LEFT: Marine Petit did three
routines for France, which
placed sixth, four spots
higher than in 2006.
ABOVE: Beth Tweddle led
Great Britain in prelims,
but was rested for the team
final, where the team finished seventh without her.
dismay and a flood of tears covered the face of
last-up Zamolodchikova, but she quickly and
gamely vaulted a double-twisting Yurchenko to
supportive applause.
“It just happened,” Semyonova said. “We
could have won a medal. Everybody was really
upset. Of course, that won’t happen again.”
Forminte sympathized for Kramarenko, whom
he noticed had similar problems in warm-ups.
“It’s a matter for the coaches,” he said. “I’m
sorry for them and first for the children, because
it’s not easy for a gymnast to have such a performance. I hope (Kramarenko) will be able to
pass this in the future.”
With Russia defaulting to eighth place, the
remaining teams each improved upon their
2006 finish by at least two ranks. Italy placed
fourth, in spite of limited participation from
reigning world all-around champion Vanessa
Ferrari. “She has a little problem with her foot,”
explained coach Enrico Casella, who said Ferrari
was focusing on the upcoming all-around final.
“It’s not serious, but if you are pushing, the pain
is everywhere.”
Two-time Olympian Monica Bergamelli got
the Italians off to a steady start on beam, and Lia
Parolari was the high scorer on each of her three
events. Ferrari missed her opening combination
on bars (kip, cast to Comaneci), but led Italy to
the night’s third-best vault total. All three Italian
vaulters—Ferrari, ’05 European vault champion
Francesca Benolli and Federica Macri—did double-twisting Yurchenkos. Italy placed fourth, five
places higher than a year ago.
Of the three gymnasts who competed on all
four events in the team finals, Brazil’s Jade
Barbosa earned the highest all-around total. Her
teammates could not provide enough consistent
reinforcement, though, to press for a higher
team finish. Seventh in 2006, Brazil began on
floor, where ’03 world floor champion Daiane
dos Santos went out of bounds on her first pass
(full-in), and landed slightly off-balance on other
passes. On vault, Brazil gained the second-highest team total of the finals, punctuated by
Barbosa’s 21⁄2-twisting Yurchenko. After a fall by
Khiuani Dias on bars, the Brazilians showed
composure on beam to settle into fifth place.
Sixth-place France put all four of its event
totals within 0.75 of one another, yielding the
statistically most consistent team performance of
the finals. Two-time Olympian Isabelle Severino,
27, lent sophistication and leadership to the
French cause. On beam in the final rotation,
Severino was the team’s top scorer, offsetting
Marine Petit’s fall. Kathleen Lindor led France
on vault (where all three gymnasts performed
11⁄2-twisting Yurchenkos) and bars, while floor
finalist Cassy Vericel was the team’s highest scorer on that event. At the 2006 worlds, France
placed 10th.
Like Italy, Great Britain rested its leading all-around contender (Beth Tweddle) from the team
finals. Tweddle, who in Stuttgart led the British
to their first world team finals berth and qualified
fourth to the all-around final, did not compete on
any event in the team finals. The British counted
falls from Hannah Clowes (back tuck on beam)
and Aisling Williams (double pike on floor), but
Rebecca Downie provided stability and risk (
double-twisting Yurchenko vault; toe on, Tkatchev
and Hindorff on bars). The British, who qualified
sixth, finished seventh. Still, this finals rank
marked an impressive four-place jump from a
year ago. And with the 2009 worlds in London,
the team has further motivation to improve.
American restoration to first place assured,
Liukin compared the glint of 2006 silver with the
gleam of ’07 gold. “Alicia and I were on the
team last year, so we experienced the feelings of
losing,” Liukin said. “But now that we’re back on
top, we are so excited. We knew from the start
that this team is a lot stronger than it was, and
probably one of the strongest teams yet.”
With the addition of worlds debutantes Peszek,
Hong, Worley and especially Johnson, the
American women rose to the Chinese challenge
in Stuttgart. Johnson, for her part, downplayed
her valuable individual contributions to the winning effort. “It’s such an honor to be part of the
team,” said Johnson. “And to be part of a gold
medal-winning team makes it all the more special.”
Johnson’s triumph-fueled sensations in Stuttgart were just beginning. IG
