AYOF: Event Finals, Day 1

Day 1 of the event finals finally saw the host nation win some individual medals, with Emily Little and Britt Greeley going 1-2 in the women's vault final and the Australian men picking up three medals on floor and rings. The Chinese men also got a few medals, including the gold on rings, but it was the Brits who were the most successful nation, picking up two golds, one silver, and one bronze to add to their tally. We'd dearly love to see some videos of their performances now...


Vault winner Emily Little (photo: Stefan Wurzer/Gymnasticsunited)

WOMEN'S FINALS

Chachakid has videos of the women's event finals. Have a look for yourself and see what you think!

Vault
The girls had one vault each, and aside from Fu Bo, who did a handspring-piked front, they all chose Yurchenko-entry vaults. Pre-meet favorite Natsumi Sasada threw the only double-twisting Yurchenko in the final, but fell, only to finish fifth. She shared that position with Cui Jie, who sat down on her 1.5-twisting Yurchenko. Cui has a strange twisting technique; she twists very late and very fast. We're not sure whether that is good or bad. Emily Little and Britt Greeley nailed their Yurchenko-1.5s for the gold and silver, respectively. Little is a pretty powerful vaulter; she should be able to upgrade in the future. Japan's Yoshino Taniguchi took the bronze with a clean Yurchenko-full.

1. Emily Little AUS 14.700
2. Britt Greeley AUS 14.450
3. Yoshino Taniguchi JPN 14.150
4. Fu Bo CHN 13.775
5. Cui Jie CHN 13.700
5. Natsumi Sasada JPN 13.700
7. Nicole Hibbert GBR 13.525
8. Lani Hohepa NZL 13.200

Uneven bars
Wu Liufang was easily the most stylish bar worker in the final, with handstands and turns that bear all the hallmarks of the great Chinese school. Unfortunately, her A score was low and she had a problem on her Pak, needing an extra swing to be able to cast to handstand. She ended up finishing fifth. In the end, the gold went to Natsumi Sasada (Tkatchev, jam, full-in dismount), who gave the judges plenty of room for small deductions but not for big ones. Cui Jie finished second with a decent routine that included a Jaeger, Tkatchev and Pak (surprising choice of elements, we know). Nicole Hibbert took the bronze with a routine that was powerful rather than elegant (Tkatchev-Pak combo, big Ray). Hibbert has plenty of difficulty, but will need to work hard on her form.


Apparently this is Natsumi Sasada. Can we have some normal photos now, Mark Nolan of Getty Images?

1. Natsumi Sasada JPN 14.350
2. Cui Jie CHN 13.925
3. Nicole Hibbert GBR 13.775
4. Yoshino Taniguchi JPN 13.675
5. Wu Liufang CHN 13.225
6. Danusia Francis GBR 13.160
7. Emma Collister AUS 12.276
8. Britt Greeley AUS 12.150

MEN'S FINALS

As far as we know, no videos of the men's finals have been uploaded yet, so we can only give you the results.

Floor exercise
1. Reiss Beckford GBR 14.000
2. Sean O'Hara AUS 13.850
3. Luke Wadsworth AUS 13.675
4. Wang Yongchao CHN 13.175
5. Ashley Watson GBR 13.150
6. Hairi Zaid Ahmad Saruji MAS 13.050
7. Liu Zhanteng CHN 12.625
8. Chao Wei San MAS 11.700


Gold medalists Reiss Beckford and Max Whitlock with coach Sergey Sizhanov
(photo: British AYOF site)

Pommel horse
1. Max Whitlock GBR 14.325
2. Sam Oldham GBR 14.050
3. Liu Zhanteng CHN 13.400
4. Luke Wadsworth AUS 13.025
5. Michael Mercieca AUS 12.325
6. Hairi Zaid Admad Saruji 10.900

Still rings
1. Liu Zhanteng CHN 14.200
2. Jayden Bull AUS 13.875
3. Zhu Xiaodong CHN 13.700
4. Sam Oldham GBR 13.650
5. Sean O'Hara AUS 13.025
6. Ashley Watson GBR 12.650

The AYOF gymnastics competition will conclude tomorrow with the remaining event finals.