The apparatus finals for both the Women’s competition and the Men’s too place on Saturday in Baku. Six gymnasts qualified and competed per final, with each nation being represented by one gymnast per event (so only the top gymnast per country made it through after the qualifying round).
The competition started with vault, where Giulia Steingruber received a 15.566 (6.2 D) for a well controlled Rudi, followed by an effortless full twisting Yurchenko for a 14.433 (5.0 D). On silver medal position, Seda Tutkhalyan, from Russia pulled a double twisting Yurchenko for which she received a 14.833 (5.8 D) after some form issues (bent knees) and a stretched Podkopayeva with a large step back (14.533/5.6 D). The bronze went to Lisa Top from the Netherlands, who was rewarded for her vaults – first a front handspring full tuck- with a 14.133 (5.3 D), and the second a full twisting Yurchenko – with a 13.900.
In the uneven bars, we knew from the start that the gymnasts to duel for the gold medal were going to be Aliya Mustafina and Sophie Scheder, both specialists, both qualified with a score of 15 or above. On Saturday they both had nerves of steel and competed their routines successfully; but Mustafina managed to slightly edge Scheder in execution and difficulty. The Russian scored a 15.400(6.5) while the German had a 15.2 (6.4 D). As for the rest of the competitiors, they all had major errors or falls in their routines. Romania’s Andreea Iridon ended the final on third place, although she too fell on a Geinger. The rest of the routine however was quite lovely and the landing was solid so she received a 12.800 (5.5 D) which was enough for 3rd place.
Andreea went on to win a silver medal on the next event, the balance beam. She competed in the beam final first but this time stayed on, secured her landings, even with the price of a couple of connections lost. Her score was a 14.00 (5.8 D). The best gymnast of the day on this event was Lieke Wevers from the Netherlands. The breakthrough star of the European Games (in WAG) won the gold medal with an almost flawless routine that impressed, as we become accustomed, through connections and pirouette work. Her score was a 14.2 (5.5 D) .
Giulia Steingruber won two more medals today, besides her vault medal: she was the bronze winner in the balance beam final, with a 13.7 (5.6 D). But more importantly, she defeated Aliya Mustafina for the title on floor. Giulia was rewarded with a 14.266 (6.0 D) for a routine that contained a full twisting double layout, followed by a double layout, a double tuck and a double pike. The final landing gave her a little trouble, even throwing her out of bounds. On 2nd place, Aliya Mustafina had a nice routine, but she too had a few issues, more noticeably on her Y turns. Mustafina’s score was 14.2 for a routine out of a 5.9. L. Wevers place third after yet another beautiful performance on floor – 13.8/5.4.
Here are the official video recaps, with routines of the medalists:
Lieke’s beam (for comparison, A. Iridon’s routine can be found on Fangymnastics’ page on Facebook)
Here are all the scores:
Vault:
1 479 STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI 1 6.200 9.366 15.566 14.999 2 5.000 9.433 14.433 2 474 TUTKHALYAN Seda RUS 1 5.800 9.033 14.833 14.683 2 5.600 8.933 14.533 3 459 TOP Lisa NED 1 5.300 8.833 14.133 14.016 2 5.000 8.900 13.900 4 465 JANIK Gabriela POL 1 5.300 9.000 14.300 13.966 2 4.600 9.033 13.633 5 416 DEREK Ana CRO 1 5.200 8.766 13.966 13.949 2 4.800 9.133 13.933 6 434 SIMM Kelly GBR 1 5.600 8.733 14.333 7.166 2 0.000 0.000 0.000
Uneven bars:
1 473 MUSTAFINA Aliya RUS 6.500 8.900 15.400 2 437 SCHEDER Sophie GER 6.400 8.800 15.200 3 469 IRIDON Andreea ROU 5.500 7.300 12.800 4 444 MAKRA Noemi HUN 5.200 7.533 12.733 5 460 van GERNER Celine NED 5.300 7.366 12.666 6 454 UGRIN Tea ITA 5.700 6.833 12.533
Balance beam:
1 461 WEVERS Lieke NED 5.500 8.700 14.200 2 469 IRIDON Andreea ROU 5.800 8.200 14.000 3 479 STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI 5.600 8.100 13.700 4 437 SCHEDER Sophie GER 5.500 8.166 13.666 5 474 TUTKHALYAN Seda RUS 6.200 7.366 13.566 6 433 HOCKENHULL Georgina GBR 4.300 7.533 11.833
Floor:
1 479 STEINGRUBER Giulia SUI 6.000 8.366 -0.1 14.266 2 473 MUSTAFINA Aliya RUS 5.900 8.300 14.200 3 461 WEVERS Lieke NED 5.400 8.400 13.800 4 409 VERSCHUEREN Lisa BEL 5.400 8.166 13.566 5 471 ZARZU Silvia ROU 5.700 8.066 -0.2 13.566 6 431 PIKUL Valentine FRA 5.100 7.666 12.766
Article by: Bea Gheorghisor
Photo Cover: Giulia Steingruber, via UEG on Facebook