12:25 p.m. Stuttgart time: This women's all-around final, though devoid of some of the more prominent gymnasts initially announced to compete (Ksenia Afanasyeva and Lauren Mitchell, for example), should nevertheless be quite interesting. Here's the women's lineup:
- Emily Little (AUS)
- Yulia Inshina (RUS)
- Huang Qiushuang (CHN)
- Nadine Jarosch (GER)
- Marlies Rijken (NED)
- Giulia Steingruber (SUI)
- Lauren Mitchell (AUS)
- Kim Bui (GER)
12:36 p.m.: Elisabeth Seitz, who withdrew from the meet due to a small foot injury, is being interviewed on the floor as gymnasts warm up behind her. We learn that the World Cup is being broadcast from the "Porsche Arena."
12:39 p.m.: Lineup changes. Kim Bui is competing for Seitz, while it appears that Lauren Mitchell will compete all-around after all!
Rotation one: Vault
Emily Little: DTY, a bit low on landing, a little bit of form in the air. Big hug from Peggy Liddick. 14.366/5.8.
Marlies Rijken: FTY, big step back. Decent form in the air. Should the Dutch women not qualify a full team to London (and it's going to be close, especially now that Celine van Gerner just had foot surgery), she should be in the thick of it for an individual spot.
Yulia Inshina: FTY, small hop. Somehow her form is better than I would have expected on this event. 13.166/5.0.
Lauren Mitchell: Lauren is looking highly focused here...FTY, big hop back but by far the best form seen so far. Legs glued together. 13.7/5.0.
Nadine Jarosch: She was 10th all-around in Tokyo, so she certainly has potential to win this...Yurchenko 1.5 with a step forward. Well done. Good push off the horse, form in the air and distance. 14.1/5.3. Nadine, in the kiss and cry, smiles and waves to the crowd.
Kim Bui: Handspring front pike/layout half, a little bit of form (leg separation) coming onto the vault, but harder to see from the side. Good landing, just a little tiny hop. Kim waves for the camera as well. 13.933/5.4.
Huang Qiushuang: DTY, nice. Only form things were a small hop at the end and a small amount of bent legs. Huang is in a pink, purple and black leotard with a random reddish mesh sleeve, but overall I approve of it far more than the one she wore in all-around finals in Tokyo, which is shown at left. 14.333/5.8.
Giulia Steingruber: Handspring Rudi, a tad abrupt on the landing and takes a 0.3 step back, but totally rotated. Flexed feet in the air though. 14.966/6.3. That's what difficulty does in this code -- puts you in first, even though Huang's vault was probably the prettiest.
Standings after one rotation: Steingruber, followed by Little, followed by Huang.
Rotation two: Uneven bars
Warmup notes: The Germans both look quite strong on uneven bars. Lauren Mitchell is probably happy to get vault out of the way. Hey, is that 2007 World bars bronze medalist Marie-Sophie Hindermann doing commentary? It looks like her...
Marlies Rijken: Rijken is wearing the red, white and blue Dutch team leotard...jump to high bar, full turn not quite in handstand, stalder blind to front stalder to pike Jaeger, good. Stalder to bail to Ray, a little bit off, blind to front giant to double front with a step forward. Not bad, and very nice in parts. Not her best event, but not bad either. She gives what I interpret as a Thank-God-that-one's-over smile as she accepts congratulations from Lieke Wevers. 13.2/5.4.
Yulia Inshina: Toe shoot to high, inbar blind to pike Jaeger, inbar stalder to inbar full, Pak, toe half to stalder to Ray, blind to nicely done double front with nearly stuck landing. Actually, that might have been totally stuck, it was hard to tell given the camera angle. Inshina is wearing the purple and white leotard that Viktoria Komova and Ksenia Afanasyeva wore to become World champions in Tokyo. Obviously she hopes it works for her too. So far, so good. That was a nice routine. In the Russian tradition, Inshina too competes far better than she trains. Um, 13.333? 14.333? 5.7 was her D-score. Something like that...
Lauren Mitchell: Hecht mount, stalder blind to Jaeger, toe full to bail to Ray to almost dead hang but recoups well, toe stalder, toe blind to double front. Determined routine, not a lot of great natural swing, but she made it through. 5.5/7.833 -- you do the math.
Nadine Jarosch: Toe full to toe shoot to high, toe blind to pike Jaeger, very good...bail to Ray, giants to stuck full twisting double tuck dismount. Nicely done. 5.3/8.4 draws applause from the crowd. Nadine waves.
Kim Bui: Toe Khorkina II to high a little bit labored, toe stalder full to Geinger. Jaeger. Pak. Maloney to bail to Ray, well done. Giants to full twisting double tuck, small hop. The German audience, all of whom seems to have red fans, clap heartily and wave them at her. She waves to them. Nice routine after the first transition. 6.1/7.933 moves her into first.
Huang Qiushuang: Hecht mount, blind ton front stalder to Ono to full spin in other direction front stalder full in combo with pike Jaeger. Pak to handstand half turn to toe shoot to high, blind to full spin to half turn to double layout, tiny hop. Great stuff. No problems in that routine. High fives her coach. 6.7/8.5
Giulia Steingruber: Shaposh to Pak, Khorkina II to high, full turn to Geinger. Half turn to blind to front giant to double front (cowboyed on second flip), small hop. Nice routine and a big smile from her. 12.966/4.9. Low start score, comparatively.
Emily Little: Hecht mount, toe stalder to toe blind to Jaeger, bail to Ray, toe full to giants to double layout, a littl ebit of leg form. Like Mitchell, this is not really her event, but she got through. She obviously works at hitting her handstands. 13.166/5.3.
Standings after two rotations: 1. Huang 2. Bui 3. Steingruber 4. Jarosch 5. Little.
Rotation three: Balance beam
Fashion notes! Aside from Huang, the women here are sticking to national team gear. Little is in black with pink and blue "Aussie" swirls, which we've seen before, while Mitchell is in a white, green and yellow version, which we've also seen before. The Germans are both in the flattering pink, black and gold look they wore for team finals at Worlds.
Yulia Inshina: Press handstand to forward roll mount. Switch to back tuck. Sheep. Front aerial, bhs, layout, small wobble. Scissone, wolf. Side somie, one of the prettier ones being done today, too. Full turn with leg up. Side aerial, easy. Moving well so far. Switch ring, small wobble, questionable if that will get credit, as her head might not have been back far enough. Double pike with very good landing, small hop. Aside from two small wobbles, a nice routine from the World beam finalist. Really nice dismount. And a smile in the kiss and cry! 14.2/5.9.
Lauren Mitchell: If she's going to make a move, it's got to begin now...Chest roll mount, one of her signatures...bhs, bhs to two feet, layout to two feet and falls! She has had big problems with that pass all year...and she didn't look that off in the air. Jumps. 2.5 turn in wolf position, very impressive, draws applause. Switch half, wobble, back pike. Front aerial, nice, switch, punch front. Switch ring, very well done. Bhs, bhs, double pike with a hop. Judges take awhile to get this score up, as this is the first fall of the meet...13.266/6.2.
Nadine Jarosch: Save of the day on her punch front -- stumbles back like three steps and still keeps it on the beam. Bhs, layout, no frills, small wobble. Switch half. This will now be a test of how well she regains her forucs. Switch to back tuck, steps back but no wobble. Sheep, small wobble there. Side aerial. Full turn to scissone, small wobble again. Jumps. Like Seitz, this is her weak event, even though she has some good tricks. Not a lot in her choreo, nor does she look terribly inspired performing it -- needs more extension and maybe to pick her head up a little. Side somie. Illusion. Roundoff, 2.5 and puts her hand down. Just a little too hesitant on that when she should have attacked it. Gets a 12.-something.
Kim Bui: Her save on her roundoff, layout stepout mount rivals that of Jarosch's on her first element: leg comes up and she goes off to the side, but doesn't fall. Whew. Side aerial. Switch. Jumps. Side somie, bends low to save it, a little nervous. Full turn. Arena is dead silent watching this. Switch half. Roundoff, double pike with a hop forward. Bui waves, Germans applaud. Oh, she looks relieved. 12.866/5.3.
Huang Qiushuang: Leap on. Punch front to Korbut, very nice. Front aerial, excellent but very long pause before her bhs, back pike, teeny check. Switch to back tuck, much better connection. Sheep. Side aerial, great. Onodi, wonderful. Jumps. She is totally hitting this. Switch ring. Full turn. Excellent roundoff, double pike, just a small hop. Great routine! Aside from the long pause on her front aerial to bhs, layout combo, that looked almost totally flawless. 14.533/5.9 moves her deservedly into first. Huang has no reaction whatsoever.
Giulia Steingruber: Swing through to sit mount. Front pike. Switch to side somie. Bhs, layout to two feet, a bit off, gives up and falls. Might have fought a bit more for that, but probably would have fallen anyway. Jumps. Front aerial. Full turn. Switch half. Very good full twisting Gainer layout off the end of the beam, which was recently named after her in the code of points...in the kiss and cry, Steingruber shrugs and smiles. 12.366/5.3.
Emily Little: Swing through to sit mount. Punch front. Full turn in sit position a la Lauren Mitchell. Front aerial, tiny check, bhs, layout. Switch wolf, switch, back tuck combo. We so rarely see that element, the switch wolf...Switch side. Roundoff, double pike with two steps back, just a little too much power there...13.133/5.3.
While the judges deliberate, Philipp Boy, who is sitting in front of the kiss and cry, is recognized by the announcers (and some screaming female fans) and stands and waves briefly.
Marlies Rijken: Switch, back tuck. Jumps. Bhs, layout, very well done. Standing Arabian, very nice! Applause from a gymnastics-wise audience, who recognizes how hard it is to do that well. Switch half. Side aerial. Side somie. Her very unusual dismount: Cartwheel into double tuck. Amazing she gets as much height on that as she does and doesn't do it from a roundoff...13.833/5.5. Marlies looks delighted.
Rotation four: Floor exercise
Nadine Jarosch: "2046." Love this music...Switch full to begin...Full in tuck, well done. Front double full to single stag. Switch ring to Tourjete half. 1.5 to front layout full, very nice also. Triple turn, may only get credit for 2.5. Triple full to end! Tiny step forward but covers quite well. Very nice routine overall. Good competition for her, aside from the fall on beam. It's hard to remember that she's still just a first year senior. She waves to the crowd in the kiss and cry. 13.8/5.6.
Giulia Steingruber: Big Strug (Tourjete full) to open. Double layout with a step forward. Second pass is 1.5 to front layout full. Somewhat heavy piece of classical music whose name I can't remember, but it's a well known tune. Switch to switch side. Double tuck third pass. Double pike to end. Good tumbling. Would prefer to see her with a different piece of music next year, though -- classical doesn't quite suit her style. 13.833/5.5 brings out a lovely smile and a thumbs up sign.
Lauren Mitchell: "Besame Mucho" with choreo by Adi Pop. Whip to Arabian double, very low landing, nearly sits down and literally seems to bounce to her feet again -- whoa. Strong quads. Full in pike to scissone, perfectly timed. Double turn in wolf position, as on beam. 2.5 to front layout to beat jump, nice. Switch ring to Tourjete full. I love this routine, basically because it's packed with choreo, unlike so many others we see these days. Double pike with a small hop to end. 13.933/6.0. Lauren looks a little tired, smiles briefly.
Marlies Rijken: Also a very classical piece. Triple turn to begin. Arabian double front, very well done. 1.5 to double full to bhs. Tourjete half, swith leap, switch half. Really works this floor like she's in a ballet, which is lovely to see. Double tuck to end. Regardless of where she ends up in the standings, she's been very impressive today. 13.366/5.1.
Emily Little: Full in tuck with a little shuffle back. Double tuck, step back. Strong piece of music with a driving beat and rather menacing harmonica, like something you might hear in a movie like "No Country for Old Men." 1.5 to double full. Easy looking double pike to end. 12.866/5.2.
Yulia Inshina: 1.5 to double tuck, small steps back. 2.5 with a small step forward. Russian folk song with fairly modern twist, a charming rendition for a younger gymnast. Switch to switch half. Double full, stuck. Some slightly "cute" choreo with the slightly "cute" music. Tourjete half. Double pike with excellent landing. Hard to tell what she's thinking as she walks off the mat. 13.733/5.2.
When the gymnast is done with her routine, she goes and sits in the kiss and cry on her own little block. And she stays there while everyone else competes.
Kim Bui: Triple turn to open. Full in tuck, stuck, gets applause and cheers. 2.5 to front layout half, small hop back. Switch to switch half, could be more split on those. A polished, jazzy take on a classical piece. Double tuck with a step back. Tourjete full. Double pike, another excellent landing! Kim takes a bow and waves to the crowd with both hands. She looks very happy as she sits in the kiss and cry. 13.9/5.3 puts her in first and assures her second place at least.
Huang Qiushuang: Triple full, stuck. Excellent opening. Double pike, big step back and maybe OOB? Yes, it was. Crowd goes "oooh!" Double turn with leg up. Tourjete half. 1.5 to front layout full with a small step. Switch ring, switch half. Lovely choreo, very good use of her arms. 2.5 to end, step forward. Will that be enough? Like Bui, she waves to the crowd with both hands. I think that should be enough to give it to Huang, but we've been surprised before this year...13.966/5.9/0.1 ND. And there it is!
Final standings: 1. Huang 2. Bui 3. Inshina 4. Mitchell 5. Steingruber 6. Rijken 7. Jarosch. 8. Little.
Follow The Gymnastics Examiner on Facebook or Twitter, or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.
Comments