Finals Individual Men, Mixed Pairs, Groups
RODEZ (FRA), FIG Office, June 20, 2010: The Amphithéâtre was set today for the ultimate acts of the 11th Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships in Rodez (FRA), featuring Finals in Individual Men, Mixed Pairs and Groups. Fans were caught up in the hype as they got ready to witness a fantastic show!
Individual Men
Today’s Individual Men’s Final promised to be a thrilling event with another dual between defending champion Ivan Parejo (ESP) and France’s Morgan Jacquemin, who topped the ranking in Qualifications by a comfortable margin. Who will make it to the top?
Also part of the show and on a medal hunt are Romanian Mircea Zamfir and China’s Zhou Xiaofeng, closely followed by Kieran Gorman (AUS) and Emanuele Pagliuca (ITA), who tied in the Qualifying rounds.
Here’s how it all went down:
First on the Aerobic floor tonight was Kieran Gorman, an ambitious 22 year old challenger from Australia. He presented a fluent and creative routine, powerfully executed, and was visibly pleased with his 21.500.
Reflected in the crowd’s excitement, France’s Morgan Jacquemin and Benjamin Garavel were next. A technically clean performance with high difficulty and artistry, Jacquemin seemed to ease through is exercise: 22.250 points! Too early to tell whether he’s pocketed the title?
Garavel, enthusiastically supported by the public, improved his score from the Qualifications to 20.950. A good achievement for the 20 year old Frenchman.
Hungary’s Zsolt Roik, qualified in last position, was unable to do better today: 19.800.
All eyes were then on Zhou Xiaofeng of China. The 24 year old improved his routine (21.450) since we last saw him in 2008 in Ulm, and placed a provisional third in the wake of Jacquemin and Gorman.
With loud, vocal support from the grandstands, title holder Ivan Parejo made his appearance next. A mistake in landing one jump cost the Spaniard points in Execution and a lower Difficulty than his challengers resulted in a provisional third place, tying with Gorman.
Second to last competitor in this category Emanuele Pagliuca (ITA), was not in the running for a medal rank. His 21.300 ultimately placed him sixth.
Exciting till the end, Romanian Mircea Zamfir’s performance concluded the Final. His flawless routine, boasting the highest Execution score of this event, was rewarded with a total of 21.600 points and second place.
That meant the World title for Jacquemin, Bronze for Gorman and fallen champion Parejo on rank four.
Gold JACQUEMIN Morgan FRA 22.250
Silver ZAMFIR Mircea ROU 21.600
Bronze GORMAN Kieran AUS 21.500
4 PAREJO Ivan ESP 21.500
5 ZHOU Xiaofeng CHN 21.450
6 PAGLIUCA Emanuele ITA 21.300
7 GARAVEL Benjamin FRA 20.950
8 ROIK Zsolt HUN 19.800
Mixed Pairs
With the start of the Mixed Pairs Final, spectators got revved up about what came next.
Will the young Spanish Pair confirm their first qualifying position over defending World Champions Aurélie Joly / Julien Chaninet and the strong Romanian duo Tudorel Valentin Mavrodineanu / Cristina Simona Nedelcu, Bronze medallists in 2008?
Will Italy’s Emanuele Pagliuca / Giulia Bianchi, 4th in qualifying, make the grade to the podium?
What can be expected from the two Korean Pairs, who surprised us yesterday during preliminaries?
One thing was guaranteed: the competition would be exciting until the end, with the Romanians lining up last!
Spaniards Vicente Lli and Sara Moreno were first to set their marks and they did an impressive job of it! Topping their leading score from the preliminaries, the duo set the bar high for their challengers: 21.750!
The French title holders were next to compete. As expressive as ever, Joly / Chaninet also improved, but their 21.100 point score placed them behind the Spanish.
Lining up next, Korea’s second entry featuring Guontaeck Kim and Hyun Kyung Shin gave an entertaining performance worth 20.500 points.
With Italian charm and style, Pagliuca and Bianchi performed, scoring a solid 20.800. But would that be enough for a spot on the podium?
France’s second Pair came on stage to the cries of a fiery crowd, Gaylord Oubrier and Eugenie Raphael. The duo overtook the Koreans with a total of 20.550, provisional place four.
Though improving from the Qualifications, Garsevan Dzhanazyan and Polina Amosenok of Russia did not make it to the top. 20.500 and rank seven in the end.
With a fresh sense of style and precise synchronisation, Korea’s Yeon Sun Park and Kyung Ho Lee presented next. Their routine was judged 19.950 due to a lack in Difficulty.
Last competitors and decisive for this Final, Romania’s Mixed Pair, Tudorel Valentin Mavrodineanu / Cristina Simona Nedelcu, were hoping to keep their second position from Qualification, but their total of 21.000 points placed them behind Spain and France.
Gold Spain 2 LLI Vicente / MORENO Sara ESP 21.750
Silver France 1 JOLY Aurelie / CHANINET Julien FRA 21.100
Bronze Romania 1 MAVRODINEANU Tudorel Valentin / NEDELCU Cristina Simona ROU 21.000
4 Italy 2 PAGLIUCA Emanuele / BIANCHI Giulia ITA 2 20.800
5 France 2 OUBRIER Gaylord / RAPHAEL Eugenie FRA 20.550
6 Korea 2 KIM Guontaeck / SHIN Hyun Kyung KOR 20.500
7 Russia 1 DZHANAZYAN Garsevan / AMOSENOK Polina RUS 20.500
8 Korea 1 PARK Yeon Sun / LEE Kyung Ho KOR 19.950
Groups
In this category, Romania and Russia qualified with two Groups each, whereby Romania 1 tied with China at the top during Qualifications, way ahead of the field. Will the Romanians defeat title holder China today? Russia won the Bronze in 2008. Will they make it to the medal ranks again, or can Korea confirm their third rank during the preliminaries?
It’s also interesting to observe what the French hosts are up to today. Second in 2008 in Ulm (GER), they just missed out on a medal at the World Games in Kaohsiung (TPE) last year, placing 4th.
First on stage was China. Breathtakingly artistic, exceptionally synchronised and with an interesting final pose, the Group set the bar high with 21.550 points.
With charming choreography and huge support from the public, France performed next. Low Difficulty marks resulted in a disappointing 20.560. The delegation appealed the jury’s decision and the Difficulty score was revised and upped to 3.789, which resulted in a total of 21.139.
On a side note: At the 2008 World Championships in Ulm, France ranked first in Groups ahead of China. Once an appeal had been made by China and the score had been revised, China placed first with 21.650 points. The difference between the two scores was a mere .2 at that time.
Having qualified last, the Group from Italy then took to the floor. Their solid routine got 20.107 points, and the Group placed three for the moment.
Romania then presented their two Groups. The country’s second entry, an all women Group, performed first, scoring 20.234, followed by their male compatriots and leaders of the preliminaries. With a lower score in artistry than the Chinese title holders, flawless execution resulted in high results, and the Group took the lead with a total 21.650.
Russia’s all women Group improved on the Qualifications and overtook its female challengers from Romania: 20.434 and sixth place.
Korea’s gymnasts continued to impress in Rodez with a clean performance in Groups today. Third in Qualification, the six men were aiming for that podium! Unfortunately for them, relatively low Difficulty marks resulted in a final score of 20.500 and place four for the time being.
Russia lined up last but not least, performing to powerful beats with their all men Group. They ranked fourth in Qualification and had to be counted in for the medal ranks. With France’s mark upped to 21.139, Russia’s 20.850 ultimately placed them fourth ahead of Korea. Russia’s delegation also appealed the Difficulty score, but it remained unchanged after revision.
Gold Romania 1 ROU 21.650
Silver China CHN 21.550
Bronze France 1 FRA 21.139
4 Russia 2 RUS 20.850
5 Korea KOR 20.500
6 Russia 1 RUS 20.434
7 Romania 2 ROU 20.234
8 Italy ITA 20.107
We have witnessed wonderful performances and exciting competitions here in Rodez, and are happy to see the overall level of Aerobic Gymnastics on the rise; and for a sport that is making headway in so many countries, that’s good news!
The 11th World Championships ended with a colorful Closing Ceremony marked by creative and contemporary shows performed by host nation France, Romania, China and Russia. Closing remarks were delivered by FIG Vice President Michel Léglise (FRA) who presented the FIG Medal of Recognition to the three Vice Presidents of the Local Organising Committee Yves Estivals, Alain Boude and Marin Bernussou.
Our thanks to the gymnasts for their participation, passion and commitment; we look forward to seeing you again in 2012 at the 12th Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships!
