Despite what FIG would like us to believe, there is no such a thing as retroactive award of medals and once that score goes up and the girl (or team) steps in the podium, it is done. (One piece of advice FIG: get it right the first time!) So the AA in the 2011 world championships is done, let's move on! Let's talk event finals. What can we look forward to:
1. VAULT: A very interesting and eclectic vault final. I was enthralled when I saw that 8 different teams qualified gymnasts for the vault final. This is what I would like to see everywhere...
McKayla Maroney: she is outstanding on this event and she is capable to stick both vaults. If she does well, she might be impossible to catch.
Oksana Chusovitina: I admire her... She has kept her difficulty up and if she hits she can put herself in a very good position for a podium finish.
Yamilet Pena Abreu: If this girl can hit her first vault things are going to get crazy in this final. It is just extremely dynamic and I am ruling for her 100%. No matter the outcome I hope she can stay in medal contention and keep her nerves in check.
If Pena Abreu does not hit, the bronze is up for grabs and Jade Barbosa and Guilia Steingruber are going to fight for it. Last year Barbosa came away with a bronze for simply being there and hitting, this year however she is going to need to be perfect and hope for other people's mistakes. Besides the top three, Giulia also has higher difficulty and in Europeans she nearly stuck that vault.
But Barbosa has experience and since her breakthrough AA bronze in 2007 she has become more poised and looks less like she is about to break down in tears every five seconds. And slow and steady might pay off once again.
But there is more as Mexico's Alexa Citlali Moreno Medina and Tatiana Nabieva are no slackers, neither is Phan Thi Ha Thanh of Vietnam. Moreno has a 6.3 D score first vault, and Nabieva is capable of the Amanar (although I believe she would have thrown it in the TF if she could!). But last year the event finals was a sequence of crazy falls and unexpected meltdowns so I am not disregarding anyone.
PART 2 SOON
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