Individual vault finals where Sacramone shines
WCSN is proud to welcome Dominique Dawes, three-time Olympian and gold medalist, to discuss the U.S. women’s team performances at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
See all of these routines and more gymnastics at http://www.wcsn.com.
This gymnast is a powerhouse. Both vaults were high in difficulty and well executed. Her first vault, a Rudy, was a stronger vault than the team competition. She landed closer to the center of the mat, slightly more distance, and good amplitude. There were some small form breaks, her legs were slightly crossed and she kept her body is a slight pike shape. Sacramone’s second vault was quite impressive. She performed a sky-high Yurchenko double twist. Great distance and amplitude. Her form was, by far, the best on the U.S. team of vaulters. She took a small hop on the landing which cost her a tenth or so, depending on the judge’s discretion.
Cheng Wei’s vault:
Now I was quite impressed with this vaulter. The Chinese women are known for their strength on the bars and beam, it’s not typical to she a great Chinese vault. As Cheng has proven for some time now, the Chinese women are now a threat on the vault as well. The reigning World Champ on vault did not disappoint.
Cheng definitely played it safe performing a Yurchenko double twist with ease. Now playing it safe with a double Yurchenko is amazing. I anticipate that Cheng will surpass her 2 1/2 Yurchenko vault by 2008 and surprise us with a triple. That would be a thrill to watch. Her form on the double was impeccable. She ended this vault with a small hop on the landing.
As for Cheng’s second vault, she performed a round-off half-on, 1 ½ off. Again, this was an impressive performance. She did have a slight separation of her feet, which may not have been seen to the naked eye. Cheng will certainly celebrate this win and will look to keep this winning streak going in hopes of securing gold in Bejing.
For those who watched Jana spray water on the bar prior to her performance may have questioned, why add water and not just more chalk? From my international experience, it is not uncommon for the bars to be slick after competitors that do not use grips. The use of sugar water is common for many international gymnasts. This combination of sugar and water creates a sticky texture for a gymnast that swings bars bare handed or with gause or tape grips. Now, for the gymnasts who wear leather grips, the texture is left slick because when the sugar water dries on the bar, it creates a hardened film. This is why you will she grip wearing gymnasts scrape the bar, re-chalk and spray the bar down with water. Just a little insight on Jana getting a good grip!
I was looking forward to Jana correcting the mistake she made during the team competition. She had an error on her blind half prior to her reverse hecht release move. Jana did correct the mistake that she made the other day. Though this release was amazing in amplitude, the momentum proved too difficult to control. She hit her feet on the low bar while trying to gain control of the swing prior to her kip cast hand. She dumped her cast handstand over, which forced her to pirhouette out of it to stay committed to her routine. She has incredible resolve throughout. She finished up her routine with a solid dismount with a stuck landing.