American stars Rebecca Bross and Jordyn Wieber won the all-around and qualified in first place to multiple event finals in their respective age divisions at the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships, held Friday in Melbourne, Australia.
Hampered as usual by her low start value on uneven bars, 2010 American Cup silver medalist Alexandra Raisman finished second (58.25) behind Bross (59.15). She was followed by 2008 Russian Olympian Ksenia Afanasyeva (57.45), who had the third highest scores on vault (14.55), bars (14.55) and floor (14.0).
Bross had the highest score on uneven bars (15.15) and floor exercise (14.6), while Raisman posted the top number on vault. China's Wu Liufang, who has won gold on balance beam in the last two World Cup events she's entered, was the top scorer on that event (14.85).
Bross qualified fourth to Sunday's event finals on beam despite falling on the beam during her routine (14.35). Raisman qualified second on beam (14.8) and floor (14.35). Wu, fourth all-around (55.5, held back by an 18th place 12.85 on vault) also had the third-highest score of the day on uneven bars (14.5).
In the junior division, 2009 American Cup champion Jordyn Wieber returned after being sidelined by injury for nearly a year to easily win the junior title (59.55) over reigning U.S. junior champion Kyla Ross (58.0). Wieber's all-around score would have been good enough to win gold in the senior division as well.
The meet was a tour de force by Wieber, who obviously hasn't lost a beat since becoming the youngest woman to win an American Cup title since 1980. The 14-year-old from DeWitt, Mich. posted the highest scores on bars (14.8), beam (15.2) and floor (14.45), where she showed a new routine with upgraded choreography.
The U.S.'s Sabrina Vega finished third overall (56.6) but was not given a medal due to the two-per-coutnry rule. Russia's Anna Rodionova won bronze (53.45), followed by Canada's Madeline Gardiner (53.4) and Tan Sixin of China (53.2).
First-year senior Emily Little of Australia was the highest women's finisher in either division. Little finished fifth in the all-around behind China's Wu (55.35) and qualified to all four event finals.
World champion Bridget Sloan, who injured her ankle just before leaving for the Pacific Rim Championships, and 2009 World bars finalist Larissa Miller of Australia were both limited to performing on uneven bars. Sloan qualified to the final in seventh place (13.65, 7.55 E-score), while Miller finished fifth.
The U.S. won the team title, followed by China, Australia and Canada. Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
In the men's competition, gymnasts from North America won the senior and junior all-around titles during Thursday's men's event finals qualification. Men's event finals will be held Saturday.
2008 Canadian Olympic team member Nathan Gafuik was the top overall gymnast, followed by Australia's Sam Offord and China's Huang Yuguo. Gafuik finished no higher than third on any event, but strong scores on parallel bars (14.8) and high bar (14.2) propelled him to the top of the standings.
The U.S.'s Danell Leyva, 18, was in a good postition to win the all-around title before suffering a 10.6 on floor (4.8 E-score). Leyva posted the top scores on parallel bars (15.45) and high bar (14.75) and finished seventh all-around.
Newly crowned NCAA champion Chris Cameron (Michigan) finished fourth all-around (85.2) and second on pommel horse (13.75). 2009 World floor finalist Steven Legendre finished second on floor (15.15) but poor execution marks on pommel horse and high bar kept him from finishing higher than seventh all-around.
Huang had the top score of the meet on floor exercise (15.5), but was not in the top five on any other event. Singapore's Zi Jie Gan, a pommel horse specialist, demonstrated beautiful form on pommels and leads going into Saturday's event finals (13.9, 9.0 E-score). Offord had the best score on rings (15.35), while China's Zhang Leyand received a E-score of 9.75 to lead on vault (15.95).
New Yorker John Orozco won the junior men's title, followed by C.J. Maestas (84.3). Third place went to China's Zhou Shixiong (84.25). Orozco had the highest scores on pommel horse (14.3) and high bar (14.0), while finishing second on floor (14.1) and rings (14.5).
Maestas had the highest mark on rings (15.2). His lowest finish was fifth on vault (15.3). Canada's Jaylan Birl was the top scorer on floor (14.25), while Zhou had the best routines on vault (15.85) and parallel bars (14.85).
The U.S. won the men's team title over the Chinese. Canada was third, followed by Australia and Russia. New Zealand and Singapore rounded out the men's team competition.
Related: Complete results from the 2010 Pacific Rim Championships: Senior women, junior women, senior men, junior men
Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.
Comments