Larissa Iordache dominated the EYOF women's competition this week, taking the all around title at the European Youth Olympic Festival, followed by two golds and two silvers in the apparatus finals.
Italians Fasana and Meneghini finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively in the all around competition, with Fasana establishing herself as the second gymnast of this competition, with a silver medal on floor, and bronze medals on both vault and bars. Germany's Janine Berger took vault gold, with Hungary's Noemi Makra making gold on bars with 13.525, the lowest winning mark of the apparatus finals. Iordache's score of 15 on beam is somewhat below par for her, but underlines her clear superiority as she achieved the top three scores across all the competitions at these Games
The Russians performed better in the all around finals than their team showing would have suggested, with Shelgunova finishing a close 4th (only .05 behind Meneghini) and Rodionova 5th. Their sole medal in this competition was a bronze awarded to Shelgunova in the floor exercise (13.525, the same score as second placed Fasana so a tie-break must have been used). Rodionova had a disappointing showing on beam to finish in 7th place but held onto a 5th place on floor, while Shelgunova yet again suffered the disappointment of 4th on vault. The Russian girls did up their performance in the all around final and had they performed thus in the team final they would have taken team bronze narrowly behind a German team who wilted somewhat in the following days (with the exception of Berger's excellent vaulting). Nevertheless, the top Russian still came out behind the second Italian so this generation of Russian gymnasts may have a little thinking to do. They certainly have time before 2013 to make any necessary changes.
The Russian men showed a different pattern to their female counterparts by starting out well then performing only moderately in the all around and apparatus finals - what a pity. Therefore, the record will show that the British men presented a stronger face of the two teams; despite their silver in the team competition, they managed three golds in total : all around and rings (Courtney Tulloch) and parallel bars (Frank Baines). The Russians managed to accumulate a 5th place in the all around (Grigori Zyrianov, in a narrow competition with the 3rd and 4th placed gymnasts), one silver and one bronze in the apparatus finals (Andrei Lagutov's bronze on floor, Sergei Stepanov's silver on pommel horse) and a host of other minor placings (Stepanov's 4th on floor, Zyrianov's 4th on parallel bars, Lagutov's 7th on high bar).
Had the Russians and British performed in the team competition as they did in the all around finals, their positions would have been reversed - Britain would have taken the gold ahead of second placed Russia. It is great to see the Russian men win a team gold again, but I hope that they can use their experiences here to begin to re-establish themselves on the world scene.
Full results can now be accessed from the results page at the EYOF website.
Italians Fasana and Meneghini finished in 2nd and 3rd respectively in the all around competition, with Fasana establishing herself as the second gymnast of this competition, with a silver medal on floor, and bronze medals on both vault and bars. Germany's Janine Berger took vault gold, with Hungary's Noemi Makra making gold on bars with 13.525, the lowest winning mark of the apparatus finals. Iordache's score of 15 on beam is somewhat below par for her, but underlines her clear superiority as she achieved the top three scores across all the competitions at these Games
The Russians performed better in the all around finals than their team showing would have suggested, with Shelgunova finishing a close 4th (only .05 behind Meneghini) and Rodionova 5th. Their sole medal in this competition was a bronze awarded to Shelgunova in the floor exercise (13.525, the same score as second placed Fasana so a tie-break must have been used). Rodionova had a disappointing showing on beam to finish in 7th place but held onto a 5th place on floor, while Shelgunova yet again suffered the disappointment of 4th on vault. The Russian girls did up their performance in the all around final and had they performed thus in the team final they would have taken team bronze narrowly behind a German team who wilted somewhat in the following days (with the exception of Berger's excellent vaulting). Nevertheless, the top Russian still came out behind the second Italian so this generation of Russian gymnasts may have a little thinking to do. They certainly have time before 2013 to make any necessary changes.
The Russian men showed a different pattern to their female counterparts by starting out well then performing only moderately in the all around and apparatus finals - what a pity. Therefore, the record will show that the British men presented a stronger face of the two teams; despite their silver in the team competition, they managed three golds in total : all around and rings (Courtney Tulloch) and parallel bars (Frank Baines). The Russians managed to accumulate a 5th place in the all around (Grigori Zyrianov, in a narrow competition with the 3rd and 4th placed gymnasts), one silver and one bronze in the apparatus finals (Andrei Lagutov's bronze on floor, Sergei Stepanov's silver on pommel horse) and a host of other minor placings (Stepanov's 4th on floor, Zyrianov's 4th on parallel bars, Lagutov's 7th on high bar).
Had the Russians and British performed in the team competition as they did in the all around finals, their positions would have been reversed - Britain would have taken the gold ahead of second placed Russia. It is great to see the Russian men win a team gold again, but I hope that they can use their experiences here to begin to re-establish themselves on the world scene.
Full results can now be accessed from the results page at the EYOF website.
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