And so we arrive at the last day of worlds and the remaining five event finals. Flavia has been here on floor in the warmup period, which was my main lineup question heading into the day. I’ve seen her do a double pike and a back 1.5 front full.

We start with (brace yourself) men’s vault, where Carlos Yulo will try to come back from yesterday’s floor final with gold medal here, but he’ll face a big challenge from Artur Davtyan if Davtyan executes his vaults as well as he has been at this event.

That will be followed by beam, which is definitely one of the most unusual groups of qualifiers we’ve had for a major final in terms of just how many of the world’s best beamers either aren’t at this event or didn’t make the final. Ou Yushan has the scoring potential edge, but that final looks like a recipe for chaos.

The woman giving the judges oath at the beginning says “on behalf of all the judges and officials” and it really sounds like “on behalf of all the judges and assholes.”

Men’s vault

Souza – VT 1 – hits his Dragulescu today, but chest well down and a bound forward on landing, bounding his head right toward the table, nearly brushes it with his hair. 14.333

Souza – VT 2 – Kas 2/1 is hit well, large lunge back and additional step, good direction, some leg separation throughout. 14.500. 14.416 avg.

Tanigawa – VT 1 – handspring double front pike 1/2 does get it to his feet but another suuuuuuper deep landing, large lunge forward. Tucks it in the second salto.

Oooooh downgrade to tuck for 5.6 D score. 14.166

Tanigawa – VT 2 – Only does a Kas 1/1 second vault with a hop back after posting the 2/1. 13.833. 13.999 avg.

Yulo – VT 1 – handspring double front pike 1/2 is hit, chest down but not too large on the lunge to the side, OOB. Actual pike shape. 15.000

Yulo – VT 2 – Hits the Kas 2/1 as well, chest forward, smallish hop to the side, looks like he kept it in bounds. Just a hair under rotated Should easily go into the lead. 14.900. 14.950 avg.

Radivilov – VT 1 – lands his Dragulescu with very good control, small hop to the side. Lots of cowboy. 14.800

Radivilov – VT 2 – Tsuk double pike, large lunge back. Good hits for him. Kept his lunge foot in the area. 14.666. 14.733 avg and into second place.

Kim – VT 1 – handspraing randi is excellent, only a small hop to the side, great chest up. Should be a huge score. 14.900.

Kim – VT 2 – Attempts a Yurchenko 2.5 and stumbles back and falls. Totally blaming it on the accidental sound cue of a voiceover going “THE WAITING IS OVER” right as he started his run. 12.900. 13.900 avg.

Burtanete – VT 1 – Kas 2/1 is solid, medium lunge back, some leg crossing. 14.666

Burtanete – VT 2 – hits the Dragulescu, and bit hunched over, large lunge back, cowboy. 14.400. 14.533 avg moves ahead of Souza and into 3rd for the moment.

Davtyan – VT 1 – sticks a remarkable Dragulescu, just a little bit of leg separation and some direction, flexed feet. Very little else to take. Does land OOB for the .1. He goes 15.000 to equal Yulo’s first vault score.

Davtyan – VT 2 – handspring randi is also lovely – but does have a medium bounce back which could make the difference, but I’d give it to Davtyan. Will be close with Yulo – great twisting position, off line but in bounds.

15.100 for Davtyan. 15.050 avg and into first place.

Lee JH – VT 1 – Kas 2/1 is hit – bounce back and to the side – some leg crossing at the end. 14.466

Lee – VT 2 – Yurchenko 2.5 – several large bounds forward on landing.

FINAL:
Davtyan – 15.050
Yulo – 14.950
Radivilov – 14.733

Correct.

Balance Beam

Boyer – switch, nice – ro layout 2 feet, small rebound – switch, pause – switch 1/2, leg-up wobble – aerail, ssmall pause before split sissone, and a large wobble on isssone landing – side aerial, hit – side somi, well controlled – doubel pike dismount, small hop. A stay on. We’ll see how many others do. 13.300 (5.5/7.8)

Black – switch mount – pause before switch 1/2 to korbut, a bit short of split – double turn, connects to full turn with arm wave – wolf jump – front tuck, small movement – bhs layout 2 feet, small leg up wobble – side somi, holds it – 2.5, stuck landing. Nice finish. Not her most secure beam of the meet but another hit. 13.566 (5.5/8.066)

Boyer inquiry rejected.

Andrade – switch mount, leg up check – switch to switch 1/2, holds it, connected to split jump – bhs loso and falls – “I TOLD YOU I’M DONNNNNE” – aerial to split ring jump, check – switch ring, small body correction – side aerial, secure – full turn – double pike dismount, short lunge forward, nearly chest-butts the beam. 12.733 (6.0/6.733)

Black inquiry rejected.

Kovacs – switch mount, hit – switch 1/2, large leg up break – side aerial to bhs is smoothly done, some knees – aerial to straddle to split jump – double turn, does put it on the beam somehow with a check and somewhat wild – side somi, holds it with arm wave – switch – doubel tuck, chest down, hop forward. Good one. 12.733 (5.1/7.633)

Watanabe – front pike mount. excellent – ro layout 2 feet, leg up check – check on low to beam choreography – switch to switch 1/2, nailed it – aerial, pause – split to straddle, yes – full turn – side aerial, solid – 2.5 dismoutn, crossed legs, step forward. WHAT IF SHE WINS. 13.600 (5.5/8.1) and into first place!

Blakely – shoulder roll mount – wolf triple, solid – back tuck full, small hop back – fhs to front tuck, small step forward again – switch to switch 1/2 to back tuck, makes connection, HER BOW IS COMING UNDONE – aerial to split jump – checks on choreo – side aerial, and falls – finishes out her routine with a hit. I blame the ribbon. 13.300 (6.2/7.1)

Ou – fhs front tuck, hits with a check – switch to switch 1/2, arm wave check, breaks combo into Korbut – switch ring, a couple huge wobbles to try to save it, eventually comes off – resumes with hit bhs to split – aerial to straddle to bhs is quite nice – side somi – 2.5 dismount, step forward. 13.000 (5.9/7.1)

Miyata – switch mount, hit – ro 2 foot layout, hit, small lean -s witch, check pause – breaks combo to wolf sissone – aerial to split to bhs, solidly connected – overturns, lean to the side correction – side aerial – side somi, small lean – double pike, step back. Good!

FINAL:
Watanabe – 13.600
Black – 13.566
Miyata – 13.533

CHAOOSSSSSS. WATANABE. She was the alternate on the Japanese team and wasn’t even in their team final beam lineup. This is what I was looking for.

Parallel Bars

Dauser did a little intro! Not sure what he was doing, but it was something!

Kamoto – diam – stutz, a bit under, pushes up to vertical – peach 1/2 – peach – long swing diam is nice – front straddle, hit – bhavsar, may have clipped his foot swinging through – tippelt – healy, good – double pike, bounce back. 14.900

Arican – makuts, hit, feet – siam to stutz, solid – peach 1/2 , some leg separation and lean – losing form a little on a number of elements, but makuts and healy are solid – stutz diam work this time good – double front 1/2 out, stuck. 15.066 and into first.

Yulo – peach to one, held forever – healy – makuts, clean – good healy – moy – bhavsar, smooth, good handstand – tippelt, clean – diam to double front 1/2 out, small hop. Excellent. 15.366 first place.

Calvo – front toss, small push it – makuts, hit – peach to one, holds it – healy, clean – peach 1/2 – long swing diam – tippelt, good height – bhavsar, right to the end – back tuck full off the end. Good one. Just some loose back and leg moments. 14.966 into 3rd place.

Regini-Moran – front toss – diam, a bit over – peach to peach 1/2 is solid – stutz to one, has to cast back up – front straddle, hit – bhavsar, clean – tippelt, solid – healy – doubel front 1/2 out, good stick, chest forward. 14.733

Dauser – good peach and makuts to start – diam, vertical – stutz, little elbow push up – makuts elemnets have been very smooth – hitting vertical on his diams – doubel front 1/2 out, small hop. Exceptionally clean set. Should be at least 2nd place. 15.500 and first place.

Zou – makuts wotk is good off the top – small hesitation in handstand – diam – peach 1/2 – peach – front straddle to swing is excellent – super hiugh bhavsar – tippelt – good – double front 1/2, stuck. The second half of the routine was fully free of deductions. 16.166. El oh el.

Fraser – front toss – long swing diam to 1/2 turck, good – solid control on one rail into healy – peach 1/2, solid – peach – stutz, hit – doubel front, large lunge back. Good recovery from the AA though. 14.700

FINAL
Zou – 16.166
Dauser – 15.500
Yulo – 15.366

Women’s Floor

Flavia did end up withdrawing from this final at the last second and will be replaced by Miyata Shoko. Alice D’Amato is also out now, replaced by Martina Maggio. I bet they were waiting to see if Flavia withdrew so that Alice could withdraw and be replaced by Maggio.

Andrade – front full to FTDT, shuffle back – DLO 1/1, nice landing, small movement – switch full is around – doubel y is a problem again, hops out of it a couple times – DLO, bounc eback, stays in – switch to split leap full, secure – double pike, three steps backward. But she came back with a hit for the floor final. 13.733. Fair.

Visser – whip to 3/1 to front tuck, did the 3/1 land OOB before punch in bounds? Looks like she just stayed in – double L to double turn is hit – y 2.5 to illusion – switch 1/2 – 2/1, slide back – switch ring – spl;it leap full – double tuck, step back. 13.666

Andrade inquiry rejected.

Maggio – wolf double, jussst around – DLO, very good, only small slide – front loso to double pike, shortish, hop forward – split ring leap to switch ring 1/2 – FTDT, chest down, bounce back – switch ring – doubel tuck, hop back. Good one, and a strong strategic decision to put her in. 13.533. I demand a recount.

Miyata – DLO, slide back – whip whip 2.5 a bit short on landing, lunge to the side – wolf double, crazy arms but pulls it around – 1.5 to front full, somewhat low with a slide – switch to split leap full, littel hop – doubel pike, chest down, bounce back. 13.066

Chiles – 1.5 through to FTDT, bounce back – DLO 1/1, slide back – wolf double around – L hop full to split leap 1.5, around – switch side 1/2, bouncy – front loso to double tuck, larger bounce back, keeps it in bounds. 13.833 is enough for first currently.

Carey – double double layout, shuffle back – DLO 1/1, pretty secure, small hop back – l hop full, leg a bit low – switch leap full – front loso to double tuck, shuffle back, multiple distinct steps – split leap full – FTDT, bounce back. Long delay for this score.

Chiles inquiry rejected.

Carey 13.833 and behind Chiles on execution tiebreak. The door is wide open for Gadirova.

Jen Gadirova – DLO, somewhat short, hop forward – split jump full, hit – FTDT, lunge back OOB – split leap full is nice – switch leap full, around, some arms to wrench it around – front loso to double tuck, chest down, large bound forward. 13.166

Jade Carey submitted an inquiry and her score was DROPPED a tenth, so she is now tied with Andrade.

Jes Gadirova – double double tucked, step back – DLO 1/1 hop back – switch ring – split leap 1.5 – switch full is strong – popa, hit – front full through to double tuck, larger bounce back. They’ve been excited to give this routine a 50 all week, and I expect no different here. 14.200 and first place.

FINAL
Jessica Gadirova – 14.200
Chiles – 13.833
Andrade – 13.733
Carey – 13.733

So Carey’s inquiry took her from bronze all alone to bronze tied with Andrade. She wanted a partner.

High Bar

Nory – tak 1/2, hit – layout tkeatchev to tktatchev to piked tkatchev, good – quast – layout jaeger full, nice – tak 1/1 is late and crooked, connect to yamawaki – FLO 2/1, shuffle back with 815 little steps. At least 2 of those steps were purely scream related. 14.466

Sun – tak 1/2 a bit late – into Kolman, caught – makes Cassina – lauyout tkatchev to tkatchev – front stalder – tak 1/1 a bit late and crooked – DLO 2/1, lunge back. 14.433, just behind Nory. This thing is going to be close.

Malone – Cassina and Kolman are strong. Layout tkatchev to tkatchev to piked tkatchev, solid – Tak 1/1, hit well – tak 1/2, solid vertical – quast – DLO 2/1, small hop back. Best so far. 14.800 and first place.

Hashimoto – tak 12, solid into liukin, hit with some form – Cassina, strong – kolman, hit – layou ttkatchev, good swing – tak 1/1, late – stalder – DLO 2/1, small slide back. 14.700 and in behind Malone. One tenth up on D but 2 tenths down on E.

Kamoto – tak 1/2 to – layout tkatchev, good – Cassina, some pike, good catch – kolman, hit – tkatchev – inbar, stalder – quast – DLO 2/1, hop forward. Good. 14.166.

Zhang – tak 1/1, a bit late – tak 1/2, excellent – layout tkatcehv – Cassina, just a tad close – kolman, good – stalder – DLO 2/1, chest down, hop forward. Should still score well, but that dismount landing will be critical. 14.400 not enough for a medal, Nory stays 3rd.

I Georgiou – tak 1/2, good – Cassina, solid, some pike – Kolman, good catch – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – DLO 2/1, hop forward. 14.300 and into 6th.

Bull – tak 1/2, good – kovacs to kolman, hit. some struggle on swing out – same with cassina, but hit – stalder – yam – DLO 1/1, hop forward. 13.766

FINAL:
Malone – 14.800
Hashimoto – 14.700
Nory – 14.466

And it’s over! See you soon when I come back from break for NCAA preview season.

Today’s slate will deliver the first five event finals, starting with men’s floor. Men’s floor brings the only withdrawal we know about so far, with Zhang Boheng scratching after his all-around silver last night. He’s replaced by Benjamin Osberger of France, who had the #2 E score in qualification but a lower D score.

After his spate of 15s in this competition and 5-tenth qualifying margin, Carlos Yulo will enter as the favorite for another world floor title in this first final.

I love when people pronounce FIG like the word because then I imagine a sport called “Fig gymnastics” and that is amusing to me.

Men’s Floor

Karimi – punch randi side pass, stuck – front full to double front pike, sits it down – back 2.5 to double front, sits it down as well – double double tuck, hop back – good wide arm handstand – back 1.5 to front 2/1, small hop to the side, a little under – 3/1, small step forward. Well, with Karimi we always knew it was either going to be perfect or a catastrophe, and it was the latter.

With only one final going at a time all day, get ready for some painfully long feeling judging breaks.

12.100 for Karimi.

Doi – doubler double tuck, good height, hop back – back 1.5 to front 2/1, side winder 1.5 but solid – back 2.5 to randi, excellent stick – 3.5, small hop – front full to front 2/1, stagger on landing, looked OOB – 3/1, small hop back.

14.266 to take the lead.

Bartolini – punch randi, little steppy – doubel front pike 1/2 out, great stick – double double tuck, bounce back – back 1.5 to front 2/1, small hop – punch rudi, stuck – good handstand position – back 2.5 to front lay, little shuffle forward – 3/1, holds the stick. Well done.

Most importantly, there is now a chain link fence around the neck-unlucky, which really brings the whole milieu home.

14.233 and second place. Boo. We think he got hit for a short hold on his press handstand.

Osberger – punch randi, stuck – double double tuck, stuck – back 1.5 to front lay to front full, little hop – russians, solid – 2/1 side pass, lovely, stuck – front 2/1 to front tuck full, stuck – 3/1, little hop. Well, the execution score should be excellent. We’ll see how the D compares.

14.233 and second place, tied with Bartolini but ahead on E, which was huge, but just a 5.6 D score.

Break for the second half of warmup now. 14.266 is the leading score, which is still very beatable for everyone left to come.

Yulo – 2.5 to double front pike, falls – DLO 2/1, small hop forward – front full to randi, shortish, hop forward – 3/1 side pass, stuck – back 1.5 to front 2/1, slide back – 3.5 final pass, large bound forward.

But for why?

13.300 for Yulo. Personally. I wanted him to medal with a fall.

Regini-Moran – triple double, lunge back, steps with both feet – solid doubel double, small rebound – 2.5 to front lay to front 1.5, little hop – 2/1, holds landing with a lean – doubel front pike, shuddle back – randi, small hop – 3/1, stuck landing. Good one.

14.533 puts Regini-Moran into first place.

Ryu – double front pike 1/2, large bounce back – front full to randi, small hop – back 1.5 to front 2/1, good stick – russians – 3/1, stuck landing – back 2.5 to front lay, little hop – 3.5, little hop. A good one!

14.200 with an 8.3 E score. Similar to GRM on E but down 3 tenths on execution.

Hashimoto – triple double low chest but under control – short double double with bound forward – front full to randi, small bounce back – 2/1, stuck – 2.5 to front lay, lovely stick – 3/1, holds the landing. Very good.

14.500 into second place and only just.

FINAL:
Regini-Moran 14.533
Hashimoto 14.500
Doi 14.266

Bartolini should have medaled here and I will die on this hill thank you very much.

Women’s Vault

And we’re seeing alternate Lihie Raz introduced instead of Jessica Gadirova here.

Raz – VT 1 – DTY full crash, very short, barely lands feet first, lands on hands and knees. 12.133

Raz – VT 2 – Tsuk layout full is hit, small hop to the side, some piking throughout. 13.066. 12.599 avg.

Devillard – VT 1 – rudi with very good height, lunge back, controls the lunge to avoid another step, tenth for direction but stays in the area. 14.500

Devillard – VT 2 – DTY with a chest down landing, medium step forward, one foot lands in the red. 13.833. 14.166 avg, down a bit on her qualification average.

Yeo – VT 1 – rudi big crash – she landed feet first but they were not too much earlier than her full face. 12.666

Yeo – VT 2 – DTY second vault – lands a good one – under control with just a small hop back, good direction and distance. 14.033. 13.349 avg and 2nd place.

Black – VT 1 – handspring front layout full – her usual, good control on landing with just a little hop – soft knees – good direction – some pike to initiate. 14.200

Black VT 2 – Tsuk lay 1.5 another solid one – medium hop forward – knees. Her total D is down 6 tenths on Devillard, though her total E should be higher given Devillard’s issue on the DTY. Will be close.

14.033 second vault. 14.116 avg, which is just .050 behind Devillard.

Chiles – VT 1 – good DTY, not large on the slide back – solid direction – little bit of leg crossing. 14.500 a big number for her DTY, her best of the meet. Matches Devillard’s rudi score.

Chiles – VT 2 – Lopez is excellent, good layout position, only a small movement in place. Should comfortably move into first. 14.200. 14.350 avg and first place.

Carey – VT 1 – Cheng is hit solidly – a bit of direction, slide to the side back centrally and back – legs on table – some knees and feet, especially toward the end. 14.733 and a 9.133 execution.

Carey – VT 2 – DTY is solid – medium slide back, good distance and direction. 14.300. 14.516 avg into first place.

Vaelen – VT 1 – handspring rudi is hit, crossover step, some chest position and legs in the air. We should see a lower score than Devillard’s rudi due to dynamics. 14.266

Vaelen – VT 2 – Tsuk layout full, good, medium pace back, won’t have the D to challenge the top of the standings. 13.200. 13.733 avg.

Miyata – VT 1 – another nearly great landing on her DTY, but did take a larger step back into salute as she tried to control – good direction, knees in the air. 14.066

Miyata – VT 2 – Tsuk layout 1.5 – really good one, only a small step with one foot and some knee form. But she would have to get a huge E score to challenge Devillard. 13.933. 13.999 avg into 5th place.

FINAL:
Carey – 14.516
Chiles – 14.350
Devillard – 14.160

Devillard is like, we can’t take pictures yet I have to cry forever. Almost like Devillard should have been on more worlds teams or something.

Pommel Horse

So, we’re still introducing him as Ned Erotic.

De Munck hits scissor to handstand -good russians between the pommels – legs together through russian travel, small loss of form on tong fei, magyar and sivado are clean and then he collapsed going up for his dismount. It was going perfectly until then. Gets up to redo his dismount and does so successfully.

13.533.

Doi good scissor up to handstand – full spin on one pommel, nice – and his hand slips on his Russian travel. TWO FOR TWO. Redoes his russian travel with a leg break – magyar is good, loses some height and knees position in sivado. Gets through his dismount.

12.933

McClenaghan – scissor up to handstand – russian on one pommel, good – and between the pommels, excellent – magyar and sivado clean – russian travel is good, as is russian on the end of the horse  – good his dismount, hit routine. Nearly leaned so far forward on dismount that he stepped, but an excellent one.

15.300

Nedoroscik good russian on one pommel – hits kehr – one loss of form on a circle, keeps going into russian travel, magyar and sivado, clean – gets through his routine well, with a hit, but not as clean as McClenaghan.

14.400. I think he just said he thought it would go 14.700. 6.2 D and 8.2 E.

Kurbanov magayr and sivado are clean – huge form break on one pommel, total frog legs – has to work to get himself up to handstand for the dismount but does.

14.533 goes ahead of Ned Erotic. 6.3 D and a 8.233 E.

Abu Al Soud great quick work (meaning I lost track of the skills and am not tuyping them) retains excellent form throughout, nice hit and does have the D working in his favor.

14.866 into 2nd place.

Ude has a large straddle on his russian between the pommels but keeps it going, though probably doesn’t have the D score to afford something like that – and can’t get up to dismount. Resumes and still can’t get his dismount and is like BYE FOREVVVS. 12.500

Merdinyan finishes the final with a hit—6 hits after the first 2 falls got me hoping for an OOPS ALL FALLS horse final—14.733 gives him the bronze medal, which also curbs any question about whether Kurbanov or Nedoroscik should have been ahead since they both had errors.

FINAL
McClenaghan 15.300
Abu Al Soud 14.866
Merdinyan 14.733

Uneven Bars

Andrade – maloney to stalder 1/2, error, meant to do a stalder full and comes off. She was like, “I already gave you want you wanted in the AA” – resumes with smaloney to stalder full to tkatchev piked to pak to van leeuwen, solid connection, little dead hand at the end – piked jaeger, nice – FTDT, step back.

12.800

Jones – stalder full to stalder shap to tkatchev, hit – toe full, solid finish to stalder piked tkatchev to pak to van leeuwen, nicely done – toe 1/2 – double front, nearly found the stick, hop forward. 

14.766 is a strong score for her.

Visser – arches over on very first cast handstand and falls – stalder ktkatechv 1/2 to yezhova, lets but hit – maloney to pak to van leeuwen, solid – toe full – FTDT, small hop to the side.

13.233

Veerman – jaeger, hit – stader tkatchev piked to pak – no connection to maloney to bhardwaj, hit, just a little floppy – good toe full to van leeuwen, some feet – FTDT, hop forward. Should easily move into 2nd.

14.166 for 2nd.

Seitz – stalder shap to stalder tkatchev, hit – jaeger, nice – toe tkatcehv piked to pak, very clean – van leeuwen, hit, some legs – toe full, just a bit late – to FTDT, stuck landing. Very good.

14.366 is into 2nd place.

Derwael – Stalder Tkatchev to 1/2 to yezhova to shap to pak to maloney to bhardwaj, clean combination – van leeuwen, legs together – toe full, feet into FTDT, hop back.

14.700 goes in just behind Jones. Abotu the same E score but one tenth lower on D than Jones.

Wei – inbar full to inbar shap to pak, clean – van leeuwen, legs together – toe 1/2 to healy to line, just a bit late into piked jaeger, hit – cast 1/2 is somethat late – DLO 1/1, stuck landing. just a bit of pike.

Inquiry for Nina rejected. Presumably over the tkatchev 1/2. The judges are like, no we said no to that specifically.

14.966 for Wei into first place.

Luo – goof healy to ling to layout jaeger and hits the pak with her feet! Continues into pak – to maloney to gienger, nice – healy 1/2 – FTDT. Alas. Without that hit she was my easy gold medalist.

13.800

FINAL
Wei 14.966
Jones 14.766
Derwael 14.700

Rings

And we finish with rings.

Avetisyan – his shoulders are fully blue with tape – hits initioal planche position – lower to maltese, cross, good – secure handstand position – yamawaki to maltese solid – cross – another well exevuted planche – some arch and swing in final handstna d- DLO 1/1, stuck landing. Excellent execution.

14.600 with an 8.6 E

Davtyan – pulls up to planche, good – cross – solid up to maltese – some arch and swing in hs – yamawaki to maltese, good – planche, some body angle – DLO 1/1, holds stick with an arm wave.

14.533, just behind Avetisyan on execution.

You – pulls up to inverted cross, excellent – lower than up to planche – maltese, nice and flat – some swing in handstand – layout saltos, roll to cross – up to maltese – yamawaki to cross – holds handstand – DLO 2/1, LARGE lunge back, big step after the lunge too. Should be critical.

14.600 and into 2nd on tiebreak behind Avetisyan. His D score held him up a lot.

Asil – pull up to planche, hit – maltese – invert cross – yamawaki to maltese – roll to cross – planche, comfortable glat positions – holds handstand -, gaining some swing before dismount but sticks double double tuck.

14.933 and easily into first place.

Zou – opens with inverted cross, lower to v sit – planche, nice and streaight – yamawaki jonasson to maltese, clean position again – cross,s ome twist – up to maltese – some leg movement in handstand – double double tuck, lunge forward.

14.866, just behind Asil. The dismount.

Tulloch – raises up to planche – solid maltese position -s – yamawaki to handstand, holds it – some swing in planche, lower to cross – quick – more swing in his next cross – holds handstand – DLO 1/1, stuck landing, some pike. ‘

14.733 into 3rd place.

Kamoto – maltese – planche, solid – inverted cross, works to control – layouts to maltese is very nice – yamawaki to handstand – DLO 2/1, lunge back.

14.466

Whittenburg – well I thought I was typing that whole routine but I guess it didn’t save (oops…..rings….), but a solid hit – step back on double double layout dismount.

14.433

FINAL
Asil 14.933
Zou 14.866
Tulloch 14.733

 

 

We had a qualification surprise in the men’s all-around with Tanigawa Wataru placing first rather than heavy pre-meet favorites Zhang Boheng or Hashimoto Daiki. Still, those standings were heavily influenced by Zhang’s rings and vault falls and Hashimoto’s horse disaster, so theoretically we would expect the favorites to rebound and battle it out for gold and silver today.

Tanigawa, Carlos Yulo, Joe Fraser, and any number of others (depending on how much of a splatfest we have) are likely to fight it out for bronze.

If we take each athlete’s best score on each event so far in the competition, Hashimoto would have an advantage of about 8 tenths on Zhang, but while Zhang had a mess of a qualification day, he had an strong team final performance—far stronger than Hashimoto, who struggled on vault and high bar. If the team final were to be repeated tonight, Zhang would win the all-around.

Keep an eye on Joe Fraser—and not just because the British are the only country to have medaled in every category thus far. He hasn’t hit pommel horse to his capability yet in the competition, and if he were to today, he could zoom up to bronze position.

After the first rotation, do expect Carlos Yulo to be in first since the lead group is starting on floor. The real test for Yulo will be whether he still stands within striking distance after going to horse.

In terms of withdrawals, Adem Asil pulled out (so Turkey will have no representatives in the all-around) and is replaced by Nestor Abad, and Ryu Sunghyun pulled out and is replaced by third reserve Krisztofer Meszaros after Omar Mohamed and Mohamed Afify also withdrew from the reserve list.

Yesterday, when they were introducing all the national flags, there was a big cheer for Luxembourg and then later a big cheer from the exact same place for the Netherlands, and my theory is that these Dutch fans mistook the Luxembourg flag for their own. And that pleases me.

Rotation 1

Zhang – FX – front full to fouble front pike, hop forward – back 2.5 to front lay, another somewhat large hop – punch randi, chest down, hop – 2/1, small slide, at least small slides on every pass if not large ones – 3/1, bounce to the side. An OK hit but a lot of landing hops.

Jarman survives pommel horse. A lot position, basically scraping the pommels throughout, but no major errors. No scores in yet, even for Burtanete’s vault.

14.033 for Zhang. 14.500 for Burtanete.

Fraser – FX – front lay to double front piuke, stuck – double double tuck, chest down, step to the side – back 2.5 to 1.5, against gets pretty low but not large on the step – 2/1, stuck – double Arabian, good stick – FTDT, chest down, cross step

13.333 for Jarman on horse, which is solid for him. 13.866 for Fraser.

Calvo – VT – Yurchenko 2.5, some knees, bounce to the side. Souza hits horse.

Yulo – FX – back 2.5 to front double pike, little hop – DLO 2/1, excellent, small slide – front full to randi, stuck, excellent – 3/1, small slide – back 1.5 to front 2/1, strong – 3.5 final pass, stuck landing. Excellent.

Casimir produces a minor miracle by staying on horse through all his leg breaks.

Abad finishes rings with a step back on his double double tuck dismount.

Yulo’s score is in as 15.166.

Hashimoto – FX – triple double, low but good control on landing – double double, stuck, excellent – front full to randi, holds onto the stick – 2/1 – good control on russians – 2.5 to front lay, clean, little slide back – 3/1, bounce back. Good one.

Malone is through a hit pommel horse routine.

14.666 for Hashimoto on floor gives him a non-small advantage over Zhang after 1.

Tanigawa – FX – front 2/1 to front lay, stuck – double double tuck, good stick – double front pike, small hop forward, nearly holds onto landing – manna – 2/1, arm wave and a slide back trying to stick it, kind of surprised himself – 2.5 to front full, holds the stick – double arabian 1/2 out, very nice finish, stuck.

Malone 13.766, which is a strong score for him.

Plata’s hand slipped early in his pommel routine for a rare fall in this first rotation.

14.266 for Wataru to put him in 6th behind Yulo, Hashimoto, and 3 vaulters.

Hong – FX – front full to double front pike,s tep OOB – DLO 1/1, slide back – front tuck full to double front, bound forward – good flare work – 2.5 to front lay, holds the stick, good layout position – 3/1, stuck. Nice finish but very bouncy at the beginning.

Soares and Souza both hit their horse routines today. Where was that in TF? Soares’ hand looked like it was about a millimeter from slipping off the horse on that dismount but he got it around.

14.266 for Hong is a strong score for him.

After 1:
Yulo – 15.166
Hashimoto – 14.666
Burtanete – 14.500
Heggemsnes – 14.466
Calvo – 14.400

Fine with that as a final result.

Rotation 2

Joe Fraser was nearly through pommel horse this time, but it’s just not happening at this event with another fall that will open things up in the bronze race. Which he is still in, depending.

Kovtun with a fairly large lunge forward on Kas 1.5. 14.300. Abad follows with a bit of a stumble on his Kas 1/1.

13.166 with the fall is still Fraser’s best PH of the event.

Yulo doesn’t come off but hits every part of his leg against the horse just before his dismount, so as well as a fall.

Calov – PB – front toss – makuts, hit – peach to one, a little lean but holds it into healy, small leg break – peach 1/2, hit – diam goes crazy and he falls in between the rails.

Malone with a large bounce back on his double double tuck on rings.

Yulo 11.900 on horse, which is still slightly better than qualification.

Hashimoto through pommel horse, a first for this rotation, which will keep him in good stead.

14.333 for Hashimoto on horse is just a tenth short of his TF score and is exactly what he was looking for.

Joel Plata with a bounce back on his double double tucked on rings. Tanigawa hits pommel horse to give himself the edge in the bronze race for now.

Malone went 13.666 on rings, also about on line which what he has been scoring in this event. he had been 13.766 and 13.700 thus far.

13.766 for Tanigawa. Hong’s flare work is a crowd pleaser as he gets through his best horse routine of the event. 13.700

Small step back for Jarman on double double tuck on rings. 13.000

Zhang Boheng helps himself at least keep within sight of Hashimoto with a hit routine on horse.

Zhang goes 14.233 to put himself into third behind Hashimoto and obvious medalist Lorenzo Casali.

After 2:
Hashimoto – 28.999
Casali – 28.566
Zhang – 28.266
Van den Keybus – 28.199
Tanigawa – 28.032

The obvious top 5. Zhang will be eager to gain a little bit of ground on Hashimoto in the rings rotation because this 7 tenth advantage is starting to grow large enough that Hashimoto would have to actively give things back. Tanigawa and Hong currently hanging close in that bronze battle. The problem for Hong is that he has to end on high bar.

Rotation 3

Yulo opens on rings with hits flat maltese positions – some swing in inverted cross – front pike to cross – double double tuck, shortish, hop forward.

Schmidt – VT – kas 1.5, some leg form, step to the side –

Calvo – HB – hits Liukin 9some form) and Kolman – tak 1/1 is quite past horizontal – tak 1/2 – DLO 2/1, good position, hop back

Kovtun on PBars – really good diam 1/2 position – hits the rail with his leg on a makuts, keeps going – double front hop back

Malone – VT – solid Kas 1.5 – small hop to the side.

Yulo 13.500 on rings.

Hashimoto has some hesitation and back arch on his inverted cross on rings , has to control some swing in handstands – double double tuck, little hop back. Did what he can do there.

Abad with a fairly large lunge forward on double front dismount on PBars.

13.866 for Hashimoto on rings. Zhang will expect 14s.

Heggemsnes – HB – layout tkatchev, good – tkatchev – quast – front stalder, solid – stalder – DLO 2/1, chest forward, large bound

Jarman – VT – Dragulescu – very good, medium step back, good direction, comfortably completed.

Yulo just got an upgrade to 13.800 on rings on appear, which is a big deal for him.

Wataru 13.833 on rings.

Obvious silver medalist Casali is through a good hit on HB, but two bounces back on double double layout dismount.

Souza – VT – botches his Dragulescu attempt and just does a double front to sit.

Dauser – PB – small hesitation in makuts but gets it – diam, nice – stutz, slight elbow hesitation – next Makuts element is quite good – diam – stutz, solid – double front 1/2 out small hop.

Hong 13.833 on rings. which is a bit down on what he wanted but fine.

Zhang with a hit on rings, lunge back on double double tuck.

Van den Keybus sticks his DLO 1/1 dismount on HB, just a bit of pike.

14.100 for Zhang on rings gains a bit on Hashimoto, but Hashimoto will still have .5 of a lead heading to vault, where the landing will be critical considering that Zhang fell in qualification and Hashimoto had a basically a fall in the team final.

Abbadini PB with an arch on his pull under mount but keeps it together – stronggles to get up to handstand after a healy – diam to stutz, secure – stutz to one – doubel pike, bounce back.

Fraser 13.600 on rings.

After 3:
Hashimoto – 42.865
Zhang – 42.366
Malone – 41.932
Tanigawa – 41.865
Dauser – 41.832

Malone and Dauser move up as they have been able to do vault and PBars respectively. Hong sits in 6th. Malone with a test now to see whether he can work out a Pbars routine at this event since the top group is going to vault. Tanigawa is keeping things close enough, but he’ll end on high bar, which is not a great score for him.

Rotation 4

Balasz with a large lunge OOB on a double front on floor.

Hashimoto – VT – lands a pretty strong Kas 2/1 today. chest down but not much movement on landing.

Malone – PB – makuts, hit – peach – siam, clean – stutz, small arch – front straddle solid – finishes with a double front, deeper landing, large bounce back

Tanigawa – VT – STUCK his double front pike 1/2. Wow. Tucks at the end, chest well down. But, you know, stuck and survived.

14.366 for Malone on Pbars, which is his best Pbars of the event. 

Tanigawa goes 15.000 on vault to get closer to Hashimoto.

Hong – VT – well, he landed it on his feet? A couple times? Very short Ri Se Gwang landing, a large lunge forward, then a second lunge, and then a couple little hops on one foot. 14.166 puts him behind Malone now.

Zhang – VT – Kas 2/1 – very nice, small hop to the side, looks like he kept his foot out of the red.

Soares with a big struggle on his Makuts on PBars.

Tang CH – HB – zou li min, hits into a liukin – yam, nice height – tkatchev to piked tkatchev – tak 1/1, late, tak 1/2 – stalder – DLO 1/1 – Good hit. Some form.

14.900 for Zhang. He remains 5 tenths behind.

Fraser – VT – sits down double front vault.

Jarman – PB – peach 1/2, large arch and a walk – diam, hit – bhavsar, smooth – tippelt, nice height – stutz – double front 1/2, good stick.

Abbadini off high bar on a Tkatchev

Yulo – VT – hands down on his piked Dragulescu attempt – it looked so good in the air too but he bounded back out of it and had to parkour himself on the mat.

Second fall for Abbadini.

Jarman goes 14.166 on PBars to keep himself close, just behind Hong.

Souza – PB – peach 1/2 – peach – double front tuck to arms, lovely tuck shape – small struggle up to handstand – front straddle, good – tippelt, solid height – double front 1/2 out, stuck finish.

Yulo went 14.166 on vault to sit currently in 7th.

Kovtun – HB  – zou li ming to yamawaki, closeish catch – layout tkatchev to tkatchev, solid – tak 1/1, normal – tak 1/2, lateish – stalder – quart – DLO 2/1, great height but deep landing, large lunge forward, possible hand down

Schmidt – PB – makuts, hit – diam, solid vertical – some feet – stutz, good – tippelt, hit – doubel front, lunge back

Calvo with a stagger OOB on his final pass on floor.

12.866 for Kovtun. 13.733 for Schmidt.

After 4:
Hashimoto – 57.765
Zhang – 57.266
Tanigawa – 56.865
Malone – 56.298
Hong – 55.965
Jarman – 55.299
Yulo – 55.032

Top three looking pretty solid right now, especially since Hong has to do HB and Malone has to do floor, which has been a struggle this week. Yulo is capable of a huge PB score, but that vault may have taken him too far down. Most of the other members of the top group are also capable of high 14s on PBs.

Rotation 5

Plata – HB – tak 1/2, really nice finish position – layout tkatchev to tkatchev – tak 1/1, also good vertical – DLO 1/1, hop forward.

Tanigawa – PB – front toss – healy, clean – stutz big struiggle, not to handstand – peach 1/2, good vertical – bhavsar, smooth – tippelt, clean – super high front straddle – double front 1/2 out, slide back. Mostly great work but one larger error oin there.

14.766 for Tanigawa. His other PB were 14.866 and 14.933, so just a ltitle lower.

Hong – PB – good bhavsar – tippelt, solid – makuts, clean – healy – diam, very nice vertical – stutz, solid – double front 1/2 out, stuck landing. Excellent routine.

Jarman – HB – layout tkatcehv, a bit low – tkatchev – tak – fraont talkder – stalder – DLO 1/1, stuck landing with aoms epike

14.900 a bigggg PB number for Hong. He’ll be 8 tenths behind Tanigawa now.

Zhang – PB – peach to one, little lean – to healy – diam, good – peach, hit – front straddle, solid – bhavsar, clean – tippelt, not the highest but solid – double front 1/2, small hop forward, chest down. Good.

15.066 for Zhang is quite strong. That could allow him to gain some ground on Hashimoto.

Fraser – fully crazy body position on long swing diam but he stays on – large lean to one rail and has to grab the other – not his day today – and he eventually falls

Kovtun – FX – front full to double front, small hop forward – double front pike, lunge forward OOB – pretty back 2.5 – randi, little slide – 1.5 to front lay, small slide – 3/1, stuck.

And now a second fall for Fraser. I really identify with his “but I want to stoppppp” face after that second fall.

11.533 for Fraser.

Yulo – PB – holds on one rail for 18 hours, healy – makuts, clean – healy – bhavsar, clean – tippelt, solid – diam, right to vertical – double front 1/2 out, small slide back.

Malone still waiting on the score for Schmidt. Now it’s in as 13.000.

Malone – HB – zou li min – cassina, hit – Kolman also solid – layout tkatchev to tkatcehv to piked tkatchev, solid – tak 1/1, solid vertical today – tka 1/2, later – quast – DLO 2/1, stuck landing. Excellent routine.

Hashimoto – PB – peach 1/2, hit – peach – front straddle, good height – bhavsar, smoothly done – tippelt, solid – stutz – double front 1/2 out, nearly finds the stick, leans to the side and ends up hopping.

Pommel horse still going in this rotation as Calvo finishes after a fall. 14.500 for Malone, so he’ll be less than a tenth behind Hong in 4th place.

15.000 for Hashimoto, so didn’t let Zhang gain much there. he retains a .43 advantage going to an event where he’d be favored to score higher.

Once Calvo’s PH score comes in, we’ll still have Balasz to go to finish the rotation.

10.400 for Calvo.

After 5:
Hashimoto – 72.765
Zhang – 72.332
Tanigawa – 71.631
Hong – 70.865
Malone – 70.798
Yulo – 70.198

Big scoring advantage for Hashimoto and Zhang in this final rotation, and Tanigawa should have enough of a buffer if he stays on high bar. We shall see.

Rotation 6

Soares – FX – good stick on doubel double whip to bck 2.5 to front lay, hand down.

Hong – HB – falls immediately on Kolman – redoes the Kolman and catches it, somehow, on his wrists???? Like, the bottom of his grips is I think what caught – Kovacs is hit – tkatchev – DLO 2/1, large lunge forward.

11.500 for Hong will drop him way down. Probably. Finishes on 82.365.

Zhang – HB – tak 1/1, late – tak 1/2, excellent – layout tkatcehv – Cassina, just a bit close but fine – Kolman, very good – stalder – DLO 2/1, hop to the side. Solid one.

Nice stuck double front pike off rings from van den Keybus,

14.433 for Zhang, which Hashimoto will view as small potatoes.

Jarman’s floor 14.433 puts him ahead of Hong.

Fraser peels off on his Kolman and he’s down on the mat, at first it seemed like injury based but it was actually FML based. Does resume with a hit, lands his double double layout with a small hop.

Schmidt – FX – nice double front pike first pass, little hop – front full to double front, lunge forward – doubel arabian 1/2 stuck

Yulo – HB – Yam, good form – tak 1/2, clean – kovacs, very close catch, can’t swing out of it, stops agains high bar for a moment – tak – stalder – DLO 2/1, hop forward.

Abad falls on horse.

11.900 for Yulo drops him behind Hong and Kovtun.

Hashimoto – HB – tak 1/2, solid – Cassina, clean – kolman, solid – layout tkatche vo tkatchev, hit – tak 1/1, very late – DLO 2/1, stuck. That will do the gold.

Malone finishes routine on floor with 2/1 side pass, small hop – 3/1, bounce back. A hit today, some larger bounces on a few passes, but a hit that should set him up to move into position to take advantage if Tanigawa misses.

14.133 for Malone so he finishes on 84.931.

Hashimoto 14.433 is actually a bit lower than I thought but he goes ahead of Zhang by 4 tenths for the win.

Tanigawa – HB – Cassina, caught with some form – layout tkatchev to tkatchev, hit – tak 1/2, a bit late – stalder – DLO 1/1, bound forward. Won’t be a huge score, but he had rather a large margin on Malone. Will be closer than he wants it to be though.

13.600 comes up for Tanigawa to give him the bronze by 3 tenths over Malone, who finishes 4th. Jarman ends up in 5th, and Hong is 6th.

Zhang’s applause there was a big mood.