What a delightful vault final this year at Euros. Nothing was announcing the surprises that were going to unveil: it started out a bit slow with lesser difficulty from French Camile Bahl (DTY and layout Tsukahara), followed by shy performances from Claudia Fragapane (DTY and layout Pod, but she is able to execute them much better) and two falls from Teja Belak ( front hadspring tuch full and Yurchenko 1/1/2 – vaults she normally does beautifully).
But everything changed when Ksenia Afanasyva stepped on the podium: the 6.3 posted for her first vault was announcing an Amanar attempt. And, surprise – it was a pretty good one too. This is a vault Ksenia has done in only one competition, at the Universiade in 2013. And now she is returning with it into straight in the European final. Her second vault, a layout Podkopayeva was well executed too and with an average of 14.866 she was comfortably leading the final.
But not for long, because the next to compete was her team mate Maria Pseka. Perhaps you are already aware of the fact that Paseka only flew to Montpellier on Tuesday and she was a replacement for Alla Sosnitskaya who injured her ankle before podium training. Well, Maria chose a Cheng (out of 6.4) as a first vault, which she manage to land on her feet (not without some troubles though). It was a pretty bold choice since she had not rehearsed the vault in either podium training (which she skipped), nor in qualifications. The surprises did not end there – Maria posted a 6.3, so an Amanar, as her second vault. This was a vault that brought her many troubles but also much success in the past. Fortunately she managed to land one of her best Amanars today and she took teh lead with a 15.250.
Since Paseka’s vaults had gone so well, there was not much the next competitor could do, as much as she desired to grab that 3rd European title on this event. Giulia Steingruber’s vaults were a Rudi and a DTY. They were both beautifully executed and Giulia managed to place 2nd, between the two Russians, with an average of 15.149.
Next was Noel van Klaveren who hit her best vaults in competition this year , DTY and layout Podkopayeva. She was satisfied with her result, although she was just one step away from the podium, with an average of 14.583.
Ellie Downie closed the final with two massive (although not as difficult) vaults, DTY and pike Podkopayeva (5.2). She averaged 14.516 for the two vaults. She is a strong gymnast and a beautiful vaulter, so there is a lot of room for improvement from here on.
Here are the results:
1 387 PASEKA Maria RUS 15.250 1 6.400 8.700 15.100 2 6.300 9.100 15.400 2 394 STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI 15.149 1 6.200 9.133 15.333 2 5.800 9.166 14.966 3 385 AFANASEVA Kseniia RUS 14.866 1 6.300 9.033 -0.1 15.233 2 5.600 9.000 -0.1 14.500 4 372 VAN KLAVEREN Noel NED 14.583 1 5.800 8.900 14.700 2 5.600 8.866 14.466 5 327 DOWNIE Elissa GBR 14.516 1 5.800 9.033 14.833 2 5.200 9.000 14.200 6 329 FRAGAPANE Claudia GBR 14.083 1 5.800 8.766 -0.1 14.466 2 5.200 8.500 13.700 7 323 BAHL Camille FRA 14.066 1 5.800 9.000 14.800 2 4.600 8.733 13.333 8 389 BELAK Teja SLO 13.216 1 5.800 7.566 13.366 2 5.300 7.766 13.066
Article by: Bea Gheorghisor
Photo Cover: E. Mikailova (sportgumrus.ru)