Watch Maroney’s amazing vault in the team final – from her deep breath as she prepares, to the crowd erupting in cheers when she sticks the landing.
The apparatus finals begin Sunday with the men’s floor exercise, women’s vault, and men’s pommel horse. From McKayla Maroney’s all but guaranteed vault gold to a moment that all of Great Britain has been waiting for, here’s what to watch.
Women’s Vault: This event should belong to 2011 world vaulting champion McKayla Maroney of the USA, who has already given us one of the most memorable moments of these Games with her perfectly stuck “Amanar” in the team final. This deceptively explosive dynamo soars higher and twists more cleanly than anyone in the world, and as long as she lands both her vaults on her feet, she should continue America’s golden streak here in London.
Romanian Sandra Izbasa has won the last two European championship titles on this event and could either settle for silver with her two clean and reliable vaults, or may instead choose to challenge Maroney for gold by throwing a risky “Cheng” in the final, which is a very complex one-and-a-half twisting vault.
Also watch for 37-year-old German Oksana Chusovitina, the sentimental favorite competing in her sixth Olympic Games, to possibly land a spot on the medal podium. Finally, Yamilet Pena, the first gymnast from the Dominican Republic to compete in the Olympic Games, has also made the vault final here and plans to throw a spectacular and rarely seen handspring double front. She didn’t quite make the vault to her feet in the qualifications, but if she lands it in the final, she’ll become the first woman in history to ever complete this skill in Olympic competition.
Men’s Floor Exercise: We’ll see a high-flying tumble-off in this Olympic final, and reigning Olympic champion Zou Kai of China brings his trademark huge bag of tricks as well as the top score from the qualifications. Newly crowned Olympic all-around champion Kohei Uchimura will perform his final routine of these Olympic Games here in the floor final, a place where he often tends to unveil some of his daring new acrobatics.
Denis Ablyazin of Russia throws an unheard of seven wild tumbling passes and could easily end up on the medal podium, while Israel’s Alexander Shatilov and American Jake Dalton bring two of the cleanest and sharpest routines to the final. Dalton will be the lone American man competing in the first day of these event finals, and will need to nail his landings perfectly if he hopes to bring home a medal.
Men’s Pommel Horse: The big story here will be home crowd favorite Louis Smith, who will attempt to become Great Britain’s first gymnast in history to ever strike Olympic gold. Smith will face two challengers who both placed above him on the world medal podium last year – Krisztian Berki of Hungary and Cyril Tommasone of France. With his home crowd behind him, Smith brought the house down in the qualifications and outscored both of his rivals, and then delivered another clutch routine in the team final to help Great Britain win its first team medal in men’s gymnastics in 100 years.
If Smith can again handle the pressure in the biggest individual moment of his career, he could add an unprecedented Olympic gold to his country’s magical performance here in London and create one of the defining moments of the 2012 Olympic Games. British teammate Max Whitlock was one of the bottom qualifiers to the final, but could also benefit from the home court energy in the arena and sneak onto the podium with the performance of his life.
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