31st Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships
Montpellier (FRA) / September 19 – 25, 2011
Individual All-around Final (CII)
MONTPELLIER (FRA), FIG Office, September 23, 2011: With four days of Qualifications and the Individual Apparatus Final at Montpellier’s Park & Suites Arena behind us, the 31st Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships peaked at tonight’s coveted Individual All-Around Final.
Not only does this competition determine the World title, it qualifies the nations of the fifteen best ranked gymnasts directly for the 2012 Olympic Games and those of the top twenty for the 2013 World Games; today’s competition promised to keep spectators on the edge of their seats!
The 24 finalists competed in two groups that rotated on all four apparatus, with seeds 13 – 24 taking to the floor first. They were followed by the top ranked qualifiers, who kept the competition spellbinding till the end. Spectators at the crowded arena visibly enjoyed the display, and weren't afraid to show it!
For Olympic qualification the top three ranks of the first group (13-15) were especially hard-fought, with several contenders in for the challenge. Korea’s Yeon Jae Son had come out on rank thirteen during preliminaries, followed by Ganna Rizatdinova (UKR), Caroline Weber (AUT), Deng Senyue (CHN), Julieta Cantaluppi (ITA) and Carolina Rodriguez (ESP).
Rodriguez was first up and she seemed a little nervous, losing grip of her hoop twice. Even though she performed well on the remaining apparatus, the mistakes on Hoop cost her a chance for one of the much sought-after spots. She finished at the rear of the table.
With 25.100, Rizatdinova was not up to her mark on Ribbon today, unable to hold her position and finishing 6th in the first group.
When Weber performed her last routine tonight, also on Ribbon and normally one of her stronger exercises, she knew it would be tight for her. She made two mistakes that cost her valuable points, and slid her into a disappointing 4th position in this heat.
Weber was outscored by a mere .075 by Cantaluppi and her only hope to move upward through the ranks was if a gymnast from the top 12 group were to drop down. She didn’t miss a beat of the rest of the competition!
With striking consistency, Son cruised to first rank of this heat with harmonious routines performed with great confidence and supported by an enthusiastic public. She excelled tonight, marking the top scores on Ball (27.075) and Clubs (27.150) in the first part of the evening.
As the last competitor before the break, Deng’s routine on Clubs was nerve-racking to watch. Although she dropped one of her clubs, she managed a 26.175 point score, resulting in 105.900 total. This placed her behind Son, securing China’s ticket to London.
If gymnasts from the second group could just manage to repeat the performances they gave in the preliminaries, Olympic qualification would be in the bag for their countries. However, a podium finish would secure the gymnasts’ personal tickets to the Games as their qualification is nominative.
Evgenia Kanaeva (RUS), Daria Kondakova (RUS) and Aliya Garayeva (AZE) started as the top qualifiers tonight, but since these results were not carried over to the Final they would have to prove themselves all over again. Strong contenders were Liubou Charkashyna (BLR), Alina Maksymenko (UKR) and Silviya Miteva (BUL).
A number of incidences, from nervousness to serious mistakes, were seen on the rhythmic floor tonight, leaving at least the Bronze open till the end.
With Kanaeva and Kondakova consistently leading the ranking, Miteva was on her way to a Bronze until she dropped her hoop and it rolled out of bounds in her last routine. This mistake cost her the medal she’d hoped for, and she finished seventh.
Charkashyna had worked her way up to fourth rank after the third rotation and saw her chance for the podium when Miteva fell back. She performed well on Clubs, her final routine. However, the 28.000 was not enough to surpass Garayeva, who had also moved up after each rotation. With a mere .25 difference in total, Charkashyna finished fourth.
Her sole draw back being the clubs that she dropped three times tonight, Delphine Ledoux (FRA) made her country proud, finishing 12th. Spectators cheered wildly for her in the arena.
Anna Alyabyeva of Kazakhstan started off well, but in the third rotation lost control of her hoop. In the absence of a reserve apparatus she had to leave the competition floor to retrieve it, which meant a .4 reduction. Alyabyeva is the only gymnast out of the top 12 qualifiers to drop out of the ranks that directly qualify for the Olympic Games. In 16th place, Weber moved up to rank fifteen and secured Austria’s invitation to London.
Kanaeva outscored her compatriot Kondakova, who wins World for the third time this year, by a .05 margin. The All-around marks Kanaeva’s sixth Gold medal at this tournament, after having won all Apparatus Finals and helped Russia to Gold in the Team event. With her success a repeat performance of the record she set two years ago in Japan where she called a full house at a world championship event for the first time in her career.
Gymnasts who ranked 16-24 tonight earned invitations for their nations to the second Olympic qualification event in January.
The FIG will confirm the official list of London qualifiers by tomorrow.
Results Individual All-around Final
Gold: KANAEVA Evgenia (RUS) – Total: 116.650
Silver: KONDAKOVA Daria (RUS) – Total: 116.600
Bronze: GARAYEVA Aliya (AZE) – Total: 112.450
The All-around Final concluded the Individual competition of these 31st World Championships. The event continues tomorrow with the Group All-around (start list), followed by the Apparatus Finals on 5 Balls and 3 Ribbons / 2 Ropes for Groups on Sunday, September 25.
