Most of the favorites for a spot on the podium, with two notable exceptions, executed Yourchenko double full vaults in the first rotation of the meet. The two exceptions were China’s Yan Wang, who did a Tsuck double full, for the 3rd score of the day on vault (a 14.65); and by contrast, with lower difficulty, it was Brazil’s Flavia Saraiva who “only” threw a full twisting Yurchenko (13.900). Ellie Downie, with her strong DTY was leading at the end of the rotation (14.75), followed by the revelation from Japan, Sae Miyakawa (14.70).
In the bars rotation, 1st qualifier Seda Tutkhalyan managed to pull a bars routine to be prod o,f for a 14.05, managing to place herself at the lead; she went on to maintain this position until the end of the meet. For the 2nd best score on the event – a tie between Ellie Downie and the Italian Iosra Abdelaziz (both 13.35). Thus, Abdelaziz demonstrated that it was not a fluke her qualifying on 2nd place for the event final.
Saraiva was still in the shadow for the time being, not due to a bad routine, but because she still played it safe and opted for lower difficulty (12.95/4.9). Jurca, Wang and Miyakawa, all had errors in their routines and lost a bit of ground.
Next, Seda was first up on the beam and hit yet another wonderful routine, for a score to break the 14 barrier for the 3rd time in the evening. Saraiva followed the Russian’s footsteps and controlled her emotions much better than in qualifications, she hit her routine and managed exquisite execution, edging Tutkhalyan in this department (but who had higher difficulty), for a 14.05.
Like in prelims, Yan Wang went again for full difficulty in her routine but this time fell. She had the highest D score of the meet, 6.4. Wang managed to maintain her total close to the leading pack, thanks to a great rest of routine (and a score in the mid 13s).
At the end of the rotation Tutkhalyan and Downie were maintaining their 1-2 positions with Saraiva managing to come within 1 point in 3rd place. Wang, Miyakawa and Abdelaziz were also close behind Saraiva, maintaining their hopes for medals. In the meantime, Laura Jurca had a very restrained routine, on a strong event for her normally, for a score of only 13.0, thus losing important points compared to her opponents.
But in the last rotation, the drama was going to unveil full scale: after a fabulous routine, Saraiva took the lead; she was followed by Wang who, again threw full difficulty, but this time hit setting the audience on fire. Then things started to take an unfortunate turn when Miyakawa fell on her double Arabian, losing the opportunity to surpass Wang’s total. Laura Jurca also put her hands down, on the triple full.
Second to last was Ellie Downie. She also opened with a fall, on the newly added and extremely difficult Arabian double pike. Was everyone falling now? The Brit still earned a 12.9, enough for 2nd place, ahead of Wang and a lock for a place on the podium, but not good enough to surpass Saraiva.
Last up, the darling of the evening thus far, Seda Tutkhalyan: she managed a very clean and enjoyable routine… until the last pass, a double back, when she fell. The wait for Tutkhalyan score was lived with intensity by everyone, and especially for the gymnast herself and her coach. They found the strength to laugh and maintain a positive attitude even when they still hadn’t found the score.
But the advantage earned by Seda in the previous rotations proved too consistent to beat, despite the mistake. She managed to win with a total of 54.900, compared to Flavia’s 54.700.
Here’s a brief recap with video from the Olympic Channel on Youtube:
Link: http://youtu.be/LnuhHmIlRE8
Article by: Bea Gheorghisor
Photo Cover: FIG