Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus Finals – day 2

LONDON (GBR), FIG Office, January 13, 2012: Following the Trampoline competitions staged earlier on Friday at the North Greenwich Arena, participants of the Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Apparatus Finals’ second day performed in front of a huge and supportive crowd. In a fabulous atmosphere, the evening ended with Gold for the host country and la ola going around the heated arena.

The best eight gymnasts per apparatus qualified earlier this week and competed for medals on Men’s Vault, Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar as well as the Women’s Balance Beam and Floor.

Men’s Vault

In an exciting Final, 19 year old Igor Radivilov of Ukraine, who impressed during qualification, confirmed a superb performance, displaying two equally difficult vaults with high execution value. He outscored last qualifier Steven Legendre of USA (15.866) by a considerable margin to win the Gold (16.249). Radivilov commented on hearing his national anthem: "I was overwhelmed. The atmosphere was great. It will be awesome here during the Games."

Great Britain’s Kristian Thomas vaulted to Bronze with a 15.849 total, earning the crowd’s appreciation.

1 RADIVILOV Igor UKR 16.249
2 LEGENDRE Steven USA 15.866
3 THOMAS Kristian GBR 15.849
4 FAHRIG Matthias GER 15.700
5 GONZALEZ SEPULVEDA Enrique Tomas CHI 15.483
6 DAVTYAN Artur ARM 15.450
7 BOTELLA PEREZ Isaac ESP 15.266
8 PANTELEYMONOV Ruslan GBR 15.100

Parallel Bars

Daniel Corral Barron, who secured an Olympic spot for Mexico on Tuesday, impressed with a spectacular routine and clean execution tonight. Qualified in seventh position, he made his home country even more proud, clinching the Gold with a 15.300 total. He commented on his gold medal and qualification for the London 2012 Olympic Games: "I'm very happy and satisfied with my performance because all of my preparations have made it happen. I am very appreciative of all the people in the team, who I say thank you to for this moment. I am enjoying it 100 per cent and I am happy to be here and to win a medal. I was a bit angry about my previous apparatus (Pommel Horse Final on Thursday) but I am glad of the result tonight.”

Epke Zonderland (NED), who failed to qualify for the Final on his specialist apparatus, the Horizontal Bar, gave a brilliant performance on Parallel Bars. He scored 15.016 to confirm his second qualifying position and to take home the Silver.

Second reserve for this Final, 24 year old Shoichi Yamamoto of Japan, caught the spectators’ attention with excellent lines and difficulty. His performance won him Bronze today (14.866).

1 CORRAL BARRON Daniel MEX 15.300
2 ZONDERLAND Epke NED 15.016
3 YAMAMOTO Shoichi JPN 14.866
4 YOSHIDA Masahiro JPN 14.800
5 KULESZA Roman POL 14.766
6 VERNIAIEV Oleg UKR 14.600
7 KEATINGS Daniel GBR 14.533
8 IKEDA Kenneth CAN 12.800

Horizontal Bar

The Horizontal Bar Final was a spectacular event with the participation of two host nation gymnasts, Daniel Purvis and Kristian Thomas, whose performances brought cheers from the crowd. Powerhouse Jeffrey Wammes of the Netherlands was in first position with 14.866 points until after the sixth competitor. When Thomas stuck the landing of his fantastic routine he took the lead (14.033), with Fabian Gonzalez the last to perform. The crowd’s excitement grew as they watched a spectacular performance from the Spaniard. In the end, Thomas clinched the Gold while Gonzalez tied with Wammes in second place for Silver.

Thomas commented on his performance at the Visa International Gymnastics event, where he also took Bronze medals in the vault and the Floor Exercise: "A perfect way to end a perfect week. It has been a long few days and I could not be happier. The vault was definitely a bonus. Now I've got to keep up the hard work and make sure I make the team." On being on the top step of the podium he said: "It was a great experience for the team and for me individually. It felt amazing and the crowd were fantastic and I'm sure it'll be even better for the Olympic Games themselves."

1 THOMAS Kristian GBR 14.933
2 GONZALEZ Fabian ESP 14.866
2 WAMMES Jeffrey NED 14.866
4 WILLIG Arnaud FRA 14.733
5 PURVIS Daniel GBR 14.433
6 CALVO MORENO Jossimar Orlando COL 14.000
7 CUCHERAT Yann FRA 13.433
8 MUNOZ Sergio ESP 12.96

Balance Beam

It was a bad day for the Chinese gymnasts on Balance Beam as both the reigning World Champion Sui Lu and runner-up Yao Jinnan fell off the apparatus and finished at the bottom of the table.

By contrast, Israel’s Valeriia Maksiuta showed unique skills and combinations, bettering her qualifying score to 14.300 and pocketing the Bronze.

Carlotta Ferlito of Italy, who qualified in second place, had the highest execution score of this Final. She clinched the Gold with a total of 14.500 points.

Final competitor, Greek Vasiliki Millousi, who competed in six World Championships during her Gymnastics career, did more than just stand out in her pink leotard. The crowd’s darling, the 28 year old performed a sublime routine that tied her with Ferlito in first place.

1 FERLITO Carlotta ITA 14.500
1 MILLOUSI Vasiliki GRE 14.500
3 MAKSIUTA Valeriia ISR 14.300
4 GARDINER Madeline CAN 14.266
5 DEAGOSTINI Francesca ITA 14.133
6 YAO Jinnan CHN 13.500
7 BREVET Marine FRA 13.366
8 SUI Lu CHN 10.366

Women’s Floor

Sui Lu did not completely redeem herself from her failed Beam routine and finished on a disappointing seventh rank (13.833).

Floor specialist Daniele Matias Hypolito, who saved the last Olympic spot for the Brazilian team with a solid performance on Beam on Wednesday, did not show her full potential here and finished last (13.733). Her team-mate Daiane dos Santos, however, delighted the crowd with powerful tumbles and was rewarded with cheers and a Bronze medal (14.066).

17 year old Marine Brevet (FRA), who had qualified in second place, tied with dos Santos in third.

Top qualifier Victoria Moors (CAN) put on a routine with beautiful choreography and incredible tumbling. While she was forced to accept a deduction for stepping out of bounds, she scored a Silver medal winning 14.183 total.

Italian Vanessa Ferrari withdrew from yesterday’s Uneven Bars Final but shone on Floor tonight. Her fantastic tumbles and the competition’s highest execution score added up to 14.400 points and a Gold medal.

1 FERRARI Vanessa ITA 14.400
2 MOORS Victoria CAN 14.200
3 dos SANTOS Daiane BRA 14.066
3 BREVET Marine FRA 14.066
5 FERLITO Carlotta ITA 13.966
6 LAGO SERNA Ana Estefania MEX 13.866
7 SUI Lu CHN 13.833
8 MATIAS HYPOLITO Daniele BRA 13.73

Acting as the Host Broadcaster for the first time at this event, the FIG live streamed the finals with great success and thousands of fans following the action on their screens. The archived video will be available on the Gymnastics YouTube channel.

The event continues with the qualifications for Rhythmic Gymnastics Individuals and Groups on Monday and Tuesday starting at noon, local time respectively.