It’s almost over! We’ll begin today with men’s vault. So, gird thyselves.

Qualifiers: Yulo, Yonekura, Yang, Tulloch, Medvedev, Grasso, Emard, Chepurnyi

As we wait, there is one withdrawal today. Zhang Boheng pulled out of PBars (like he did rings yesterday). He’s replaced by Shi Cong, who had been 2-pered out of the final.

On vault, Chepurnyi and Yang tied for the top average in qualification, with Yulo and Yonekura both within a tenth.

The main rooting interest today is for the award ceremonies to be…less. Auspiciously, there are no Infinity Awards being presented today. Though there is a closing ceremony planned. But as that is after the everything, we don’t have to care.

MAN VAULT

Yulo 1 – Kas 2/1 – lovely form, medium bounce back, just not much you can take in the air. Would have wanted a little more control. 14.800

Yulo 2 – Dragulescu is phenomenal. Great height, controls the landing very well, just a small hop in place. Not much cowboy. 15.033 for that one.

Avg: 14.916. That would have placed 1st in qualification.

Yonekura 1 – Kas 2.5 is his first vault, so he has .4 D on Yulo – a very successful vault, but lots of leg crossing in the air and a large lunge to the side, also a little under-rotated. 15.000. Only .2 higher than Yulo on E, which is wrong.

Yonekura 2 – handspring randi is also strong, same leg crossing, hop to the side. 14.733

Avg: 14.866, and into 2nd place. Which to me is the correct ranking. Yulo had .4 lower D but was more than that better on execution.

Yang 1 – HUGE Kas 2/1 – hm, he posted the 2.5 – a little bit of chest down position, hop back. But solid form, medium hop back and to the side. 14.766.

Yang 2 – ayyy, not even really sure what handspring vault he was attempting there, this time he posted the 2.5 but it looks like he wanted to try the triple? But he sits it down regardless. Maybe he wasn’t sure either. 14.033

His feet BARELY hit before his everything. Well, he still got credit for the triple?

Avg: 14.399

Tulloch 1 – Dragulescu is hit but struggles to control the landing with two pretty significant lunges back. 14.300

Tulloch 2 – Tsuk double pike, a bit more control on that landing, bounces back but keeps it to one bounce. 14.466

Avg: 14.383, so he’s behind Yang despite hitting 2 vaults……

So that’s the first group. Pleased to see Yulo in first because his vaults warranted it, and after Yonekura’s first, it didn’t look like things were going that direction.

Medvedev 1 – Tsuk double pike – lands quite deep and forward, lunges, ankle cruncher of a vault. 14.533

Medvedev 2 – handsrping double front pike is much stronger, good height, medium lunge forward, just a bit of soft knees. 14.766

Avg: 14.649, which is currently 3rd.

Grasso 1 – It’s a Yurchenko! Yurchenko 3/1, pretty vault. 14.833. Loses his legs some at the end, smaller hop back.

Grasso 2 – lower difficulty on this one Kas 1.5, which is perfectly solid, some form, a little hop to the side. 14.266

Avg: 14.549, which puts him in 4th. Just didn’t have the D for a vault final.

Emard 1 – Yikes, has a rough time on his Kas 1.5, very short and sits it down. 13.266

Emard 2 – Also a rough time on his handsrping double front, not close, sits it down. Not the execution that saw him qualify into the final despite his lower difficulty. 13.133

Avg: 13.199

Chepurnyi 1 – Top qualifier, definite medal threat – Dragulescu is very strong, little hop back, a bit more cowboy than Yulo’s and some flexed feet, but very good. 14.866.

Chepurnyi 2 – UH OH – Kas 2/1 attempt and not close, lands it to his hands and knees, will get a score for feet first, but trouble. 13.433

Avg: 14.149.

FINAL
Gold: Yulo – 14.916
Silver: Yonekura – 14.866
Bronze: Medvedev – 14.649

No complaints with the podium there. That was the right order. I mean, technically I think there should have been a penalty for Medvedev for doing a back tuck on the podium while waiting to go (at least there would be that deduction for women, like the Chinese women in 2003 TF), but that’s a BS rule, so I don’t care.

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Time for beam! Oh, they’re motoring right along to the next final today. I guess someone received some notes?

Qualifiers: Vorona, Luo, Ashikawa, Schaefer, Andrade, Murakami, DiCello, Melnikova, Wong

Vorona – switch, small hesitation into split leap to double stag, nice positions – aerial, check before split ring jump – switch, another pause before sheep jump, wobble – bhs bhs loso series, small arm wave but solid – switch ring, squeeze correction, breaks connection into korbut – wolf triple triessssss to pull it around but can’t, falls – started moving in reverse speed toward the end of that turn – side aerial, good – double tuck, large stumble back, multiple lunges.

Valentina’s like, NO INFINITY AWARD FOR YOU.

11.833

Luo – candle mount, good – round off to layout and a crazy fall, way off line, clatters to the ground after being ejected from the beam – switch ring, small pause before bhs – split jump to wolf jump – switch to split ring leap, check – aerial to split ring jump to korbut, perfect – split 1/2 from side – 21/, stuck. Damn the end of that was so good. Of course. Sigh.

Well, I hated it.

Still waiting on the score. Can we SPEED IT UP A LITTLE.

Like, is this the first fall you’ve ever judged?

Still gets a 13.400. I hope everyone falls and that wins.

Ashikawa – bhs mount, clean – bhs loso, good extension, confident – nice back leg on sissone – split ring jump, small hold squeeze – switch to sheep, arm wave – side somi, no problem – split 1/2 from side, good – switch ring, hits it, a lean save but nothing like Q – sdie aerial to split jump – double turn, small correction – 3/1 dismount, good. She could win with that.

14.100, 1st place.

Luo has submitted an inquiry. That’s really what the timing of this final needs.

The time spent scoring Luo Rui’s beam has been an entire final.

LOL, a punishment downgrade on appeal. Her score goes down to 13.300.

Schaefer – switch mount with a check, works through it to split but broken connection – bhs loso, smalllll wobble – switch ring, secure – double turn, hits pretty well – Schaefer is well done, small hop to the side – aerial to split jump to split ring, a little bit of feet here and there – side aerial, anotehr little correction – gainer layout dismount, lovely, stuck. Great work.

13.800 and into 2nd place.

Andrade – BB – switch mount and immediately falls, way off, no chance – switch 1/2, arm wave – bhs loso, a little short, leans to hold it – aerial, another check before split ring jump, wonderful position – split jump 1/2, small correction – switch ring, hit – side aerial, secure – wolf to sissone – double pike small hop forward.

12.500. 2 hits out of 5 so far in the final.

Murakami – BB – candle mount, a little strength and pike to hold it – front pike, nailed it – bhs loso, solid, and then a little check working out – aerial to split to straddle, hit – front tuck, leg up wobble – wolf triple, hit , wolf double, a little less sure but fine – switch ring, huge break but keeps it on the beam, leg up to horizontal in saving it – double pike, hop back. A hit, though some larger errors. But a hit beam in her possible farewell.

13.733 for Mai, she’s into third place behind Schaefer.

DiCello – candle mount, lowers a little quick but fine – wolf triple, lots of arm waving but brings it around – wolf double was better – side aerial, small check – switch to sissone, nice – bhs loso loso and falls – aerial, little check to dance combo, shortish positions – finishes with her double tuck dismount, pulls it around, chest down, hop.

11.866 and a 4.9 D score. They were like, “No.” “Whatever you’re selling…no.”

Melnikova – switch to switch combination and immediately falls. THIS BEAM FINAL. bhs loso series, wobbly, a little messy too – oh man another large break on a straddle jump, she’s like GOODBYE – bhs 1/1 – wolf double, a little wobbly – side somi, hit – split ring jump is great – double pike, a bit short, stagger.

This final.

12.400 and that’s ahead of two people.

Wong – switch to straddle, little arm wave – side aerial to loso, huge break but stays on, may have touched the beam, yeah she did – L turn to full turn, still a little slow in combination -s witch ring – side somi, another large break with arm wave – straddle 1/2 from side – aerial to split is nice – 2.5 dismount, little hop. Enough mistakes that that will…still rank pretty well. But not enough of a hit to medal.

13.333 and 4th place.

That was truly the worst beam final and I loved every second of it.

FINAL
Gold: Ashikawa – 14.100
Silver: Schaefer – 13.800
Bronze: Murakami – 13.733

Three people hit, three people medaled. Well, it won’t be controversial.

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Yay, it’s time for the medal ceremoniessssssss!!!! I hope they’re bloated and slow!

Yulo is up on the stand with the Philippines flag.

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MAN TWO BARS

Qualifiers: Hashimoto, Kaya, Yulo, Baumann, Souza, Hu, Moldauer, Shi

Hashimoto – healy to start – peach 1/2 a little bit of hand placement – peach – front straddle, great height, fab – bhavsar, smoothly done, a little low – tippelt, crisp handstand – stutz, no trouble – double front 1/2 out was super high but he ended up landing in a deep squat with a hop. Good but opened the door.

Well maybe not that much. 15.000

Kaya – healy, good – peach 1/2, a little quick out of handstand – front straddle, solid – bhavsar, higher than Hashimoto’s – tippelt, solid – stutz 1/4, back up to handstand, clean – doubel front 1/2 out, also lands pretty deep with a shuffle to the side. VERY similar routine to Hashimoto’s but for me Hashimoto’s is a bit crisper, the handstands cleaner, small differences.

14.900, second place.

Yulo – peach to one, healy, really nice – Makuts gets arched on one bar, he pulled it back but a thing – really good rhythm on his bhavsar – tippelt, good – diam, right to handstand – double front 1/2, nearly stuck, good chest up. Great finish, but how much will that early arch hurt him?

None, I guess. 15.300 and 1st place.

Baumann – huge error at the start, misses his hand at the end of a long-swing Makuts and has to save it with his arms – now a big arch on one rail and he is not able to save it, falls – resumes, regular Makuts is solid – bhavsar, nice and smooth – tippelt, good amplitude – stutz, clean – double front 1/2, big problems, a lunge and then an additional FML step or two

12.333

Souza – struggles a little up to his first hs – gets it together – peach is solid – doubel front to arms, gets it, thought he might not – healy – front straddle to arms, good – moy, a little low – tippelt, good control – double front 1/2, short landing, pretty large lunge. Not his best.

14.566, 4th place.

Hu – long swing makuts – Makuts, good – diam, some feet but fine – peach 1/2, pretty loose in back – front straddle to arms, good – healy – bhavsar is nicely done – tippelt, no trouble – double pike, small scoot back. Good, some moments of loose back and form, but will score well.

15.466 and first place. Slightly lower E than Yulo but has two tenths on D.

Moldauer – front straddle, so high – tuck 1/2 – diam a little late – peach 1/2, slight hesitation – makuts, nice – layout 1/2 to arms, good – double front 1/2, shuffle back. Not as strong as qualification but still a nice routine. Showing the difficulty he will need this quad.

15.000, well a better score than qualification ( I thought he had a few more small things this time). 4th place.

Shi – makuts, really comfortable – peach 1/2, some loose back and arm placements – front straddle to arms, great height – bhavsar, solid – tippelt, hesitates up to handstand as he goes for a healy right out of it – double pike, lunge back. Some REALLY nice moments there.

15.066 and into 3rd place. Warranted best E score of the bunch, but the lowest D of the final.

FINAL
Gold: Hu – 15.466
Silver: Yulo – 15.300
Bronze: Shi – 15.066

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To floor!

Qualifiers: Urazova, Bachynska, Wong, Hiraiwa, Melnikova, Murakami, Ceplinschi, Dicello

Urazova – double y to illusion, excellent, around – double pike, chest a bit down, slide – 2.5 to front tuck, little hop – split leap to split full, around – wolf triple and wolf double, smoothly done – front 2/1, lunge forward, saves herself from stepping OOB but going on tiptoes – 2/1, stuck, leg crossing. Solid overall, lowish D that won’t hold up if it’s not another meltdown final.

13.700. Good number though.

Bachynska – full in, slightly ragged, controls the landing, little slide forward – double arabian, somewhat deep but OK, gets out of it with a hop back – double Y spin – switch ring to split ring leap, not bad – double pike, bounce back – switch 1/2 – double tuck, some cowboy, bounce back. A good hit for her in a final.

13.033.

Wong – double L turn to full turn, gets it around, a little out of control – double double, somewhat down, little stagger on landing – pretty popa – whip to 3/1, bounce backward – switch ring, you know – 2.5 to front full, somehow manages to pull it around despite being quite low, little movement – double pike, solid, slide back. Not the level of her Q or AA routines but close. Should still score fairly well.

13.833 and gets her ahead of Urazova by .133. 4 tenths of a D edge for Wong there.

Hiraiwa – falls out of triple turn to start – DLO, short, lunge forward – switch ring and split leap full are nicely done – oooof, 2.5 to front tuck, got nothing on front tuck, sits it down – nice triple y after that – wolf double – front 2/1, littel shuffle forward

12.133

Melnikova – DLO 1/1, good, chest up, hop back – double L turn, overturns into 2/1 turn – DLO, chest a little down but fine, small bop back – switch to split ring 1/2 – front 1/1 is again a little issue with a bounce forward – wolf triple, pulls it around, wolf double nice – double pike, shuffle back. That was her best floor of the competition.

Long wait.

14.000, and she is into first but with the same score as Q and a lower D. Not sure what she lost there.

Murakami – nearly around on triple y but not sure it was quite there – double double, chest down, bounce, keeps it in bounds – DLO, nice chest up, bounce back – 2.5 to front full, such clean twisting position, little hop – double L, very good – switch ring is OK, a little shy – double pike, hop back. Good job, could go into first what with Melnikova’s downgrade.

Curtain call for her.

Ooooh. 13.966. She also didn’t get her same D from qualification. Comes in JUST behind Melnikova.

Ceplinschi – split ring leap 1/2, not quite at Melnikova’s but not horrible – DLO, bounce back – full in, completed comfortably, hop – switch ring and switch 1/2, solid switch 1/2 position – double tuck to immediate front tuck, yes you did – split leap full – double pike, a little crunched, slide back. I don’t think her D will be there, but delightful.

Do we have an inquiry for Murakami? A tenth would put her ahead of Melnikova, but I’m not sure I would have given the triple y either.

Ohhhhhhh, Murakami’s score is suddenly now 14.066. She got a tenth back on inquiry. I’m…not sure I agree.

13.366 for Ceplinschi and 5th place.

DiCello – double double tuck, bounce back – 1.5 to front full, stuck well – wolf triple, around, wolf double, overturns some – switch ring, little stumble landing it, to split leap full – double pike, short landing with a hop. It could medal. Did the double pike cost her?

It did cost her. 13.633 and out of the medals.

FINAL
Gold: Murakami – 14.066
Silver: Melnikova – 14.000
Bronze: Wong – 13.833

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High bar to finish.

Qualifiers: Macchini, Georgiou, Karimi, Uchimura, Hashimoto, Kovtun, Malone, Hu

Beam is not a role model.

Macchini – gaylord 1/2, great – Cassina jusssst somehow caught it – piked kovacs, leg break on catch – Kolman is a bit better – rybalko, somewhat late – zou li min – tak 1/1, finishes at horizontal – tak 1/2 is OK – giant full – DLO 2/1, nice finish on dismount, small hop. That routine was ALL OVER THE PLACE in a way I enjoy.

14.966, huge D score, huge number. He is as surprised as me.

Georgiou – tak 1/2, pretty good – Cassina, caught – Kolman, good amplitude – layout tkatchev – tkatchev – oooooh goes over the wrong way on a tak – that will take him out of it. finishes DLO 2/1, deep, large lunge.

13.666

Karimi – yamawaki, one of the better ones – Cassina, soooo far, caught it – Kovacs to kolamn, got them – he’s hitting, he’s hitting! – endo 1/1, late – DLO 2/1, lots of leg form, small hop. But he hit. And it’s a miracle.

14.833 and 2nd place.

Uchimura Time – Bretschnider is caught, a little close, big elbow break swinging out of it – Cassina, nice – Kolman so high but again caught pretty close – adds back the stalder rybalko and it’s late but hit – tak full is lovely into a yamawaki, close again – tak 1/2, nicely doen – hop full, somewhat late – DLO 2/1, with a signature Kohei stick.

He hit it. I know we all love Kohei, but that should not do it.

14.600 and 3rd place. I mean, it’s right. It’s sad, but it’s right.

Hashimoto – tak 1/2, a bit late – Cassina, solid – Kolman, well done – layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1 is late but normal late – yamawaki, a little pike – DLO 2/1, lunge back, and an extra step. Nice one. I can see that going to 1st, even with the dismount.

15.066, he goes ahead of Macchini by a tenth. No medal for Kohei.

Kovtun – layout tkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2 – yamawaki, slightly crooked – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, lateness – tak 1/2, OK – gaint full – DLO 2/1, hop forward. Solid one. Gave away nothing large.

14.166 and 5th place. Didn’t have the D to medal but I thought his E would be more competitive than that.

Malone – Cassina, caught – Kolman, good swing out of it – layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2, strong – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, nice vertical – tak 1/2, same – DLO 2/1, stuck. VERY strong routine. Should hold up very well. Not sure he can do much better.

14.966, he ties Macchini but is into 2nd place on execution tiebreak.

Hu – tak 1/1, pretty late – Liukin is hit, ragged position, but a Liukin – tkatchev and tkatchev 1/2 – layout tkatchev 1/2, good – tak 1/2 – some of the twisting positions getting late and ragged here – finishes DLO 2/1, good stick though.

15.166 and first place. I don’t understand high bar.

FINAL
Gold: Hu – 15.166
Silver: Hashimoto – 15.066
Bronze: Malone – 14.966

As is tradition, we’ll get it started with men’s floor, which may be my favorite final of them all this year.

Qualifiers: Bartolini, Kaya, Yulo, Minami, Karimi, Skinner, Ryu, Soravuo.

The withdrawal parade has rolled back into town for the men’s finals, with Hashimoto and Zhang both pulling out of their finals today (Hashimoto on FX, PH, Zhang on SR), so Kaya goes into floor, Merdinyan goes into horse, and Lodadio goes into rings.

This is the first year with a touch warmup for event finals, so there will be a break after the first four while the next four do their touch. I’m sure you WON’T BE ABLE TO HANDLE IT.

Only Carlos Yulo hit his mark so far on the intros.

Ryu as well, and sort of Soravuo. OK, those are the medalists then.

FLOOR:

Well, I know I sure tuned out during that touch warmup.

Bartolini – punch randi, stuck – double front pike 1/2 out, a little short, scoot – double double, small hop – 1.5 to front 2/1, the smallllest movement – 2/1, stuck – some trouble pressing up to handstand, a hesitation – 2.5 to front 1/1, holds it – 3/1, sticks that one. He’ll want to have stuck a couple more of those passes, but gave away nothing more than a tenth.

14.800. A huge score to start. Things are going to flyyyyy today.

Kaya – double front 1/2 out, stuck, excellent – double front pike, a little short, slide back – front 2/1 to front full, some soft knees, little hop – 2.5 to front 1.5, stuck – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, nearly stuck, small movement. Going to score very well. For me, he didn’t have the same form level as Bartolini (or difficulty), but he stuck more.

14.533 for Kaya. 8.633 E score to Bartolini’s 8.600.

Yulo – double double layout, perfection, stuck – double front pike 1/2, bounce back – 2.5 to front 2.5, small hop – back 3.5 to 1/2 and a huge error, he got very sideways on that 1/2 and then tried to keep himself in bounds with a big leg up wobble but it didn’t take and he hops OOB with both feet – excellent remaining passes of course – 3/1, small slide. The twisting shape is to die for, but that error pass will cost him.

14.566 actually still ahead of Kaya.

Minami – 2.5 twisting double tuck, little hop today – front 3/1, hop – back 3.5 to front full, like you do, hop – 1.5 to randi, another bounce back – giving away some bounces but the tumbling is the most – 2.5 to front 2/1, little hop – 3/1, sidewinder as most are, hops heels together. Extremely strong.

14.766 behind Bartolini! I’m surprised but don’t necessarily disagree. Bartolini’s in-air execution is stronger.

E score for Minami is 8.266, Bartolini 8.600

LOLLLL at Minami’s reaction….going from WTFFFF to PLEASED FOR MY COLLEAGUE in record time.

Look, I went GIF searching for a second, and this touch warmup group is already done.

Karimi – double front 1/2, nice stick – 3.5 to front 1.5, some legs, little slide – front full to randi, hop – double double tuck, chest a bit down but OK, a little movement – struggles on a his second to last pass, doesn’t really get the final twist around and has to hop to the side – 3/1.

14.333 and last place so far.

Skinner – triple double tuck landed entirely OOB, and a step back – front full to randi, a little short, hop forward – struggles on front 3/1 attempt as well, a little under and some awkward steps – 2.5 to front 2/1, small hop – 3/1 is strong, finishes with a stick, but that will be the lowest score.

14.100. 6.5 D score, 7.9 E, and 0.3 OOB

Ryu – double front pike 1/2, medium bounce back – front full to front 3/1, stuck! – 2.5 to front 2/1, little hop – back 1.5 to front 1.5, hop back, not really sticking here but some great passes – 3/1, bounce back – 3.5 final pass, stuck! Well that was a finish.

14.600 and 3rd place. Appropriate ranking for me.

Soravuo – 2.5 to front 2/1, little hop, some legs – front full to double frotn 1/2 out, a little short, hop – double double, stuck – 1.5 to front 1.5, stuck landing – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, stuck again. The end was fabulous, four straight sticks, what a pleasure.

14.700 and 3rd place! Woah, I thought he was going to miss out on the medals because of his D score, but he got 8.700, the highest of the final.

FINAL
Gold: Bartolini – 14.800
Silver: Minami – 14.766
Bronze: Soravuo – 14.700

I love this.

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On to women’s vault.

Qualifiers: Nancy Taman, Rebeca Andrade, Ofir Netzer, Csenge Bacskay, Natalia Escalera, Asia D’Amato, Angelina Melnikova, Elisabeth Guerts

Interesting mix here where everyone is either in the “OMG I made a world final” category, or the “THAT MEDAL BETTER BE MINE” category.

VAULT:

Weirdly, they made the time call, but that’s not how things work on vault. For the EF, everyone gets three times over.

Taman 1 – opens with a hit DTY, good control on landing, small hop in place. Lots of deductions for piking and leg crossing though. 14.133

Taman 2 – handspring pike 1/2, bounce back – good direction, some feet, will get deduction for lack of distance. 13.333

Avg: 13.733

Andrade 1 – starts with the Cheng – and it’s humongous obviously – only a little hop. Great, chest down more than her best versions with some piking at the end. 15.133

Andrade 2 – LOLLLL her DTY, so good. Huge, great twisting form, little step. 14.800

Avg: 14.966

Netzer 1 – Tsuk 1/1, bounce back, some pike throughout, feet – having to go after Andrade… 13.633

Netzer 2 – handspring front tuck full, nicely done. Little hop to the side. Can we talk about how that should be worth more than her Tsuk 1/1 but they’re the same D? 13.600. Also it got a lower E score than her first vault, which…

Avg: 13.616.

Bacskay 1 – nearly finds the stick on her Y1.5 – pauses and then hops forward – the big of leg crossing, but good. 13.866

Bacskay 2 – Tsuk 1/1, solid dynamics, but does have a little piking and her bounce back was large-ish. 13.600

Avg: 13.733, that’s the same average as Taman but she goes into 3rd place and Taman is 2nd on account of Taman having the single highest scoring vault.

Group 2 is ready.

Escalera 1 – Y1.5, ooooh nearly sits it down, lands short, large lunge back to save it. 13.366

Escalera 2 – Tsuk 1/1 – pretty solid, two steps back, a little bit of piking but not too much. 13.600

Avg: 13.483, 5th place

The final three are the ones expected to challenge for the silver and bronze positions.

D’Amato 1 – struggles to control the landing on her DTY with a large lunge back and an additional step to meet it, but nice dynamics. 14.133 with an 8.733 execution.

Every vault except Andrade’s and Escalera’s near-fall has been an 8.7 or 8.8 in E.

D’Amato 2 – ro 1/2 on layout 1/2, solid work, minimizes the hop back pretty well, some pike, not enough for a downgrade – a little off line but hops her way back to the center. 14.033, another E score in the 8.8s

Avg: 14.083, 2nd place.

Melnikova 1 – DTY, pretty much her usual, a larger bounce back than she would want and leg crossing. She gets out of the 8.8s though with a 9.033 execution, 14.433

Melnikova 2 – Goes for the Lopez (ro 1/2 on layout 1/2), she did not get layout credit in Q and may not again – pretty large bounce back, piking, some crazy legs on the block, not bad, but I’d call it piked.

And they do downgrade to pike. 13.500

13.966 average, and she’s behind D’Amato! That means a medal for D’Amato.

D credit made the difference there, and I think it’s appropriate.

Geurts 1 –  a large bounce back on her DTY and an additional hop – the amplitude and form will carry her some of the way, but she’d have wanted more control there. 14.366. It carried her a lot of the way. Little leg break on block but she keeps her legs together in the air much better.

Geurts 2 – noooooo, handspring front 1/1 attempt but sits it down. Well that’s that. I hated it.

FINAL
Gold: Andrade – 14.966
Silver: D’Amato 14.083
Bronze: Melnikova 13.966

Geurts had a good shot at silver there if she had hit her second vault. Otherwise the placement of the top 3 was predictable.

Long wait for Geurts’s score, she’s like, can I get out of here and go cry myself to sleep please?

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ALERT: They still haven’t started the medal ceremonies for floor and vault.

OMG they’re finally starting again. We’re currently 40 MINUTES behind schedule. And now I have to pretend to live blog pommel horse.

Kurbanov – One of my very favorites, keeps his legs together tightly throughout – really nice extension, through the hips, oh but kind of has to plop himself over on his dismount with a large back arch, not the dismount he intended.

Still goes 14.766 with a 6.2 D score.

Ude – really strong Russian work between the pommel and oh now he’s gone. Lost it moving out of the Russians.

13.833 with a 6.1 D score.

Yoder – good solid scissor up to handstand positions, gets a little pike on one pommel but fine – keeping legs together well through his over the pommels travel, though it got a little hairy – thought he might have a moment during his dismount but he pinned around that final full twist. A couple moments but a hit.

14.766. Same as Kurbanova but behind him on the tiebreak, Yoder with a 6.5 D score.

Merdinyan – really high position in his Russian travel and then immediately slips off. 2-2 tie in the epic falls v. hits competition.

13.400 with a 6.2 D score.

Time for the second group.

Weng – the qualification leader – his Russian work on one pommel is sublime, so high over the horse, oh does have a leg break situation but brings it back – keeping his rhythm very well through the magyar and sivado, – dismount gets tricky, a pause and a form break and just does pull it together. Far weaker than qualification.

Still in first. 14.900 and a 6.6 D score.

Nedoroscik – disconcerting lack of goggles – a little slow early but keeps his form and composure – some piked hips in moments, some loose back in moments but avoiding any serious errors – really nicely done. Basically the first FULL hit routine.

15.266! Easily into first place. That will knock Yoder out of the medals.

Kaya – showing a bit more of a piked shape than many of the top workers early in his routine, but his Russian travels and flare travels toward the end are excellent – I’d THOUGHT that form would take him out of contention but…14.900! What do I know about pommel horse.

So he’s exactly tied with Weng now. They both got the same E and D.

Nathan – final competitor – comfortably through his staddle handstand travel – good flare travels as well – really gains some pike after that but working through  it – extremely difficult dismount with some form but survived. An exciting routine, shouldn’t win any execution awards, but enjoyable work. 14.733 and 6th place.

FINAL
Gold: Nedoroscik – 15.266
Silver: Kaya – 14.900
Silver: Weng – 14.900

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On to bars! Andrade v. Russia v. China

Qualifiers: Wei, Andrade, Iorio, Luo, Urazova, Melnikova, Kovacs, Martins

Wei – inbar full to inbar shap to pak, lovely legs together – van leeuwen, strong – inbar 1/2 to healy to ling , pretty solid finish, REALLY loses her form in the piked jaeger, but catches – DLO 1/1, piking, bounce back. Perfect opening, but the piked jaeger was a thing, and I’m not sure the upgrade to the DLO 1/1 is worth the single tenth. (Actually, I am sure that it is not.)

14.733, which is right with her qualification score. I thought it would be lower.

Andrade – maloney to salder 1/1 to piked tkathchev to pak to toe on – so broken connection into van leeuwen – piked jaeger, solid – lovely 1/2 turn on high – FTDT, hop back. Not her VERY best, she broke a connection and had a pause on stalder before initiating the full turn. End was strong, and individual skill form was there.

Ohhhhh 14.633. Behind Wei. She lost 4 tenths in D. 2 would have been from the broken connection into the piked Jaeger, but what else did she lose? Oh, she left out the toe on before her dismount.

Iorio – Piked Ricna to pak to shaposh to stalder 1/2 to yezhova to van leeuwen, gets her combination, some feet, but through it well – 1/2 turn to front giant to front giant full, not too bad on finish position – double front, little hop. Nice job.

14.400.

Luo – inbar shap to pak, lovely – maloney to giener, low but OK, caught – healy to ling to piked jaeger, great finish position on those pirouettes – that damn 1/2 turn position – FTDT, stuck. That’s my leader, at least.

14.633 and 3rd place. PROTEST. 6.2 D score, 8.433 E. I would have liked to see a higher E score there comparatively.

Urazova – inbar full to inbar shap to pak to van leeuwen, some legs but fine – inbar 1/2 to piked jaeger, catches close, works through it – 1/2 turn – toe full to FTDT, chest down, hop to the side. Good work. It’s not going to hold up in this field today, but a good routine.

I literally wrote Kovacs instead of Urazova, so that’s how my day is going.

14.400 and 5th place.

Melnikova – inbar full to inbar shap to pak, pretty – van leeuwen – inbar 1/2, a bit crooked – gets her piked jaeger, somewhat close – 1/2 turn – toe full to FTDT, little step to the side. This should be interesting.

The 5-medal quest is dead. Melnikova into 4th place with 14.533.

Kovacs – inbar full to stalder shap 1/2 – toe 1/2 to piked jaeger, great height – tkatchev – tkatchev piked to pak, hit – van leeuwen, a leg break – FTDT, small step. Nice job.

14.466 and 5th place. She actually got REALLY close to the medals here.

Martins – Hindorff, good – Martins to yezhova, crazy legs throughout but through it – toe full to maloney to pak, hit – van leeuwen, leg break – DLO, small hop. Hit in the final, though I imagine this will be the lowest E.

14.066

FINAL
Gold: Wei – 14.733
Silver: Andrade – 14.633
Bronze: Luo 14.633

Well at least it’s a medal for Luo.

---

Rings.

Qualifiers: Tulloch, Maresca, Emard, Lan, Colak, Klimentev, Höck, Lodadio

The FIG media stream died during Tulloch’s routine, so we know how it feels about rings also.

But I did see him fall apart on his dismount, a DLO 1/1 with a huge pike and large stumble forward.

14.200

Maresca with really strong positions throughout, very satifying maltese and planche work in particular – DLO 1/1, stuck landing, lots of pike in his dismount as well, but great work.

14.833

Emard with a great stick on his double double dismount but isn’t quitteee able to match Maresca on execution, a few more hesitant positions, and is a few tenths down on difficulty.

14.533, 2nd place.

Lan is a step above in terms of both difficulty and ease and virtuosity of positions. He arches a handstand before his dismount, DLO 2/1, with a step back. Easy leader.

15.200, 1st place.

Colak does pretty much the very best he can do, perhaps a little high in some crosses? – double front pike dismount, little hop.

14.666 and 3rd place.

Klimentev is extremely smooth in his movements and secure in his strength positions. This should do very well. DLO 1/1, good straight shape, small hop.

14.833 and tied with Maresca.

Hoeck does very well, I would not consider him quite as secure in his first maltese position are some of the others, but these crosses are quite good, one hesitant handstand. DLO 1/1, hop back.

14.733. Almost there. 4th place.

Lodadio finishes out the final, pulls directly up to planche to start, very nice, this is one of the best ones. double double tuck, NEARLY stuck, small step.

14.866 and 2nd place!

Maresca and Klimentev will share bronze.

FINAL
Gold: Lan – 15.200
Silver: Lodadio – 14.866
Bronze: Maresca/Klimentev – 14.833

And Lodadio only got into the final because of a withdrawal.

The Hashimoto Daiki/Zhang Boheng battle for supremacy/the future begins shortly. With the two separated by only a couple tenths in qualification, the fate of all of humanity rests on who makes the tiny mistake that sees him fall to second place.

Just as interesting should be the completely unpredictably battle for bronze, where I’d say the top contenders for that medal look like Adem Asil, Shi Cong, Angela Lansbury, Ilia Kovtun, Tim Kono, and perhaps Ahmet Onder if he pulls a Leanne Wong and defies our expectations for hitting in a critical situation.

So let’s go.

Withdrawal nation has swept through the men’s field prior to competition. Jossimar Calvo was removed after the positive COVID test that caused qualification competition to be stopped and hosed off after subdivision 5, and Milad Karimi and Ilias Georgiou followed by withdrawing today before the start of the meet. They are replaced by Alexander Benda, Robert Kirmes, and Nikolaos Iliopoulos. Andres Martinez of Colombia has also been removed from the reserves list, so the remaining reserves are #5 Harald Wibye and #6 Yogeshwar Singh.

Intros are underway now. No further withdrawals! It’s a miracle!

Khorkina is sitting right by floor. STAY AWAY DAIKI.

Rotation 1

Kovtun starts us on FX – 3.5 to 1/2, a little awkward landing the 1/2 with the step – 2.5 to front full, very nice, high and stuck – randi, little bounce – double arabian 1/2 out, small hop – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, only  a small hop. great after the first pass, where he just did stay in bounds.

14.366

Emard is through pommel horse. He fell in qualification. 12.333 with a 3.8 D score. We enjoy that kind of pommel-protest D score.

Shi – FX – double front pike, pretty, small hop – front 1/1 to front 2/1, small movement, like his twisting form – 2.5 to front 1.5, stuck landing – punch randi is a problem-ish, short landing and a hop forward – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, a little more ragged than his other lovely twisting passes, small step. One trouble pass but otherwise good. He’s your new Sun Wei.

14.466.

Tvorogal also through horse with 13.200

Asil – FX – front lay to double front pike 1/2 out, awesome – front full to double front pike, large lunge forward OOB – double double tuck, good, small hop – double arabian, small hop, good legs together position – 2/1, bounce back – full in final pass, stuck. Some damn amazing passes in there, the OOB lunge will hurt, but not toooo bad.

Onder is also through horse with a hit for 13.700 lots of piking to hurt the E score, but through.

14.400 for Asil, also a strong number for him.

Zhang – FX – front full to double front pike, nailed – double front pike 1/2 out, little hop – 2.5 to front 2/1, small movement, great form – punch randi, little hop – 2/1, small slide – 3/1, some legs, small movement. Hops on everything but all of them only one tenthies. Really good.

Moldauer – SR – good opening maltese -roll up to maltese, down to cross, good horizontal – some handstand hesitation with a little swing – tucks and pikes into cross, this one a liiiiittle low – planche a bit shaky, double double dismount and sits it down. Uh oh.

14.883 for Zhang. Huge number.

Hashimoto – FX – gigantic double double, stuck, amazing – front 1/1 to front 2.5, I mean he stuck but it’s low, he junks out that front 1/1 – 2.5 to front 2/1, little hop – back 1.5 to front 1.5, stuck – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, bounce back. Most stuck passes of the contenders thus far. The double double is a treat.

14.833. Lower D than Zhang but higher E.

Neck and beck after one event, but that’s an advantage for Zhang, who improved a ton on his qualification score.

Meszaros – FX – back 2.5 to front 2/1, takes it too far and lunges OOB – double front 1/2 out, hop back – randi, slightly awkward, hop to the side – 1.5 to front 1.5, little hop – 2/1, stuck – 3/1, step to the side. It’s fine, he just has to go after Zhang and Hashimoto.

13.800 for Meszaros.

After 1
Zhang – 14.883
Hashimoto – 14.833
Shi – 14.466
Asil – 14.400
Kovtun – 14.366

Zhang is up 7 tenths on qualification compared to Hashimoto who is up 1. Shi is up 1.266 because of hitting this time.

We’re getting a replay of Kuavita’s double front vault that he did the triple jump on.

Rotation 2

Shi starts the rotation on horse – he has multiple moments of large leg breaks, bent knees and a straddle but he keeps himself on the apparatus to save the routine. Lots to take though.

13.500, about where he was in qualification.

Niceeee stick for Plata on his rings dismount.

Josh Nathan with a medium step forward on his Kas 1.5 on vault.

Onder on rings, a little crooked on a maltese – he’s having trouble holding a couple strength positions in vertical, like his straddle planche post-saltos – double double tuck is nice, step to the side.

I didn’t see Asil on horse, but it’s a 12.733. Which is sort of…what it’s going to be on horse for him.

Moldauer hit a Kas 1.5 for 14.333

YIKES. Zhang Boheng hits his foot on horse and has to come off. Advantage back to Hashimoto. Big development.

13.466 for him

Best rings dismount I’ve seen this week, coming from Iliopoulos. Stuck double double.

Hashimoto with his turn on horse to seal the advantage with a hit, he gains a little bit of pike as the routine goe……..ahhhh, he got fully ejected from the horse on Russians traveling to the end. Well, they’ve exchanged falls now.They can both afford falls and remain 1-2 though. Looks like Hashimoto also clipped a leg.

14.166 for Hashimoto and he remains in 1st. Yeah, they can afford falls.

Meszaros is like, I KNOW HOW TO HIT HORSE.

13.716 will put him currently in 6th place.

Kovtun has a pause in his handstand travel but is able to push himself back up – works pretty comfortably through his Russian, but you know, Russians – again has to push himself up for his dismount

Solid 14.625 for Emard on rings. He’ll always have a low PH score, but he’s beginning to pick it back up with one of his good events.

Kovtun goes 14.400 on horse, which puts him in 2nd place. You know like you expected?

Ignatyev’s PBars is the final routine of this rotation – very low tippelt but gets it up to handstand – double tuck work is solid – diam to stutz, not bad – double front 1/2 out, lunge back. 13.400

After 2
Hashimoto – 28.999
Kovtun – 28.766
Souza – 28.599
Zhang – 28.349
Shi – 27.966

Just like you thought.

I know Souza is only in 3rd because he has done rings and vault, but let me have this.

Rotation 3

Plata with a Kas 1/1, medium hop back. 14.000

Asil – SR – good flat maltese position – tuck and pikes and rolls up to iron cross, strong – planche position is successfully horizontal – good handstand – double double layout is a bit ragged with a hop forward, but has the D going for him. Strong routine.

Onder has a bit of an adventure on his vault landing, Kas 1.5, large crossover step. 13.966

14.466 for Asil. He’s doing the job he needs to do.

Zhang – SR – opens with a maltese, nice and flat – front pikes up to planche, smooth and high, down into iron cross – these positions are excellent – front tucks up to handstand, some hesitation in these handstands – hop back on dismount, but nice early finish on double double. 14.600 will help him.

Hashimoto – SR – maltese is a bit quick, to cross, higher position – front tuck and pikes, to cross, not quite as flat as the others, coming in a bit low – finishes with a nice stuck double double tuck though. Did what he could do.

13.966 is a big improvement on his qualification score. He moves jussssst ahead of Zhang, which was critical for him after rings. Vault and PBars should be pretty similar, and then Hashimoto has the edge on HB.

Moldauer hits another huge PBars routine for 14.900, which is what he did to get himself into the final on that event. He’s ahead of Asil now…with a fall on rings. But Moldauer still has to do HB.

Meszaros with a lunge back on his double double rings dismount.

Kovtun – SR – his maltese position is pretty archy in the back – front pikes and front tuck to a swing to L sit – pretty large arch in handstands – double double tuck is fine, bounce back. Will be a low score and was always going to be a low score. 12.933

Ignatyev sticks a double double layout on HB.

A look back at Kuavita’s HB on the actual broadcast – excellent Kovacs position – and his tak 1/1 is completely inoffensive – goes for the triple pike dismount and just sticks it.

Shi – SR – a little lax in planche position – maltese is fine – front pikes and front tucks to cross, VERY high position – has to bring the rings together a little to control handstand – double double layout is nice though, hop back. 13.733

After 3
Souza – 43.165
Hashimoto – 42.965
Zhang – 42.949
Abad – 42.265
Shi, Kovtun, Moldauer – 41.699

Not misleading at all. Very much the way it will finish.

Hashimoto is down just shy of 2 tenths on his qualification performance, while Zhang is down around 7 tenths. Advantage Hashimoto.

Rotation 4

It’s Zhang Boheng starting us off with a 14.866 on vault, which is kind of a good score.

Hashimoto follows with his Kas 2/1, which is not nearly a strong as it was in qualification, chest forward and a hop. He still goes 14.800 for it, which…oh dear the controversy will be rife again with that score. Zhang’s was quite a bit better. Though Hashimoto does have the more dynamic vault.

The difference in score is enough to put Zhang ahead of Hashimoto for now.

NICE stick from Kovtun, really pretty vault. 14.300

Onder – PB – … and that’s all I’ve got because my NBC stream died and the apparatus streams in the media center don’t work for PBars. fun fun fun.

Shi – VT – Kas 2/1 from him, a little more ragged in the twisting position than the other top vaulters but fine, lunge back

14.658 for that. He’ll be third behind Zhang and Hashimoto, just a tenth ahead of Onder.

Asil – VT – eeeee really struggles on his piked Dragulescu, short landing and a large lunge forward, I don’t think his knee went down but it was close.

Still 14.700, thanks to difficulty and vault scoring.

Moldauer sticks DLO 1/1 on HB. 13.300.

Shi, Asil, and Onder all bunched together around 3rd place, as expected.

Souza – HB – THE LEADER OF THE COMPETITION IT WILL LAST – Kolamn, hit, leg break – layout tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, pretty late, yamawaki, fine – tak 1/2 is fine – DLO 2/1, a little short, hop. Fine job.

14.000 allows him to retain third place.

Robert Kirmes was just like, I shall do this giant is a sheep jump position, but his triple back dismount was fab.

Now, on the All Kirmes All The Time network, to Oskar on floor – double front pike, hop back – front 1/1 to front 2/1, jump to the side – 2.5 to 1/2, nice stick – back 15. to front 1.5, bounce – 2/1, stuck – 3/1 with crazy legs, step to the side.

Stuck double front PBars dismount from Tvorogal.

Nathan – HB – Yam, some piking – Kovacs – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2, a littel floppy – tak 1/2 – DLO 1/1, piking, lunge back. Hit.

After 4
1. Zhang – 57.815
2. Hashimoto – 57.765
3. Souza – 57.165
4. Shi – 56.367
5. Asil – 56.299
6. Onder – 56.232
7. Kovtun – 55.999

Rotation 5

Moldauer – FX – randi, little hop – double arabian 1/2 out, good stick – front 2/1 to front 1/1, stuck again – 2.5 to 1/2 is uncharacteristically sloppy for him with some leg form – 2/1, nice – 3/1, lean and arm wave to hold the stick, which he does. Better landings than in Q. 14.500

Hashimoto – PB – healy, good – peach 1/2, nice vertical – peach – straddle front 1 1/4, good – bhavsar, such long travel, so quick – tippelt, smooth – stutz, really nice verticals throughout – double front 1/2, lunge back. Solid. Though Zhang will have a chance to gain some ground here.

15.066 for Hashimoto.

Souza – FX – front lay to double front, cowboy, little hop – 1.5 twisting double back, stepOOB – 2.5 to front tuck full, nice stick – 1.5 to front layout full, possible second OOB on the step – 3/1, bounce back. Sadly I fear this medal position might be all gone now. Definitely did go OOB the second time as well.

13.300, 4 tenths for OOB.

Kovtun – PB – opening stutz is a journey, short of handstand and has to press up – he’s really fighting these handstand positions, lots of leaning, which is going to hurt what should be one of his best scores – got it together after those early issues with some really lovely pirouetting – double front, hop forward

14.400, so he’ll stay behind Souza, but Souza has to go to PH.

Shi – PB – misses his hand on a Makuts. Stays on the PBars but a huge deduction. Finishes with a nice stuck double pike though.

Just 13.400 for Shi, he’ll drop behind Souza and Kovtun, just ahead of Moldauer and Abad.

Asil – PB – peach with a large arch and some walking – Makuts, good – healy – front straddle to arms, good – tippelt is low – stutz, secure – dobuel front, hop.

Onder – HB – Yamawaki, some piking – layout tkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/2, medium – double double layout, little hop. He’s keeping himself in it.

13900, he’s within 2 tenths of Kovtun.

Asil got destroyed there for 12.600. I wonder if he sat his tippelt and I just couldn’t tell from this angle.

Ah yes, indeed, that is what happened.

Zhang – PB – peach 1/2, peach, good – front salto, super clean – bhavsar, smooth – tippelt, good height – healy – stuck 1/2 in back out. Yes.

15.366 gives Zhang a lead of .350. Hashimoto won HB in qualification by .467.

BUM BUM BUM.

So it’s going to be Souza in 3rd by less than a tenth over Kovtun, and then Onder right behind. Souza has to do horse, so this thing looks like it is between Onder and Kovtun for bronze.

After 5
1. Zhang – 73.181
2. Hashimoto – 72.831
3. Souza – 70.465
4. Kovtun – 70.399
5. Onder – 70.132

Rotation 6

Nestor Abad is like, guess who didn’t fall on pommel horse once today? This tattoo.

Annnnd Souza is off pommel horse. 12.200. It was never going to be a big number, but now he has dropped even behind Emard and Abad.

Kovtun – HB – layoutk tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 – yamawaki, pretty good – tkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, not too bad – tak 1/2, a little late – double double layout, small hop. He did what he could do.

14.500 for Kovtun. Bigggg. He’s done on 84.899.

Plata goes 14.133 on floor. He’s now in 2nd.

Shi – HB – Cassina, just caught – Kolman, fine, good swing out of it – stalder rybalko caught under horizontal – like the layout jaeger, just a little pike – but these late pirouettes are killing me – double double lay, short, large lunge

Nathan goes 15.000 on horse to see himself rise up the rankings to a solid position.

Onder – FX – front 1/1 to double front 1/2 out, hop back – 2.5 to front 1.5, a little short, hop – double double, short, hop – 1.5 to 1/2, stuck – 2/1, holds stick but swims and leans – 3/1, a little underrotated.

Well, it’s not going to catch Kovtun, but an impressive 6 hits for someone who…doesn’t usually do that.

14.100 and Onder is currently 2nd behind Kovtun, with Shi in 3rd.

Moldauer is finishing his day on horse, makes it through the one-arm pommel work that spoiled his qualification routine. Really lovely throughout. 14.866. He could have won a medal with a hit on rings.

Asil – HB – yam 1/2 – tak 1/2, legs – layout tkatchev, layout tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, pretty late – tkatchev – tkatchev 1/2 – DLO 1/1. A hit, but the damage already done for him.

Moldauer will come in 6 tenths behind Kovtun and in (presumed) 4th place. That will sting.

Here we go.

Zhang – HB – Cassina, huge, great – Kolman, same – Kovacs, love this amplitude and speed – tak 1/1, late – tak 1/2, also fairly late – DLO 2/1, kind of out of control, large lunge back. Some awesome moments at the beginning but the door is open for Hashimoto.

14.800 for Zhang! That’s way higher than I thought. With that dismount?

Hashimoto needs basically his best HB now.

Hashimoto – HB – tak 1/2, nice – Cassina, strong – Kolman, great – layoutk tahtcev to tkatchev 1/2 – tak 1/1, better finishing position – yamawaki, some pike – stalder – giant full – DLO 2/1, pretttty deep, hop forward. This will be interesting.

Not enough!

Hashimoto goes 15.133 and will finish .017 behind Zhang.

Well.

Well well well.

I don’t know where I am with this. I feel like Zhang was really overscored on HB, but Hashimoto was (actually this time) overscored on vault in a way that proved significant.

FINAL
1. Zhang – 87.981
2. Hashimoto – 87.964
3. Kovtun – 84.899
4. Moldauer – 84.365
5. Onder – 84.232

It’s time for medals.

But first, #4 qualifier Hatakeda Hitomi has had to withdraw after a serious spine injury sustained in training on bars yesterday. So that sucks. Prognosis is unclear but potentially optimistic.

She’s replaced in the final by first alternate Czenge Bacskay, who will join the lead group of Melnikova, Wong, DiCello, Urazova, and Martins. Expectations are that the two Russians and two Americans will fight it out for the medals, but if there’s any kind of meltdown scenario, pretty much everyone in the first two groups will consider themselves a contender.

Stream is on NBC Sports for those of you in the US. Right now there’s a commercial for old Russian Jewish ladies, and I’m buying.

I notice that the Kitakyushu Toilet Museum hasn’t made the Wall of Important Images on the world feed.

Introductions now, going one at a time.

Angelinaaaaaaaaa with a long pause. The Russian names have been an adventure.

Asia D’Amato is like I WILL NOT STOP AND WAVE FOR YOU.

Intros over, touch warmup starting now.

Rotation 1

The warmup is allegedly over, but in this case on vault everyone still gets their alloted number of turns. Urazova’s touch vault looked good.

DiCello – VT – DTY, very good control on landing, only a small hop, leg crossing throughout, good direction, pikes down at the end. 14.600

Wong – VT – DTY, one of her better blocks lately in terms of height, but she takes multiple steps back to control and is a little off line. A little shuffle, moving both feet, and then an additional step-salute, so opening the door.

Ceplinschi on floor has one of the better turning split rings. Controls DLO. Full-in with a larger bounce back. 

Long wait for Wong’s score.

Melnikova – VT – DTY, good power and direction, but a large bounce back on landing, not the control she wanted, but fine.

14.341 for Wong, which tells us that the reference panel has to intervene because of a disagreement.

Just 12.800 for Bachynska on bars.

Medium hop back on a Yfull for Martins on vault, perfectly solid. 13.466

14.466 for Melnikova.

Urazova – VT – FTY, sensibly. Very easy for her, small hop in place, a little bit of piking. She does not necessarily need the DTY to medal here. 13.566

Wei – UB – inbar full to inbar shap to pak, lovely form – van leeuwen, clean – inbar 1/2 to healy to ling, Ling is veerrrrrry late and she can’t work out of it, has to stop and hop off the bar. Sigh.

Bacskay goes 13.666 for her Y1.5, lands a bit short, step back.

Looks like bars has been…unkind so far.

Ceplinschi gets 13.066 on floor.

Serber – BB – hits her triple wolf and double, working quickly out of the double – falls on side aerial – second fall on bhs lay-pike – she does just a layout dismount after her debacle from qualification.

Long wait to figure out what to do with Wei’s bars score. Ends up at 13.366

Asia D’Amato – UB – Church to pak, good, leg break on pak – maloney to tkatchev, solid amplitude – Ray and falls, couldn’t get her grips over the bar. Resumes, finishes with her double front, lunge forward.

Good 12.933 for Rose Woo on floor.

10.300 for Serber on beam. 12.600 for Asia D’Amato.

Visser – UB – Tkatchev 1/2 to yezhova is hit, some legs – stalder full to stalder shap to pak, very clean – van leeuwen, hit, larger l;eg break – toe full to FTDT, lands deep with a large lunge forward. Great until the dismount.

Fenton goes 12.566 on beam

13.800 for Visser on bars puts her in 4th place currently.

Lee YS – inbar full, a little pike – inbar shap to pak, pretty – van leeuwen – some hip angle in these handstands – inbar 1/2 to piked jaeger, good – stalder full, late to FTDT, hop forward. Not the larger error of qualification but in general she won’t be happy with those pirouette finish and handstand positions, and neither will the E judges.

Stacey goes 12.000 on beam.

13.566 for Lee YS.

After 1:
DiCello – 14.600
Melnikova – 14.466
Wong – 14.341
Grand Canyon
Visser – 13.800
Bacskay – 13.666

Very large gap between the top three and everyone else after one rotation, but Urazova currently sitting in a tie for 6th place can make that up with her bars in the next rotation.

Rotation 2

On to the touch warmup for rotation 2. Wong will lead off the top group on bars here.

Melnikova once again giving us her usual touch warmup adventure on the piked jaeger. It’s a tradition.

DiCello is stalking the bars as Bacskay warms up like I WILL GET A TOUCH THIS TIME.

Shin Solyi hits a piked full in to start her floor, front lay to front 2/1, hop forward, keeps it in bounds, good leap extension – 1.5 to front full, good control – double pike, stumble back, a couple steps – wolf double to finish. Good overall.

Wong – UB – toe full, good position, into Maloney to pak to van leeuwen, small leg break – stalder 1/2 to jaeger, smooth – 1/2 turn on high, not bad – stalder – DLO, stuck landing. Very nice. As well as she can do on bars really. The D score won’t be toohigh, but the E score should be strong. 14.066. 5.5/8.566. If Wong is breaking 14 on bars, it’s one of her best routines.

Melnikova – UB – inabr full to inbar shap to pak, strong – short cast hs – van leeuwen, nice – solid cast there – inbar 1/2, little leg break into piked jaeger, no trouble – 1/2 turn is late – toe full, very good finish into FTDT, only a small hop. Strong one, will score very well. Just some hip angle in some casts, and of course that orphan 1/2 turn that will be the death of me.

14.533 for Melnikova, which is solid, not her very strongest. She’ll have just shy of 6 tenths on Wong after 2 events.

Wei got 13.733 on beam, but she basically needed to be winning after her best two events, and she won’t be.

Martins – UB – Hinrdoff, good – Martins to yezhova, legs but hit – toe full, a bit late, no connection – maloney to pak, smooth – van leeuwen goes crazy, big leg break and can’t catch.

13.000 for Martins.

Asia D’Amato goes 11.900 on beam. The Italians are not having a day.

Urazova – UB – critical routine for her chances -inbar to inbar shap to pak to van leeuwen, excellent – inbar 1/2 to piked jaeger, catches quite close but works out of it – toe full to FTDT, chest down, little hop. Will be a solid number, won’t be her very best score because of the close catch and the ensuing handstand work, but it will still be among the highest bars scores of the day. 

14.333. She’ll be about a half point behind Wong after 2 events.

Fenton – FX – double L turn, around – double front is very short, sits it down

12.966 for Visser on beam.

Bacskay – UB – Shang to pak, close catch but connects into the pak just fine – toe piro attempt, leg break, can’t get over and has to recast after going the other direction – 57 giants on high bar and then just does a layout dismount

DiCello – UB – stalder full to maloney, good  into tkatchev, ohhhhh takes it too far and falls. Melnikova just got the buffer she needed heading to beam – piked jaeger, good – Church, hit – pak – van leeuwen, small leg break – FTDT, small hop.

Bachysnka – BB – bhs to front tuck, very solid – switch to switch 1/2 to split jump, a little short on the 1/2, otherwise nice – aerial to split ring jump, little check, breaks combo into bhs – still does bhs and has her biggest wobble on it – split leap to side aerial, secure – switch ring, not quite, another lean correction – dobule tuck dismount, got nothing on that, barely around, lunge back

12.766 for DiCello drops her to 4th place, .533 back of Urazova now

Hubareva finishes up floor with a 2.5, medium step – 2/1, bounce back, leg crossing

After 2:
Melnikova – 28.999
Wong – 28.407
Urazova – 27.899
DiCello – 27.366
Wei – 27.099

It speaks to the gap between the top athletes and everyone else that DiCello and Wei are in the top 5 with falls on one of their two routines. DiCello’s fall was the first blink from a top contender. Visser and Ceplinschi have been the strongest of the next tier thus far, sitting in 6th and 7th. Martins still managed to be in 8th with her own bars fall.

Rotation 3

Well, so, um, beam.

Melnikova will lead off here.

Melnikova – BB – switch mean to switch to split leap, very small correction at the end – bhs loso, nice – aerial to split jump to straddle jump – bhs 1/1, bend at the hips, pulls it back – wolf double, some extemporaneous arm waving but fine – side somi, pulls it up quickly – split ring jump, little check – double pike, bounce back and an extra step, but a hit. Dare I say it’s smooth sailing now?

13.800 for her on beam. Even higher than I thought it would be.

Wei – FX – 3/1 to punch front gets verrrrry low, deep squat, just does pull it back – double tuck, step back – 2/1 is no trouble. Just a 12.400

Fenton hits a solid DTY for 14.333 there.

Martins – BB – side aerial to bhs, good – split leap to side somi, arm wave – y spin, nice – wolf jump to sissone – split 1/2 with a lean correction – aerial, little pause before split jump to bhs – 2/1 dismount, bounce.

Asia’ D’Amato bounces back OOB on full in first pass. Dood double arabian though

Alice D’Amato hits a secure DTY, only a small hop to the side, some soft knees

Long wait for Martins beam score. 12.933, 1 tenth behind Wei right now.

Urazova – BB – immediately falls on loso mount. Dear dear. AN ACRO SERIES THOUGH – WITH THREE WHOLE ELEMENTS –  aerial to split jump, solid – onodi, large leg-up check – wolf triple was a little uncomfortable by her standards, the double is fine – side aerial, solid – bhs bhs 2.5, good, small hop. Well, opened the door back up for DiCello for a medal there.

Visser with a hit on floor, though I do wonder if her 3/1 is risking downgrade. 12.666 has her currently in 4th.

Urazova just 12.333 on beam.

Lee YS – FX – doubel y spin, around, falls out of it a bit – pike full in, very deep, hops back to get herself under control, 3/1, crossed legs but pretty secure landing – split leap full, around – 1.5 to front full, a couple shuffles back – wolf double, hit – double pike, slide back

Bacskay goes 11.700 on beam.

DiCello – BB – candle mount, hit – wolf triple and wolf double, fine, just slightly rushed – side aerial, hit – switch to split – bhs loso loso, secure, tiniest lean – aerial, keeps moving into straddle and split but they’re rather short – straddle 1/2 from side, little lean – long pause befroe dismount bhs bhs double tuck, deep but hit, bounce back. That will bring her right back in it. Lots of little tenths that will add up, but also will be one of the best beam scores we’ve seen.

13.400 for Dicello, puts her five tenths ahead of Urazova now. DiCello with the edge on floor.

Ceplinschi went 12.566 on bars, a Romanian 14.

DiCello’s score has been up for a while on beam, but Wong still hasn’t gotten the light.

Now she does.

Wong – BB – switch to straddle, hit, good positions – side aerial to loso, step back to save it, and an additional lean – L turn is nice, though probably takes too long before connected full turn – switch ring, E problems but secure – side somi to straddle jump 1/2, strong combination – aerial to split jump – 2.5 dismount, hop forward. Wow, she’s one floor routine away from world silver.

Heduit – FX – full in, short, lunge forward – double arabian, nice height but steps forward OOB – switch ring and split leap full, fine, a little bouncy on landing – falls out of doubel y spin before completing – double tuck, step back – wolf double, mayyyybe around? – double pike, bounce back, a couple steps. 12.533

A 13.900 for Wong (!!!!!) has her within sight of Melnikova, putting pressure on Melnikova to hit her floor. Now isn’t that interesting.

After 3
1. Melnikova 42.799
2. Wong – 42.307
3. DiCello – 40.766
4. Urazova – 40.232
5. Wei – 39.499

How is Wei sticking around in 5th? She still gets to vault, but sadly for her that’s not a huge tenth winner. If she had hit bars….

Rotation 4

Melnikova has the best scoring potential on floor here, so it is in her hands, but Wong is putting enough pressure on her that Melnikova cannot have a major landing error (if Wong hits). Wong, meanwhile, may not even have to hit one of her good ones to clinch silver. DiCello in the driver’s seat for bronze with her higher floor scoring potential than Urazova, unless Urazova brings back some difficulty.

Martins – FX – double y turn, probably around enough – double tuck, good chest up position – little bounce back – leg up hop full – switch 1/2 – 2.5, pace forward, keeps it in bounds – falls out of doubel L turn, only gets a single around – front tuck through to 2/1, nice landing

Asia D’Amato hits a DTY, good direction. She’s done on 51.699.

12.800 for Martins. 52.199

Visser hits a Yfull, a little short, hop forward, some pike. 13.400. She’s on 52.832, highest score of the people who are done so far.

Urazova – FX – double y spin, a little hesitation into illsuion – double pike, hit, bounce back, some chest position – 2.5 to front tuck, little hop back – split leap full, pulls it around – wolf triple and wolf double are no problem here – front 2/1, step forward, stays in – 2/1, control, leg crossing. I’d say pretty equivalent to her qualification performance.

Fenton belly slams the low bar on her Yezhova after her Fenton and comes off.

Hit DTY from Heduit, lunge back, 14.266. 51.965.

Rather a delay for Urazova’s score.

13.366 for Urazova, less than a tenth down on Q. She’s on 53.598, the current leader.

Wei – VT – Yfull, kind of a large bounce back, some piking, not the most distance. 13.200. 52.699, which will see her finish behind Visser.

Williams – BB – loso mount, lovely amplitude – bhs loso, good extension, lean to the side – switch with a pause before switch 1/2, large break, leg up wobble – there’s a reason she’s a favorite, lovely extension on everything she does – ah stag ring gets very crazy and she wobbles 1500 times both directions but stays on the beam – 2/1 dismount, a little short, hop. 12.066

Stacey has a bit of trouble on her stalder tuck 1/2 dismount, lands a little awkwardly with a crossover step

11,933 for Bacskay on floor, 48.665 final.

DiCello – FX – double double tuck, bounce back – 1.5 to front full, holds the landing well because she came in a little short, not much movement – wolf triple is around, wolf double, a hair overrotated – switch ring, nice – split leap full, OK, little bounce – doubel pike, shrotish, hop forward. A couple things but will get her a medal.

13.800 and a 54.566 final for DiCello, into first.

Ceplinschi – BB – candle mount, good – wolf double, leans forward to hold it, did she grab the beam? – split ring leap, not bad for those, just some foot flexing – loso series, check – switch to split leap to split jump, gets the connection – front tuck is supper deep and falls, kind of surprised she event got it to her feet in the first place, it was very low – bhs bhs double tuck, hop to the side

Wong – FX – double L turn, around – double double tuck, good control on landing – popa, a little bouncy – whip to 3/1, pretty large bounce back but chest up fine on landing – leg up turn – ring position is too low – 2.5 to front full, another very well controlled landing – doubel pike, bounce back.

Four hit events for Leanne Wong, 2 days of competition. Take her out of the Olympic Trials process, and everything looks so much better. She’s got a silver locked up.

Woo – BB – candle mount, good – bhs back whio-lay-pike, hits with an arm wave – switch ring attempt, both feet slip and she comes off – aerial to split to tuck jump 1/2, check – side somi, good – split 1/2, large lean forward – switch 1/2 – doubel pike, very deep, just gets it around, hop forward. 11.700

Just waiting on Wong’s score and Melnikova’s routine now.

Lots of long scoring delays for Wong today.

14.033 for Wong, so she goes 56.340 and into 1st.

Melnikova needs 13.541 to match Wong.

Melnikova – FX – DLO 1/1, solid, bounce back – L turn 2.5 to a double turn – DLO, small slide – switch – split ring jump 1/2, you know – front 1/1, kind of weird, large bounce – wolf double, a little crazy arms – y spin double is excellent – double pike, bounce back. Not her best but certainly enough.

FINAL
1. Melnikova – 56.632
2. Wong – 56.340
3. DiCello – 54.566
4. Urazova – 53.598
5. Visser – 52.832

13.833 for Melnikova on floor, which means she came in about 3 tenths ahead of Wong. A lot closer than I thought it would be if they both hit four events.

Well, we had two people who brought a high level today, and they go 1-2. Really strong performances from both. DiCello takes bronze. Interesting that even if you give her back the fall on bars, she’s still in 3rd. I mean, well not interesting because that’s also correct based on gymnastics, but worth noting. No one else besides the top 2 had big days, and DiCello was the strongest of those with a miss. Urazova able to take 4th on talent despite major downgrades and a beam fall.

Visser amazing for 5th place, the best Dutch performance in the AA ever.

Like Urazova, Wei Xiaoyuan managed a high ranking (6th) despite nowhere near her best level. Martins in 7th is also a huge deal for her, achieved with a fall.

Between Melnikova and Wong, it came down to bars difficulty. Melnikova’s 6-tenth advantage there was the only significant difference between the two on the day.