Today the Brazil World Cup Challenge had hit its peak. The public filled the Ibirapuera Stadium to see male gymnasts Diego Hipólito, former world champion on floor, and Arthur Zanetti, current ring Olympic champion, compete for their country. The media already saw Flavia Saraiva as the wonderkid of Brazilian woman’s gymnastics.
Floor Final:
When the floor final began, the energy on the stadium was already pretty high, since Brazil had just won a gold and a silver medal in the man’s finals. Elisabeth Seitz was the first contender, she again performed a lower difficulty routine compared to her regular standard. A very high double Arabian was combined with a twisting acrobatic series pass and two double somersaults –one tucked, one piked, to achieve a 5.3 D score. Apparently, it is too soon for her to add the double pike with a full that she used to perform. Today her artistry and dynamic were much better than on qualifications –maybe the fact that the crowd was cheering her on helped boost her morale. Her result was a 13.400, enough to get her a silver medal.
Flávia Saraiva performed her gold-winning routine with a lot of fluency and commitment. Her first tumbling pass was the one and a half twists to a full, performed very well despite the landing that was very close to the edge of the floor. In her second pass, the whip to two and a half twists, got her even closer to the edge. Finally, an over powered double pike made her step out of the floor. As we have seen in YOG Nanjing 2014 she is capable of adding that extra twist to her double pike.
Chinese Cheng Siyi performed a very good floor routine, a lot improved from the first day of competition. Her difficulty of 5.4 was achieved with the following: a beautiful triple twist, a double tuck with a full difficult leaps and a double turn, the same programme she showed in Nanning last year, but now performed to the sound of Beethoven’s Pour Elise. Her execution score was an extremely low 7.650, even with no major mistakes on her routine. The disappointing result of 13.050 opened the door to the other contenders.
Falls prevented the top qualifiers from taking advantage of the situation: Brazilian Lorrane dos Santos that qualified in second for the final fell on her first pass, a double Arabian to tuck front, just like she did in Ljubljana. We know she took a whole year off because of shoulder injury, and underwent two surgeries, but this was her second fall in the competition and her potential of winning two medals in São Paulo –beam and floor- came down to none. Ayelen Tarabini unfortunately fell on the front double tuck that is the spinal cord of her entire floor routine and finished in 6th place.
Finally, German Leah Griesser performed a simple but very well executed routine and grabbed the bronze. If artistry was not her best feature, good leaps and determination granted her the medal. With a double pike, one and a half twist to a full and a two and a half twist, Leah rose up to the challenge.
Beam Final
The beam final began with Ana Lago, from Mexico. Fifth qualifier to the event, she packed some pretty hard skills on her routine –a back tuck with a half twist and a BHS to layout- but fell on both. Hiu Wong from Hong Kong performed a nice but way too easy routine to contend for a medal. She also lost most of her connections and gave a lot away to the judges.
Chen Siyi performed the first strong routine of this final. She packed in a roundoff to layout, front tuck to ring and a very high switch leap to ring. But she was off today. Many wobbles made evident that she did not trust herself. A final score of 13.725 left her out of the podium.
Flávia Saraiva mounted the beam under a lot of pressure from the Brazilian crowd. Her gold on floor just a few minutes earlier had put the hopes on her sky high. She performed a routine that was a considerable upgrade from what she delivered in Nanning last year: a BHS to two LOSOs, a roundoff to layout, a front tuck to wolf jump and a series of two connected aerial walkovers to side somi added up her acro difficulty. She was very confident, gave very little away to the judges and got a 15.100. Here, she proved that she is definitely capable of working under pressure.
The crowd’s fervour had to wait for Shang’s bid for the gold. She was in for it today, and gave a confident performance. She started with a BHS to two LOSOs, then a bhs so to bhs to layout with a little wobble. A highlight was a beautiful front aerial walkover to ring. Her F rated dismount – a triple twist- was maybe the real advantage she had over Saraiva. She ended up with a 6.7 difficulty, a 8.700 execution, totalizing 15.400 .
The third spot was Sophie Scheder’s. She got a 14.000, a point and a hundred lower than Saraiva, the silver medalist. Her artistry and elegance made the difference on her beam routine today. A brave high leg turn, bold leaps and a stretched gainer dismount composed her 5.5 D score.
To sum up
One of the main features of this championship was the Germany vs Brazil contest. The teams will be direct competitors at Glasgow, for they are both hoping to qualify for the Team Finals.
If we take it from this perspective, Germany has the upper hand: they got five medals overall and every single one of their gymnasts took at least one medal home. Brazil medaled three times, but realistic analysis predicted five. Rebecca Andrade disappointed on bars and Lorrane dos Santos, on floor and beam.
Shang Chunsong was the most successful gymnast, winning two golds –one beam and the uneven bars. Flavia Saraiva was second, with one gold on floor and a silver on beam. Elisabeth Seitz was third, with a bronze on bars and a silver on floor. But Flavia Saraiva was the one that took most advantage of the competition, for she now consolidated her position as the main hope for Brazilian gymnastics. She proved that she is reliable and can hit her routines when most needed.
For the Chinese, Deng Yalang did her job winning the vault, even though she will need to improve her execution to contend at Worlds. Chunsong Shang could have done even better has she not failed to qualify for the floor finals. Considering her difficulty, Chen Siyi should have been in at least one podium, but she lacks some power as shown on the floor, and consistency, as seen on the beam.
The event was sure a test to the gymnasts when it comes to dealing with the Brazilian public that cheers loudly during competitions. The public played a nice role, though. People would cheer to every gymnast, not only Brazilians, and respond to their appeal for energy. On Sunday, a big Chinese crowd came to cheer and the Brazilians chanted along with them. We can expect a cheerful and supportive public during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Flávia Saraiva’s beam:
Flávia Saraiva’s floor:
Full day one Event Final’s vídeo is available on youtube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJHJ14_GRoA
Article by: Ana Livia
Photo cover: from HERE