yam 1/2 and Yam – layout tkatchev 1/2 – layou ttkatchev to tkatchev 1/2, good rhythm – nice finish position onfull pirouette too – DLO 1/1, a little short with a hop, but a good set.

14.933. Huge.

Italy loses more ground to Taiwan in the team competition.

Rotation 6

Hsu – FX – double pront, hop back – front full to rudi, short, step –

Edalli – HB – good Yam and layout tkatchev – tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – this routine is mostly giants – DLO 1/1, step back. Clean hit.

13.233 for Edalli –

Mozzato – HB – Yam, rather piked – layout tkatchev, ovely style – tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – stalder – DLO 2/1, stuck landing. Good.

Shiao REALLY struggled on his final pass on floor, landed short with a couple stumbles and it looked ouchie, now he’s being helped off the podium

Macchini – HB – layout kovacs, lovely – Kolman, some crazy legs – rybalko – tak 1/1 is really nicely completed – Yam is a bit low – tak 1/2 – DLO 1/1, stuck landing. Strong. Some good events for Italy (here and floor) but not enough

14.200

Lee completes another strong routine on floor. He had a strong day and should get his Olympic spot with this performance. 84.481.

Tang finishes floor for TPE – pretty front full to front 2/1, small hop – 2.5 to 1/2, stuck, gorgeous twisting form – double arabian 1/2 out, medium bounce – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, started to get a little ragged there with a step, but good one.

14.166 for him .

Shaitlov finishes rings with double double tucked, two bounces back

TEAM
Taiwan – 250.093
Italy – 245.996
Kazakhstan – 243.897

ALL-AROUND
Lee CK – 84.481
Tang CH – 82.763
Edalli – 81.698
Karimi – 81.599
Shatilov – 81.507

Subdivision 2

TEAMS: France, Hungary, Norway

Sofus’s pose for the intros is his salute bow!

Heggemsnes – FX – punch randi, bounce back – front lay to front 2/1, large bound forward – 2.5 to front full – double tuck side pass, bounce – 2/1, small slide back – 3/1, final pass, two small steps.

Tommasone hit his leadoff bars routine, nice finishing position on his full.

Frasca – HB – He really stoops into that tak full to yam – stalder – hop full – endo, pretty – DLO 2/1, stuck landing. Nice. 13.100

Lovely 3/1 final pass for Gadderud, stuck.

Kas 1/1 from Sheppard on vault. Hit.

Saleur – HB – hand totally slips on an early pirouette and he has to come off – very late tak full and tak 1/2, basically horizontal – close catch on Yamawaki – DLO 1/1, step forward. Not a good one.

Nice front tumbling from Giachino on floor but he can’t get up to handstand on his wide arm press – 13.266

Skjerhaug – FX – front full to double front, OOB lunge – 2.5 to front full, stuck, lovely twisting from him tooo –

Borello – HB – tak 1/1 – tak 1/2 – Kovacs is nice – Kolman has some crazy legs but caught well – layout tkatchev, a hair close – tkatchev – DLO 1/1, small hop

Skjerhaug goes 14.100 on floor. 13.516 for Borello.

We have 41.332 for Hungary, 41.133 for Norway, 39.349 for France. That is not an ideal high bar score for France. Lowest for any team so far.

Rotation 2

Saleur – FX – double front pike, small slide – front 2/1, bounce – 1.5 to front lay – 2/1, small slide – 3/1, just a tad under-rotated, small movement – only tiny movements on his passes there, little bits on all of them. 13.566

Vecsernyes nearly with knees down on his double pike PBars dismount, large lunge

Borello – FX – double front 1/2 out, perfect – front full to front 2/1, a little under, hop – punch rudi, bounce back – 2/1, stuck – 1.5 to 1/2, solid – 2.5 with some crazy legs, lunge forward. 13.433

Fantastic handspring randi from Le on vault, great height and form, only a small step. Second vault a hit Kas 1.5

Frasca – FX – front full to randi, a bit short, step – 2.5 to front tuck 1/1 stuck – double front, small hop – lands a rudi in combination with chest pretty well down – 3/1 is nice, only the smallest one foot movement. 14.166

Samir bounds way OOB on a double front – hands down on his second pass and he turns it into a belly flop pose Chris Brooks style – doubel arabian very low but holds the stick.

41.166 for France on floor in only a hair more than Norway and is a concern.

There were 7000 rings routines leftover to end that routine, so I used that as my opportunity to mentally check out for a minute. I promise you, it was great.

Rotation 3

Saluer starts off France on horse with a hit that they very much needed based on how the first two events went.

So much Yamilet vaulting in these first two subdivisions.

Borello gets kind of low and mushy on his end-of-routine Russian work, but another hit – 13.400 for him

Sheppard – HB – Yam – layout tkatchev, a bit close to the bar – hits kovacs and tkatchev – tak 1/2 is rather horizontal – DLO 1/1, stuck.

Another PH hit for Frasca (13.533) means that France has already put up a hit horse number even before Tommasone goes, but he can make it a good score.

Tommasone – PH – opening scissor to handstands – russians in between the pommels – onely loses his feet a little on his russian travel into russians on the end of the horse – very strong routine

Dinh went 14.466 pn PB for the top score there so far

Vecsernyes – HB – tak 1/1, pretty good finish – Cassina, just catches, a little legs – Kollman, hit – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2 was later – tkatchev – Yam – lands a little deep on his dismount this time with a hop back. He can usually stick that.

14.666 for Tommasone, a useful score for the team but not for the final. He’s already 4th.

41.599 a solid horse score, still a ton of work to do to get on pace with TPE’s exceptional score.

Rotation 4

Borello finishes rings with 1.5-twisting double tuck, well done, I did see a handstand struggle toward the end –

Tomcsanyi – FX – good control on combination front 2/1 landing – double front 1/2 out is a little cannomnball but not bad – double front, cowboy but controlled – hand down on his final pass

Sleur has a near collapse in a handstand on rings and then a deep landing on his double double tuck with a lunge that will take away the score

Better rings from Frasca – bounce back on his double doubel dismount.

One step back for Ait Siad in his rings dismount, and he will be pleased with that one overall, very smooth holds, a fluid, comfortable routine, the best rings we’ve seen so far, for my money.

14.700 and Ait Said is into 1st on rings.

One of the issues with these mixed groups we’re seeing is that they’re so much larger than the teams with four competitors, that they’re still going for ages and ages while the teams just have to sit there.

At this point, France is going to need to average over 42.2 on the final two events just to catch Italy. The good news is that vault is one of those events.

Rotation 5

Kas 1/1 for Borello, small hop back, fine. 13.733, He’s followed by another Kas 1/1 from Saluer, a bit more control and a bit higher, but less distance.

Ait Said – VT – double front – he struggled with this a lot in PT but he does land it here, kind of, still a short landing with a couple lunges back. When he landed, it was a little lock-legged and everyone died of 2016 for a second. 13.566

Frasca – VT 1 – Kas 2/1, lands it, but short with a lunge forward. 14.433

Frasca – VT 2 – Dragulescu is pretty solid, gets it around, step back, just a little deep. He’s into 2nd behind Le

Still, 41.966 is definitely not going to cut if for France as a vault score.

Hit PH for Sheppard

Tikhonov – HB – layout Kovacs, hit – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – DLO 2/1, stuck landing

Rotation 6

Tommasone hits PB – double pike with a small hop – some handstand hesitations and back form moments, but fine

Heggemsnes – HB – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – DLO 1/1, high, stuck landings, just a little piking

13.700 for Tommasone on PBars. That’s about right on track.

Frasca – PB – small hesitation in front toss up to handstand – healy – diam, very nice finishing position – crisp stutz – double front, lunge forward. He got it together after those first couple handstands

Fall from Giachino on HB but he has very nice feet there

13.266 for Frasca. Not what France needed.

Saluer gives France a solid routine, good crisp diam and stutz positions, but still a double pike with a large lunge back. 13.566

Borello – PB – he needs into the 14s to pass Italy and not with a handstand arch like that – nice pirouetting overall though, difficult and vertical – double pike bounce back

Hungary and Norway go in behind Kazakhstan and into 5th and 6th place.

13.233 for Borello does not get it done, and France is into third behind both TPE and ITA.

Frasca has passed Shatilov for 5th in the AA.

See you for Russia!

Subdivision 3

It’s the big one. In this subdivision, not only do we have Russia, but we have Turkey trying its hand at an upset bid for an Olympic spot that Taiwan already staked a claim to—as well as a bunch of significant individuals. Now it’s really getting started, is what I’m saying.

TEAMS: Russia, Turkey, Belarus
KEY INDIVIDUALS: Tomas Gonzalez (CHI), Jorge Vega (GUA), Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE), Manrique Larduet (CUB), Randy Leru (CUB)

Rotation 1

Stumble back on his first pass and OOB for Stretovich. He pulls it together as he goes – sticks 2.5 to rudi and 1.5 to 1/2 side pass – wide arm press handstand, solid – 3/1, chest down, small bounce back. 13.766.

Gundogdu lands his double front vault with a lunge or two back

Nagornyy – triple back, hit, bounce back – double front pike 1/2 out – front 2.5 to double front, nice, small hop – 2.5 to front full to 1/2, lovely pass – 2/1, deep landing but stuck, love that that was his weakest landing so far – 1/2 in, 1/2 out, small hop, solid routine.

14.900 and 2nd place, behind Dolgopyat.

Weak vault for Arican for 13.300 and now Onder barely lands his with a stumble back

Dalaloyan – FX – very solid first two passes, pretty twisting – front full to double front pike, small hop – double double tuck, small slide – 2.5 to front 2/1, only a small hop, nice – 3/1, bounce back. Good but minimal sticking.

Emin is sitting next to me and has A LOT to say about these routines. A lot of disgusted shouts of STOI

13.733 for Onder.

41.332 for Turkey on vault. Not a competitive score there.

Abliazin just Millers it and will not compete. Based on what we saw in PT from him on floor, solid call. But also reinforces that Belyavskiy must not be near top level because otherwise why not put him in?

Dmitri Lankin must be enjoying that little decision.

Saw the very end of Likhovitskiy on PH, which looked solid.

Larduet – HB – layout tkatchev, lay tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, pretty solid finish, tak 1/2 a little late – tkatchev – rybalko – Zou Li Min – stalder – full turn – goes for triple double layout dismount, large lunge forward. Towel over his face. Of joy or anger, it’s unclear.

13.866 and 5th.

Leru – HB – Liukin, hit – tkatchev to layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – layout tkatchev 1/2, muscles out of it a little – nice tak 1/1 finishing position – DLO 1/1, a little short with a hop

LOL making Tomas do rings – his double double tuck was lovely.

13.366 for Leru

Petrov finishes off HB with a DLO 1/1, small hop.

Russia is doing fine, Turkey is not. That’s the lesson of the first rotation.

Rotation 2

Stretovich – has a major pause in handstand circles but is very calm and is able to continue his routine – smooth magyar and sivado at the end, gets up to handstand well, good routine overall. That pause good have gone all wrong, but he minimized the problem

Gundogdu gets some nice amplitude on his Bhavsar, I’d just like to see a little more distance – sturggles on a healy, though – also his pants are too baggy and I feel like that’s the cause of any problems – double pike dismount off the end of the bars.

13.733 for Stretovich

Nagornyy – PH – really composed work he has that hip angle throughout but literally nothing that isn’t built-in to take there – 14.033

Colak – PB – peach 1/2, solid – peach – double pike to arms – solid healy handstand – struggles on his double pike, short with a lunge forward

Vega Lopez stuck his first vault but landed pretty deep on his second, he pops right back up, but you know.

Nice work from Belyavskiy, especially that russian spindle – 14.633

Onder – PB – peach to one, healy – peach 1/2 – front straddle to support catch – stutz, good – double front 1/2 out, stuck. Nice job.

14.800, top PB score

Really good fight from Dalaloyan at the end of his PH routine as the circle kept getting closer and closer to the poomels and his legs were brushing at the end but avoided major deduction.

Manrique is hitting floor as well – finishes double arabian small hopo back

Arican -= PB – peach to one rail, holds it with a hesitation,healy – a little walking coming out of a peach 1/2 – hits Makuts – stutz, super crisp – diam – double front 1/2 out, small step. This will be interesting because he did have a couple hesitations and hand placements.

Larduet 13.833, Dalaloyan 13.366

Leru sticks a suepr cowboy double front, but hey it was stick. As was his 3/1 dismount.

13.933 for Arican. Kind of surprised he got away with a number that high, but Turkey sure needed it

Petrov went crazy OOB on his final pass on floor and allllmost fell off the entire podium and I was really rooting for it, not sorry.

43.266 for Turkey on PBars, a huge score. Russia’s 42.399 is also the highest PH score so far.

Rotation 3

Stretovich – SR – He really does have nice toe point in these holds, and I’m appreciating that – double double tuck, step back

13.341

Colak – HB – take 1/2 – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2, caught, just – take full, a little wold but pretty certical after all – stalder – triple back stuck! Nice finish.

Nagornyy stuck his double double to finish off rings. He’s having an awesome day through 3.

13.200 for Colak – 14.400 for Nagornyy

Onder – HB – good amplitude on yam – layout tkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2, all strong – tak 1/2, pretty solid – double double layout, pace back. One of his good ones, great amplitude and style

Sharamkou hits Dragulescu, puts him 4th on VT overall

13.733 for Onder

Arican – HB – yam, good – high layout tkatchev – tkatchev – crazy tak 1/1 but also pretty good vertical in the end – tak 1/2, a little short – DLO 1/1, some pike throughout, stuck landing.

14.133 for Dalaloyan

Abliazin – SR – Yamawaki Jonasson – nice flat cross position – small swing and hesitation in handstand, second one is beter – double double layout, step back

Petrov just collapsed onto the mat nearly head first on PH. He’s becoming the slapstick portion of this rotation going after all the team routines.

14.600 for Abliazin and into 3rd.

I missed Tomas on PBars during a bathroom break and will never forgive myself.

Rotation 4

Stretovich – VT – Kas 1.5, large crossover lunge. 14.266.

Arca has a short landing with a big lunge forward on floor, finishes 3/1 small hop

Nagornyy – VT 1 – Dragulescu – nailed that vault and was nearly able to stick it, ultimately took a slide back. Daggett would murder him for it, but still a strong landing. Total massive cowboy of course.

14.900

Nagornyy – VT 2 – Tsuk double pike, two lunges back on that one, not the control he would like, but still good. 14.333. 14.616 avg

Dalaloyan – VT 1 – double front pike and stuck! I mean, I’m taking 8000 million tenths for the fact that this was 87% a tucked vault, but you know. Great landing. 15.133

Dalaloyan – VT 2 – TTY with hilarious coal-walk hops that take him sideways off the mat. 14.300

14.716 average and he goes ahead of Nagornyy.

Tomas – HB – tak 1/1, great vertical position – Yam that was fully bent in half – tkatchev – stalder 1/2 – double doubel tucked, stuck landing. 13.266

Abliazin – VT 1 – tsuk double pike, shortish with a hop forward –

No second vault for Abliazin

Onder – FX – front 2.5 to 1/2 – double double, small bounce – 2.5 to front full, larger bounce – 1.5 to rudi – 2/1, stuck, lean forward – double back full twist, step. He’s having a solid run of events after that vault.

I was no watching Prosper Okosun on pommel hrose, but his score is 0.166

Russia obviously winning by a million. Turkey going to its moment of truth on PH.

Rotation 5

Vega Lopez – FX – double front pike 1/2 out, OOB – double front pike, solid – hands down on his DLO 1/1, sadness – walking in his wide-arm handstand, not his best day

11.66 for Arca on PH, next is gundogdu – who also gets through with a hit, Allegedly, those should be the worry routines and the next two should be stronger. We shall see.

Really nice style from Stretovich on PBars, though he is short on his double front 1/2 out with a lunge forward

Arican gives Turkey a third PH hit following a couple 11s (which is like a win)

Nagornyy – PB – peach 1/2 to healy and struggles with some muscling – not right on – makuts is lovely – diam, perfect – diam 1/2, nearly perfect, just a hand placement – double front 1/2, stuck landing.

14.800 for him

13.833 for Arican.

Onder has quite a pike in his curcle but also great height but he was clearly off for a while and then falls working into russians. Sadness.

Petrounias is on rings here being all Petrounias – he was great at the beginning, holding handstands as he does (long pause though), though the second handstand got a little crazy with swing – double double tuck, small step. 14.700 and already down into 2nd place.

Major break for Belyavskiy, misses a hand – double front 1/2 out, short with a hop. Oh David.

10.900 for Onder, which means Turkey is counting two 11s.

Tomas – FX – front full to double front, hop – double double tuck, small hop again – 1.5 to rudi, another step back. He can stck these passes and he’s giving things away – 2.5 to 1/2, stuck, that was better – 3/1, under-rotated and a step forward. Oh Tomas. Not his best. Still fine, but not his best.

Dalaloyan sticks 1/2-twisting double back to complete PB for Russia.

14.733 for Dalaloyan. Just 14.000 for Tomas

Turkey would have to get a pretty ridic rings score at this point to get into the Olympic spots.

Rotation 6

Nagornyy – HB – layout tkatchev – layout tkatvhev 1/2 – tak 1/1, nice – tak 1/2, just a bit short – tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2, smooth swing – DLO 2/1, nearly able to hold the stick but hops

Belyavskiy – HB – tak 1/1 – and 1/2, nice finish on that 1/2 – layout tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – Yam, solid height – lovely german giant work – DLO 1/1, just a bit deep with a slide back

Tomas got through pommel horse with a hit. 11.666 for a 79.131 total. BE ENOUGH.

Stretovich – HB – tkatchev to layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – yam, solid – layout tkatchev 1/2, tak 1/2 very late – DLO 2/1, a little jarring on landing with a lunge back. 14.066

Sharamkou tries the triple back and sits it down – bouncing himself back off the floor and nearly off the podium backwards

Dalaloyan – HB – Cassina, very nice – layout Kovacs, strong – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2, very nice position – layout tkatchev – tak – Yam, just a little close and has to muscle out of it – DLO 1/1, bounce back and a little lean

The first 1/2 of that was tremendous, a couple errors creeping in at the end.

Colak SR – very smooth roll into his cross – double front pike dismount, small hop

14.433 for Dalaloyan puts him in 2nd. Also 2nd in the AA behind Nagornyy.

14.858 for Colak on rings puts him in first there.

TEAM:
Russia – 259.928
Taiwan – 250.093
Italy – 245.996
France – 245.127
Turkey – 244.652

Larduet – PB – peach – peach 1/2, really nice vertical – stuatz, strong – diam – front straddle – bhavsar, right o the end of the bar – tippelt is rough nearly rests against the rails – hop on dismount

ALL-AROUND:
Nagornyy – 87.333
Dalaloyan – 86.531
Lee CK – 84.481
Tang CH – 82.763
Larduet – 81.898

Subdivision 4

How do Spain, Germany, and Brazil fit into this team score mess in the 245 zone? We will find out.

Rotation 1

Bitencourt – tak 1/2, short – can’t catch Kolman and falls all crazy. Brazil starting with a miss. Remumes with layout tkatchev to tkatchev to tkatvhev 1/2

Abad hits Kas 1.5, lunge forward

Toba – PB – peach 1/2, just a little short – straddl cut – healy, solid – diam to one rail – diam – stautz, does well to hold without going over – double pike, large stumble back, two lunges, as the crowd starts to lose it too early

Mir hits Kas 1.5 with a bound forward

Souza just had the most remarkably bizarre fall on HB – hand got stuck too long perhaps and he got jerked back onto the bar preposterously?

Vera also a solid Kas 1.5

Karim Rida has a problem on PB , but hits his double front with a step

12.233 for Rida

Herder – PB – peach 1/2, peach, a little hesitant – front straddle, good – bhavsar, nice – tippelt, cant get up to handstand with a hip drops but pushes back up – status, solid – double pike, overcooks it and sits it down, just like Toba almost did.

11.666 for Souza

Nory – HB – tak 1/2, good – layout tkatchev to tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – gaylord, nice – tak 1/1 at total horizontal – yam, solid – DLO 2/1, stuck, Brazil’s first hit

Still 13.166 for Herder. Um? No.

Dauser – PB -diam, very nice – stuatz, short of vertical on that handstand – clean Makuts – healy, smoothly done – diam, beautiful – double front 1/2 out, large lunge but didn’t fall. That was excellent.

15.033 for Dauser and into 1st.

14.600 for Nory. Big.

Barretto – HB – tkatchev and tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2, nice – layout tkatchev very nearly slips his feet – huge collapse on a pirouette and has to come off. Three falls in four routines for Brazil on HB.

41.999 for Germany is one of the better PBars scores so far.

Just 39.166 for Brazil on HB. 43.065 is solid on vault for Spain.

We have an ESPAÑA chant going on. While Argentian is on rings and Spain is done. I feel like that’s basically a war declaration.

Rotation 2

Hit HB for Karim Rida to start that event, Caio Souza bounce back on 3/1 final pass on floor.

14033 for Souza, 13.400 for Rida

Bitencourt – FX – double double, a little short with a hop – double front pike, bounce forward – finishes double front with a small slide back.

Herder sticks a double double layout (quite a bit of piking, but stuck). 13.566

14.066 for Plata on PB, nice score

Nory – FX – double front pike, little bounce – front 2/1 to super pretty layout, stuck – 2.5 to front full, stuck – finisishes with a hit double arabian, small adjustment Good. 14.166

Toba – HB – starts with a hit Kollman, nice high layout tkatchev – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – double double layout, hop forward

Mir – PB – has to bend his elbows trying to control a peach 1/2 but he does – front straddle, good, but another hesitation getting up to handstand – sticks double pike dismount

13.616 for Toba

Dauser – HB – yam, some piking – kovacs, good – tkatchev – tak 1/1, some form – the 1/2 was nice – DLO 1/1, stuck. 13.700

Abad a little crooked on a peach 1/2 but gets it – bhavsar, a bit short for me – tippelt – double front, hop forward

Zanetti very bouncy on floor –

Germany 40.882 on HB is also one of the better HB scores

Spain 42.499 on PB. Brazil 41.899 on floor, which helps a little.

Rotation 3

Souza hits pommel horse. Just little hops on all the passes from Herder, but a larger lunge on his side pass, more out of control – 3/1, just a touch short, small hop

Mir – HB – yam, hit – tak 1/2, a bit short tkatchev – rybalko – DLO 2/1, small hop. Nice routine.

Vera misses a Cassina on HB. Bitencourt hits PH. Toba finishes FX with a 3/1, just a small step back.

You know that thing where Brazil sucks on high bar and then is good at horse? Well hi.

Rida – FX – 2.5 to front 2/1, nice twisting, small hop – front lay to double front, OOB with both feet – double arabian, small shuffle – 1.5 to front full – 3/1, bounce back, some leg form.

13.666

Brazil’s

Klessing – FX – double front 1/2 out, slide back – doubl e front pike, hop – front full to double front, small hop – 2.5 to front lay, really horizontal lay but hit – 2/1 stuck – doubel arabian, small hop

Abad has fallen on HB. Spain will also count a fall there.

Souza got his PH score raised into the 13s.

Rotation 4

Toba comes up with a hit on PH, just pushing through his dismount handstand without dropping.

Diallo OOB on FX, Bitencourt just clatteered to the ground attempting a rings dismount.

Plata – FX – double double layout, small hop – punch randi, well short, large lunge forward – Plata finishes full-in stuck, but he did have that one rough pass

Rida a similar hit to Toba, some dismount nonsense but worked through. 12. 966

Souza struggling in a couple handstands on rings, but doesn’t fall on his dismount, so that’s good

Dauser just did the most preposterous Russians on the end of the pommel as he tried to keep it going to dismount, fully straddled and tucked at the same time, but he somehow did not come off

Just a small hop back on dismount on a hit routine from Zanetti for 14.700, same score as Petrounias and in 2nd.

Herder bottoms out on pommel horse, so they will count the low 12 from Dauser

Stuck 3/1 to end a very fine floor routine from Mir. 14.533 and the 4th best score yet. Wow.

After 4 events, Spain has 4.5 points on Germany, which in turn has about 2.5 points on Brazi. Spain has to go to pommel horse now and is the only one of the three that has already vaulted.

Rotation 5

Pommel horse – a 12.500 for Joel Plata is followed by a hit for Adria Vera – 13.033

Rida goes 13.100 on rings.

Zanetti – VT – large bound forward out of his double front

13.966 on that ends the rotation for Brazil.

Toba – SR – nice maltese position to start – directly to a pretty flat cross – tucks and pikes to a straddle planche – DLO 1/1 dismount, stuck. Really strong work. 14.000

Klessing with an awesome stuck dismount on rings, which is significant because it earns him 14.566. Germany is now only a touch behind Brazil and 1.8 behind Spain, but Germany is going to vault.

Needed to pass Italy:
245.996

Spain – 39.195 on rings
Brazil – 40.459 on PBars
Germany – 40.953 on vault

All doable.

Rotation 6

Rida – VT – kas 1/1, bounce back

Really nice double double tucked from Plata on rings

Klessing – VT – double front, hands down, over-rotated. OK now.

Nory sits down his double pike PBars dismount. Dear dear.

Toba – VT – he hits his Kas 1.5 to the sound of screams because he does take a large lunge forward. 14.166

Bitencourt saves a very arched handstand on PBars, hits double pike, large lunge back

Herder – VT – double front, crazy deep with a large lunge forward, very nearly a fall, and if it had been a fall, they wouldn’t have passed Italy, but it looks like they just barely will.

13.766 and an 8.566 E score puts Germany ahead of Italy and into 3rd place.

Lots of walking for Bareetto on PBars right before his dismount.

12.900 for Vera and Spain is in a half point behind Germany with one routine to go for Abad.

13.600 for Barretto and Brazil is ahead of France but needs some help from a hit from Souza right now.

Souza – PB – double front to arms, cool – a little hesitation up to handstand out of it – front straddle – tippelt, clean – double front 1/2 out, small slide. Let’s see what happenes here.

Abad with a hop back on his double double on rings.

WHOA. 14.633 for Souza puts Brazil ahead of Germany and Spain. 13.600 for Abad puts Spain ahead of Germany.

Brazil still sitting third despite that HB disaster.

TEAM DAY 1
1. Russia – 259.928
2. Taiwan – 250.093
3. Brazil – 247.236
4. Spain – 246.727
5. Germany – 246.508
6. Italy – 245.996
7. France – 245.127
8. Turkey – 244.652

So tomorrow we have China, Japan, USA, and Great Britain, as well as Switzerland, Netherlands, Ukraine, Korea, and Canada.

All-around qualifiers for the Olympics are going to be tougher to project for the men than for the women, especially because we’ve had so many upsets like Taiwan being in 2nd place and definitely through to the Olympics now.

So here’s where we stand with AA Olympic qualification (20 automatic places, then others from event finals), with borderline countries that could/probably still qualify as part of a team in parenthesis and the people who will definitely qualify as part of a team (I say the top 3 are guaranteed right now) removed.

1. (Toba)
2. (Abad)
3. Larduet
4. Edalli
5. Karimi
6. Frasca
7. Shatilov
8. Arican
9. Huddleston
10. Tikhonov
11. Likhovitskiy
12. Heggemsnes
13. Jessen
14. Gonzalez
15. Le
16. Mayol
17. Hoeck
18. Martinez Moreno
19. Iliopoulos
20. Sheppard