 By Caroline. |
By Caroline. |
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The Massilia Gym Cup: The final meet in the lead-up to Worlds (part 2). Only 10 gymnasts performed on all four apparatus. The tiny Oana Ban won the All Around and the Australian Allana Slater, for whom Marseilles was the last port of call in her preparation for Worlds, took second place overall. She is a very tenacious gymnast with clean work, performing difficult combinations on all pieces. The young Russian, Anna Pavlova was impressive after three apparatus but fell apart on floor, counting two falls. She finished her exercise gasping for breath and on the verge of tears as her trainer (also her mother) reproached her. Despite this she finished in third place. The girl who missed the podium by one tenth was the Dutch gymnast Van De Leur; she saw her hopes fade after a disastrous beam with two falls and numerous wobbles. The same disillusionment was felt on floor by the Ukrainian Kvasha who fell back to sixth place. Apparatus Finals. Vault Final. Anna Pavlova took her revenge after her sub-par performances of the previous day. She won this final thanks to two gorgeous and very difficult vaults - a Yurchenko double twist with great amplitude, and a complex Yurchenko vault in straight position with a half twist in each flight phase (a straight Podkopayeva). The Russian girl thus secured herself the lead against a solid performance from Kvasha (second place with a handspring full twisting front and a Tsukahara with one and a half twists) and the Romanian Cojocar. In this impressive company Nelly Ramassamy can feel proud of her fifth place, particularly since she had only practised one vault in training (her usual Yurchenko half twist on to pike somersault with half twist). Asymmetric Bars Final. In the absence of her great rival Khorkina, Van De Leur confirmed that she was the pretender to the world title on this apparatus. On this Sunday she didn't show her full in full out dismount, instead completing a full turn in handstand followed by a full in back out which was just as impressive, enabling her to regain the title that she earned here last year. The blonde, long-lined Ukrainian Irina Yarodskaya, recipient of the highest mark the day before with a 9.680, took second place. She did some remarkable work in Endo position, but a small step on dismount prevented her from equalling the Dutch girl. Three cheers for France's Gaelle Richard who grabbed the one and only French medal of these finals following a solid and well-constructed exercise. Although her performance the day before had been even better, her Stalder to double front somersault dismount brought her a 9.113 and the bronze medal - a medal she shared with Romanian Petrovski and the Australian Slater. Just beneath the podium places there were performances with very impressive releases. We were on tenterhooks watching the Def of the Canadian Plante, the Yaeger caught cross-armed by the Swiss girl Collaud or indeed the superb Tkatchev from Stadler performed by the Dutch girl Van Leeuwen. Beam Final. At Marseille we saw the same girls as at Bercy and it was the same story! After three weeks interval, Raducan and Slater found themselves yet again in first and second position. This time Andrea accentuated her lead with a margin of more than 0,5 over her rival, after a very clean exercise containing sufficient difficulty for a triumph at a World Championships. Without taking away anything from these two gymnasts, we must nonetheless recognise that they were aided by falls from dangerous opponents (Le Pennec, Oana Ban, Pavlova). Two young Americans from the Parkettes gymnastics club also gave distinguished performances. Even though they did not get near the podium, they demonstrated all the originality and quality of the American system. Nicole Harris in particular is a name to remember. Floor Final. Without a doubt the final that is the most disputed and most spectacular! The two leaders, Sabina Cojocar and Verona Van De Leur are both pocket-sized and it was indeed very difficult to separate them. These two gymnasts possess more or less the same type of tumbles. They executed all of them perfectly, with the decision maybe being made on their interpretation of the music and their presence on the floor area. On Sunday the dark-haired Romanian showed that little extra soul which is still lacking in Verona. On the bronze medal position of the podium we saw the reappearance of another Romanian, Oana Ban. Even though this little girl cannot compete with the older girls for artistry, she surpasses them in her acrobatics. She can do everything - double straights, front tumbling and twisting runs. She still needs to make a name for herself, but having the Romanian badge on her leotard is a good start! The Australian Slater was also loudly applauded for her superb interpretation of the music from the flim 'Moulin Rouge'. Film buffs will have noted the parallels with her fellow Australian, Nicole Kidman. Finally the presence in this final of three Frenchwomen (the very young Julie Martinez, M. Nunes and M. Carosso) bears witness, if need be, to the renewed vitality of the French team. This 14th edition of the Massilia Gym Cup was a great success, as much for the record number of participants as for the quality of the gymnastics on display. Very many trainers, both from France and abroad, said they would come again. We are already longing for next year's event! |
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