The latest World Cup event took place between the 7th and the 9th of May in Varna, Bulgaria. It was a historic moment with the Artistic Gymnastics (MAG and WAG) and Acro competitions taking place during the same meet. You can find a picture of the opening ceremony as well as the press release detailing the uniqueness of the event here.
From the point of view of the gymnastics shown throughout, it was a good meet although not overwhelming: Switzerland and People’s Republic of Korea were the strongest nations at the meet, with individuals like Phan, Dufournet, Chusovitina, also in the mix for the most important medals. Chusovitina surprisingly (or is is?) won the vault gold medal, followed by Teja Belak and Giulia Steingruber (who watered down seriously compared to her routines at Euros).
The bars title was decided between Youna Dufournet (France) and Yong Mi Kang (PRK), both with good difficulty (over 6.0) on this event but also with execution errors here and there. The North Korean ended up having the cleaner routine in the finals and took the title.
On balance beam Thi Ha Thanh Phan from Vietnam added her 2nd World Cup medal of the year, this time a gold. She had won the silver in Doha, in March. Un Hyang Kim placed 2nd in Varna, while Ilaria Kaeslin was 3rd.
Kaeslin, went on to win the gold medal on floor: although she does not have the most difficult routine out there she is a beautiful, elegant dancer. She was followed on the podium by two south Americans: Isabella Amado Medrano (Panama) and Mariana Chiarella Avalos (Peru).
Here are a few routines:
Yong Mi Kang, bars:
Oksana Chusovitina, vault:
Teja Belak, vault:
Isabella Amado Medrano, floor:
Youna Dufournet, bars:
Giulia Steingruber, vault:
Here are the results:
Vault:
1 Oksana Chusovitina Uzbekistan 5.500 8.967, 5.800 9.033 14.650 2 Teja Belak SLOVENIA 5.300 8.833, 5.300 9.067 14.250 3 Giulia Steingruber Switzerland 5.000 8.933, 5.000 9.167 14.050 4 Tjassa Kysselef SLOVENIA 5.000 8.800, 5.000 8.900 13.850 5 Jessica Diacci Switzerland 5.000 8.867, 4.400 8.667 13.467 6 Albena Zlatkoa BULGARIA 5.000 8.667, 4.400 8.767 13.367 7 Dilnoa ADUSALIMOVA Uzbekistan 4.000 8.467, 5.000 8.700 13.084 8 Isabella AMADO MEDRANO PANAMA 4.400 8.667, 4.600 7.733 12.550 9 Tutya YILMAZ TURKEY 5.000 8.500 0.000 6.750
Uneven Bars:
1 Yong Mi KANG North Korea 6.000 7.767 0.000 13.767 2 Youna DUFOURNET FRANCE 6.200 7.500 0.000 13.700 3 Giulia STEINGRUBER Switzerland 5.700 7.167 0.000 12.867 4 Lisa ECKER AUSTRIA 4.800 7.933 0.000 12.733 5 Elena REGA Uzbekistan 5.200 7.233 0.000 12.433 6 Valentina Rashkova BULGARIA 5.000 7.367 0.000 12.367 7 DEMET MUTLU TURKEY 4.400 6.667 0.000 11.067 8 Oksana C HUSOVITINA Uzbekistan 2.200 7.367 4.000 5.567
Balance Beam:
1 Thi Ha Thanh PHAN VIETNAM 6.000 8.200 0.000 14.200 2 Un Hyang KIM North Korea 5.900 7.967 0.000 13.867 3 Ilaria KAESLIN Switzerland 5.600 8.133 0.000 13.733 4 Oksana CHUSOVITINA Uzbekistan 5.500 8.133 0.000 13.633 5 Tutya YILMAZ TURKEY 5.800 7.733 0.000 13.533 6 Isabella AMADO MEDRANO PANAMA 5.500 7.733 0.000 13.233 7 Lisa ECKER AUSTRIA 4.700 7.967 0.000 12.667 8 Ralitsa MILEVA BULGARIA 5.500 4.800 0.100 10.200
Floor:
1 Ilaria KAESLIN Switzerland 5.400 8.267 0.300 13.367 2 Isabella AMADO MEDRANO PANAMA 5.200 8.133 0.000 13.333 3 Mariana CHIARELLA AVALOS PERU 5.200 8.000 0.100 13.100 4 Thi Ha Thanh PHAN VIETNAM 5.600 7.567 0.300 12.867 5 Lisa ECKER AUSTRIA 4.700 7.800 0.000 12.500 6 Tutya YILMAZ TURKEY 5.200 7.433 0.200 12.433 7 Jessia DIACCI Switzerland 5.000 7.467 0.100 12.367 8 Katriel de los Angeles DE SOUSA SIERRAVENEUELA 5.200 6.733 0.000 11.933
Article by: Bea Gheorghisor
Photo Cover: source