Yesterday’s technical problems with the Olympic Channel streaming solved, I am now ready to live blog.
The final day of Szombathely will start with the traditional amount of day 2 horror—men’s vault interspersed with beam. Pretend it’s going to be OK.
Watanabe is here modeling mask behavior. We’ll see if anyone pays attention today.
No wave to the crowd from Igor upon introduction. Too cool for it. And then Milad had to do the same because this is what the awesome rad guys do.
Touch warmup underway now. Women terrified on beam. Men practicing death wishes on vault.
Holasova – BB – check on layout stepout mount but holds it well – bhs loso loso, same, small check but fine – aerial with a lean – “kicking these evil spirits that keep haunting my head” low to beam choreo – switch to split to straddle, short of position but secure – Y spin with a bit of surfing – bhs bhs double pike with a step back. Good job. 12.100
Kalny – VT 1 – Kas 1.5 and well done, step sideward, not bad twisting form – nice
Kalny – VT 2 – DTY, easily completed, hop back, good pair of vaults. No attempting to die, very comfortable on both. controlled landings. 14.150
Zelcic – BB – switch to wolf, check, solid position on the switch – switch 1/2, pretty nice as far as switch 1/2s go – bhs loso, small adjustment – aerial, larger adjustment – full turn with a bend at the hips to keep it on the beam – straddle jump from side position – aerial – checks on most things but just the one big one on the full turn – front full, stuck landing. A lot to like there. 11.800
Gawronski – VT 1 – handspring double front, solid height, lands just a hair deep with a lunge back and out of the lines. Some feet and cowboy but nothing appalling.
Gawronski – VT 2 – Kas 1/1, no trouble. Hop sideward. Some feet but fine form overall. 14.025
Pihan-Kulesza – BB – chalk snaps – short aerial, has to pull it back – side somi is good – 1.5 turn, large break at hips – side aerial, another notable check – beautiful tour jete and a split leap full is hit – switch 1/2, huge break, saved it but she’s leaning and stepping all around to keep it on the beam – another large hip break on some 1996 compulsory beam-inspired choreography – hit gainer full. Well, she stayed on, but she had numerous large breaks. Not her strong one. 10.350. Very low D. Think she didn’t have an acro series there and broke a number of other connections.
Sasnal – VT 1 – struggles on his handspring double front, large cowboy, very deep, butt-scraper with a lunge back to avoid sitting it.
Sasnal – VT 2 – Just a Kas second vault – large lunge back –
Varinska – BB – bhs bhs layout, leg-up check, a bit whippy but OK – switch ring, well completed – switch to split, good extension – aerial to split ring combo hit – side somi, secure – split leap to side aerial, large break could not save this one and falls – 2/1 dismount, step back. 11.950. Almost in first place anyway.
Pessese – VT 1 – Kas 1.5 is quite solid – small hop forward – good height and direction –
Pessese – VT 2 – handspring double front directly connected to forward roll – overcooked it, first fall of the men’s vault final. Immediately cut to Watanade to be like, “well the sport is canceled” 13.725
Zwicker – BB – switch mount good, split to aerial, smoothly landed – switch to wolf, hit, secure so far, not the most extended – bhs bhs loso, saves the loso with a step forward and a pose – straddle jump from side – aerial, hit broken connection to back tuck though – bhs back full dismount, small hop. That was…very composed work. No major errors. 12.800 and first place!
Radivilov – VT 1 – piked Dragulescu, hits it – very deep landing with a lunge back but still alive – some form of course in the knees and feet, but you know.
Radivilov – VT 2 – Tsuk double pike right to his face again. Oh Igor. And into first place. LOLOLOLOL.
Vihrova – BB – front pike mount and hits it, medium check – front tuck, solid – bhs loso, also solid, no check there – switch with pause before switch 1/2, short but on the beam with a small check – aerial, pause before switch to split – she’s breaking intended connections here but avoiding major wobbles – side aerial, smooth – split 1/2 from side, check – hop back on dismount but a good one. Won’t get the D she wants but only medium checks. 12.250
Karimi – VT 1 – handpsring double front and sits it down and flops to the side like a beached dolphin. Oh Milad.
Karimi – VT 2 – Kas 1.5 is solid – hop back.
Makra – BB – switch to split leap to straddle, same back leg on those splits – round off layout 2 feet, holds it with a medium check – L turn, hit securely, a tad low – side aerial, attempts to connect it to a straight jump full, no connection and a check, full might have been under rotated, but something we don’t see a lot (maybe for a reason?) side somi, nicely done – split jump 1/2 from side, secure – 2/1, hop back. 11.900. Thought it was better than that.
Dragulescu – VT 1 – and vaults to his hands – round-off 1/2 on 2.5 – good lift but can’t get it all the way around – not a lot of pressure on those hands, but they did contact the mat on his low landing.
The men not remotely bothering with the vault numbers today. Everyone is doing Anastasia Motak’s second vault.
Dragulescu – VT 2 – just does pull around the Dragulescu, large lunge back and a second lunge, out of the area. 13.925
Bacskay – BB – leg-up check on her loso mount – bhs loso, step back – switch to wolf jump, a little slow – side somi, held it – split jump 1/2 from side, lean forward – side aerial – 2/1, a bit under with a hop. Stayed on as well. 12.000 and 4th place.
Pretty remarkable in terms of the dearth of falls in this beam final. Basically the people who were supposed to do well were the only ones to struggle, and the people who were obviously going to fall in this final did pretty well!
Dordevic – VT 1 – Kas 1.5 is a major struggle, lands short with a hand down, quite a bit of form there as well
Dordevic – VT 2 – handspring rudi, large lunges back and off the mat area
Beam
1. Christina Zwicker – 12.800
2. Elina Vihrova – 12.250
3. Aneta Holasova – 12.100
Very impressed by the composure of a number of the beam babies in this final.
Men’s Vault
1. Igor Radivilov – 14.150
2. Ondrej Kalny – 14.150
3. Sebastian Gawronski – 14.025
The most Igor possible thing is landing a Tsuk double pike to his face and still winning gold. It’s a faulty system when the tiebreak can go to the athlete who fell on one of his vaults.
Intros now for the PB and women’s FX finals. Most of our women’s finalists are repeats of the beam finalists, but we will see Zimmerman, Szekely, and Radivilova stepping in for this final instead of Bacskay, Zelcic, and Holasova.
Vihrova – FX – full in solidly controlled, step – front tuck through to double back, very short, avoids putting her hand down but a large lunge forward – double Y attempt, lean falls out of it – double pike, very secure landing – switch ring to split leap full – 2/1, step back. 11.550
Gawronski – PB – peach half goes a bit crazy in the legs, but he muscles through it – struggling to get up to handstand in places – tippelt hit – healy with a hesitation – double pike, large stumble-lunge back. 11.700
Makra – FX – triple turn, might have been attempting 4 but got 3 – 2.5 with a lunge forward OOB – popa was good – double pike, some steps back – good held leg double turn there, not as awkward as it looks on most people – front full, step. 12.200
Kardos – PB – peach, front toss, hit – tippelt is smoothly done – stutz just a bit short of handstand position – double fonrt, small hop back. Pretty clean routine. Good. 13.900. Very strong score.
Zwicker – FX – switch 1/2, nice – front tuck through to 2/1, large bounce back and OOB – single Y, won’t get double credit there – double pike, hands down – she’s like, “I already got my beam and I’m OUT” – nice quality of movement throughout though. 10.700
Karimi – PB – healy is nice – peach – front straddle quite strong – tippelt, smoothly up to handstand – diam and stutz, right on – double front 1/2 out, small step. There’s the one. Really strong routine. 14.300
Zimmerman – FX – 2.5 to front tuck, hop, good lift on 2.5 – probably just double turn credit on that triple attempt – double pike, slight stagger – 1.5 to front full, small hop in place – held leg double turn is around – 2/1, very secure. Good work. Comfortable landings on all. 12.800. Well now.
Yudenkov – PB – a bit loose in peach half but gets it – some loosey goosey back movements here – loses his leg form at another point – some walking on his hands – hop back on dismount. Has the D score though. 14.100.
Varinska – FX – 1.5 through to 2/1, a bit hoppy – double L turn, almost gets 2.5 around – 2.5 to front tuck, controls it, a bit low but fine – split leap full is pretty – switch ring to split ring, no trouble there – falls out of Memmel turn – double tuck, some cowboy, step back, just does keep it in bounds. 12.400
Sasnal – PB – routine is one second long – LOL love it – it was like giant, peach, handstand, annnnd ends with a double front with a lunge forward. Was waiting for him to start the real elements and then it was a dismount. 13.100. Big execution score – 8.900.
Szekely – FX – Y turn to full turn – double pike with a bounce back – double tuck, short with a hop but nice tuck position in the air – front full a bit low with some legs – got through it without incident, doesn’t have the content for a huge score. 11.500
Petrov – PB – really nice healy and diam early – he finishes with a double front, deep with a large lunge forward – similar to PH, he had some formies early on with his Makuts, but hit the thing. 13.600
Pihan-Kulesza – FX – did they get rid of the talking at the beginning? – 2.5 to front pike and hops OOB again just like in qualifications – split leap 1.5, around – double Arabian to stag, solidly done – quad turn to illusion, gets it around, good job – front 2/1, short with a shuffle back – some things on the tumbling but should get rewarded for her leaps and also her everything. 12.900 and we’re all thrilled. Even with her 0.3 ND.
Pakhniuk – PB – Makuts is well done – peach 1/2 just a bit short – front straddle to hands, very solid – healy, smooth – diam, some legs, finishes in vertical – small step on dismount and a scream – basically just flings himself off on that dismount and looks like he might explode, but lands it well. 14.950 and winning by a million.
Radivilova – FX – Memmel to illusion turn, got it – 1.5 through to 3/1, does pull it around, hoppy on landing as she came in a little under, possible OOB – double Arabian to stag, good – split jump full, nicely done – double pike, hop back – switch ring is pretty – split ring leap – that should be a medal. 13.200 and first place.
Rakovic – PB – front straddle, good – long pause before healy, some arch but well done – stutz is hit – straddle cut – long pauses before elements here – double tuck, step back. Fine work.
Women’s floor
1. Angelina Radivilova – 13.200
2. Marta Pihan-Kulesza – 12.900
3. Lisa Zimmerman – 12.800
Igor and Angelina win back-to-back events. I assume they’ll go eat some bolts and get some neck tattoos in celebration.
Parallel bars
1. Petro Pakhniuk – 14.950
2. Milad Karimi – 14.300
3. Yevgen Yudenkov – 14.100
Watanabe is handing out the medals and accidentally started to give Karimi the gold medal. I would be like, “yes, fine, that is my medal…”
One more final to go.
Benda – HB – Yam, has height, some piking – huge Kolman, thought he was going to missing it for a sec but no problem – Kovacs strong – layout tkatchev – regular tkatchev – DLO 1/1 is a problem, short landing with a mile-long bunny hop. 13.300
Vecsernyes – HB – raising the height for this giant in the sky (aka 6 feet tall) – Cassina is hit, small leg break – Kolman caught – tkatchev 1/2, some feet – stoop 1/2, pretty well vertical – tkatchev – stuck his dismount. Good job. 14.000. Big score.
Kardos – HB – tak full is crazy legs – tkatchev layout fine but falls on a straddle – finishes with a great stick on his DLO 1/1. 11.650.
Dejanovic – HB – Yam just a bit close but high – layout tkatchev – layout tkatchev 1/2, hit – straddle tkatchev 1/2 – attempts a Tak but couldn’t get up to handstand, lost his position entirely and has to hop off. He also sticks a solid DLO 1/1 following his fall. 11.700
Pakhniuk – HB – german giants, just a little hesitation coming out – straddle tkatchev – and with a 1/2 turn, strong – slightly crazy on tak full but not toooo short of vertical – DLO 1/1 is an issue – lands well short, large lunge forward, lots of piking in the air. 13.300 and goes ahead of Benda on the tiebreak, just like in qualification.
Hryko – HB – Yam, fairly low – very good layout tkatchev – also lovely with a 1/2 turn though does lose a little form swinging through – straddle tkatchev 1/2 – DLO 2/1, with a medium stagger back. Good. 13.450 and deservedly into 2nd.
Srbic – HB – Stalder Rybalko – straddle tkatchev to tkatchev hit – layout tkatchev to tkatchev 1/2 also hit – healy pretty close to vertical – DLO 1/1 was excellent, beautiful stuck landing. 14.650. First place easily.
Def thought that lady in red was Suzanne for a second.
Karimi – HB – good heught on Yamawaki – Cassina is strong – Kovacs also good directly into Kolman, slightly formy, just a little wonky swinging out of it but controlled well – DLO 2/1, step back. Well, he pulled it together on the last two events.
14.150 for Karimi puts him ahead of Vecsernyes. Interesting.
High Bar
1. Tin Srbic – 14.650
2. Milad Karimi – 14.150
3. David Vecsernyes – 14.000
