Diego Hypolito Confident of Success in Madrid

We reported a while ago that Diego Hypolito was thinking of throwing a super hard floor routine at the World Cup Final. Well, he's confirmed it now: The routine he'll do in Madrid will feature his signature skill, the Hypolito (a full-twisting layout double Arabian). Moreover, Hypolito has been working on his landings, to make sure there won't be any more disasters, like the one he suffered in Beijing. Or so he says in this Globoesporte article.


(photo: Reuters)

In Spain, Diego Hypolito will test the effect of his exercises to improve his landings

Although he maintains that his fall during the Olympic Games was an act of fate [rather than a mistake on his part], Diego Hypolito has devoted himself to exercises to improve his landings. According to his coach, Renato Oliveira, he has trained hard to stick his landings like he used to do. This weekend, Diego will test the effect of his training exercises at the World Cup Final in Madrid.

"I hope that he gets it right this time, because in the 2 last competitions he made mistakes," coach Renato Ribeiro told Globoesporte, referring to the World Cup competition in Stuttgart and a recent national competition in Curitiba. In Germany, Diego placed 7th on floor, and in Curitiba, he won the all-around, but for Renato, he wasn't good enough on floor.

A backache and the fact that he was trying out new routines in the 2 last competitions were the main reasons the coach brought up with respect to Diego's less than stellar performances. Moreover, after the Olympics, the athlete's disappointment with his fall in Beijing made him very insecure.

"When he returned to competition after Beijing, it was clear that he was very nervous. He was afraid he'd fall again. He was imagining what people would think..." Renato said.

Diego, who left for Madrid on Tuesday, agreed that his Beijing result had caused him to be very nervous after the Olympics. However, he claimed he had since gotten over his disappointment.

"The World Cup competitions I took part in after Beijing were mostly to 'break the ice.' I wasn't exactly well prepared for them. But I didn't fall in any of the 8 competitions I've done since Beijing. I've only fallen twice in my life: When I was 16 and in Beijing. So this is not something to get worried about," he said.


(photo: Reuters)

After trying out several new routines, Diego decided to perform a routine in the World Cup Final which will be similar to the one he did in Beijing, the only difference being the inclusion of the element that bears his name, the "Hypolito," which will raise his difficulty value to 6.8. But what he hopes will be most different from the Olympics will be his landings after his tumbling passes.

"I've been doing certain exercises for my ankles, to make them stronger when I land. Since 2005, I've lost a little flexibility in my ankle, which makes it difficult for me to stick my landings. After suffering a few injuries, I got afraid I'd strain something on my landings, and this ended up doing me no favors. But now, with these exercises, I'm regaining my flexibility," explained the gymnast, who has had surgery on his right foot.

We look forward to seeing that immensely difficult routine (preferably with stuck landings) in Madrid. Good luck, Diego!