Event
Balance beam
Skill type
Mount
Value
C
(downgraded from D in 2022)
Known as
Candle 1/2
Soares
Back dive 1/2 to candle position
Named after
Julia Soares (BRA) – 2021
About
Amid the run on candle mounts that characterized the 2017-2021 cycle, Brazil’s Julia Soares said, “Hey now, what if I added a half turn.” She did, and ultimately got it named for herself at the 2021 Pan American Championship in Rio.
It might have been reasonable to assume that if the candle mount was a D (0.4) at that point, the addition of a 1/2 turn would bump the value of the Soares up to an E, but not the case. The Soares was given a D as well, the argument for D value being that the 1/2 turn allows the gymnast to sight the beam, so it’s no longer a blind element, negating the difficulty of an extra 1/2 turn and putting them at about the same level. Or, the women’s technical committee just decided they didn’t like candle mounts and didn’t want people to do them. Take your pick.
When the regular candle mount was downgraded from D to C in the 2022 code update, the Soares went with it, meaning it got a solid 6.5 months as a useful D element until the technical committee said, “Actually no thank you bye.”