Thomas Bouhail: "I No Longer Have the Right to Lose"

A while ago we were complaining that the French media hardly seemed to pay any attention to the achievements of its male gymnastics stars. In the days following the World Cup Final, we could hardly find any French acknowledgement of Thomas Bouhail and Yann Cucherat's successes in the Spanish capital. But that, apparently, doesn't mean the French media aren't interested. They just save their praise for the year-end. And so we recently found a little story on Thomas Bouhail, who is well on his way to becoming a superstar on vault (check out the wonderful Tsukahara piked double back and Dragulescu he did in Beijing here). It was published by Le Nouvel Observateur on December 30th and doesn't contain much that is new, but still, it's nice to see some attention for Bouhail, who sounds ambitious. We like that.


Thomas Bouhail en route to a silver medal at the Olympics
(Photo: Amy Sancetta/AP Photo)

Gymnastics: Thomas Bouhail in a Hurry to Get Going Again

Having won the Olympic silver medal on vault in Beijing in August, Thomas Bouhail is impatient to prove his talent in 2009 with a view to becoming "a good all-arounder" for the London Olympics in 2012.

The 22-year-old gymnast from Sotteville-les-Rouen has the European Championships in Milan from April 2nd to 5th in his sights, followed by the World Championships in London from October 12th to 18th.

"In both cases, I want to confirm [that I'm a good vaulter], and not let up. Now that I have the Olympic silver around my neck, I no longer have the right to lose, especially if the Olympic champion isn't there. In short, whatever the competition, I'm not asking for the moon," Bouhail told Reuters.

On December 14th, Thomas Bouhail raised himself to the height of his new ambition by winning, in the absence of the Olympic champion Leszek Blanik, the World Cup Final in Madrid.

But from December 7th to 10th, this new small phenomenon of world gymnastics was celebrating in Courchevel, Savoy, with the French medalists of this season's Olympic Games and World and European Championships.

"My medal has literally taken me beyond myself. After the celebrations, I immediately had to leave for the World Cup Final. Now I can't wait to see the next season begin," he explained..

"Always to deserve gold"

"A born and thus insatiable competitor," Thomas Bouhail is counting on Sebastien Darrigade, a former gymnast who is now his national coach.

"He knows me by heart, knows how to hold me back or push me when necessary. Our collaboration brings me tremendous calm," he underlined.

His Olympic silver medal has given him wings. "Even if it sticks in my throat because I'm 90% sure I should have finished first," he says with regret.


(Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

At the Olympic Games, his young age hardly seemed to faze him in face of the experience of the Pole Blanik, who is in his thirties. Two months earlier, Thomas Bouhail himself had only been the French team's alternate for Beijing after suffering problems with his right shoulder from July 2007 to January 2008.

"That's the way it goes! And anyway, if I'm honest, before the Games I would have settled quite happily for silver or even for bronze. Nevertheless, I'll do everything in my power in order always to deserve gold," he warned.

European vice-champion on floor in 2007, Thomas Bouhail expresses his desire "to become a good all-arounder between now and London 2012."

Even if his shoulder is interfering with his movements on rings, he assures that he "can perform on the other apparatus despite the pain."

Regarding this new challenge, the native of Seine Saint-Denis concludes, "It's my heart's desire. And if I achieve it, I'll be thrilled with any medal, whatever its color."

World Cup Final: A Few Responses

Earlier we gave you some Dutch reactions to the team's mixed fortunes at the World Cup Final. We thought we'd post some other responses from around the globe as well...

Women


Lauren Mitchell

Beam winner Lauren Mitchell made a few headlines in Australia: "Aussie gymnast makes history in Madrid" (Sydney Morning Herald) and "Lauren Mitchell beaming in triumph" (Daily Telegraph), among others. Mitchell's local newspaper Perth Now wrote a nice piece about her in which the head of her club, Liz Chetkovich (also Australia's national gymnastics TV commentator) said Mitchell's result was simply exceptional. "For Lauren to win a World Cup final against such a strong field confirms that she is an outstanding world-class gymnast," Chetkovich said. "She's shown incredible character to bounce back from the disappointment of not making the beam final in Beijing to make the podium six times during the World Cup season. Last night's result just caps it all off."

Mitchell herself is still to comment on her recent success.

According to Globoesporte, Daniele Hypolito and her coach, Ricardo Pereira, were disappointed after the beam final. "[Daniele] did well in warmup. Everything looked normal," said Pereira. "But in the competition, she didn't make her three-element mount and fell. And Dani needed to stick that mount to have medal chances." Hypolito normally mounts beam with a difficult roundoff - layout - ff- layout to two feet combination.


Daniele Hypolito during the mount that cost her a medal (photo: UOL Esporte)

Despite her disaster on bars and her disappointing result on beam (she would have medaled if she hadn't missed her mount), Daniele Hypolito herself felt she had done "reasonably well" in the tournament. "The year is nearly over and I didn't obtain excellent results. But I'll be back in 2009, different and better, with an eye to the next Olympics," Daniele said. She emphasized that she has no retirement plans for the time being: "I'm not going to retire yet. The new Code of Points is in my favor, so I'll be able to go on firm and strong until 2012," Hypolito said.

In Romania, a tired-looking Sandra Izbasa, who was beaten to the floor gold by Cheng Fei and Jiang Yuyuan, reportedly said after the floor final: "I knew I wasn't going to win after each pass I did, but it's important to know how to lose with a smile on your face. I'm not at all upset. I'll be the Olympic champion on floor for the next four years and that's what matters to me."

In Belgium, bronze medalist Aagje Vanwalleghem, who has suffered many serious injuries over the last few years and has just recovered from a major knee injury, told Sporza that she was very pleased with the vaults she had shown at the World Cup Final.

"I'm glad and relieved that I can still perform as well as this after such a long recovery period," said Vanwalleghem. "I think you can say I'm back, both physically and mentally. It took a long time for my knee to heal completely, but now I can vault well again."


Aagje Vanwalleghem won the bronze on vault in Madrid (photo: Belga)

Vanwalleghem also said she's working on more difficult vaults, but doesn't want to become a vault specialist. "I'd like to stay an all-around gymnast, so I'm not going to specialize on one event just yet," she said. "Also because it's easier for an all-arounder to qualify for the Olympics." Vanwalleghem, who competed in Athens but missed Beijing because of her knee injury, has her heart set on London 2012.

Men

The French media hardly had anything to say about Thomas Bouhail and Yann Cucherat's gold medals in Madrid. A quick "So Beijing wasn't an accident, after all" in L'Equipe and "Congratulations!" on the FFG's website was all the boys got for their gold-medal-winning efforts. Way to make your athletes feel appreciated, guys.


Thomas Bouhail (photo: Volker Minkus/FIG)

As to the Brazilian media, we've already posted Diego Hypolito's ecstatic response to his gold medal on floor. According to Globoesporte, Hypolito was "more than satisfied" with his sixth-place finish on vault, as well: "I think I did well in my two vaults and I'm more than satisfied with my making the final on this event. My main objective was to do well on floor, and I did just that. I'm leaving Madrid with the feeling of having fulfilled my duty," Hypolito said.

He also announced changes for next year: "Next year I'll make a few small changes. Perhaps I'll do a more difficult Hypolito, with a few added touches. We'll see. First I'm going to make the most of my vacation." We guess that will be the upcoming trip to Disney World (with his sister Daniele and Jade Barbosa) he announced earlier.


Diego Hypolito (center) on the medal stand with Kohei Uchimura and Alexander Shatilov

We'll post the Chinese reactions to their World Cup successes in a separate entry, and we hope at some point to be able to post some Russian responses as well.