With defending champion Dragulescu and reigning
Olympic gold medalist Shewfelt out of these worlds,
the path to the floor title was somewhat cleared for
Diego Hypolito, who took full advantage. The compact 21-year-old from Rio de Janeiro, who won his
first world title on floor in 2005, edged Spaniard
Gervasio Deferr by . 20, which was also the difference in their A-scores.
Hypolito, who was second to Dragulescu a year
ago, was one of three tumblers to post a 6. 7 difficulty score, highest of the event, and he managed
to do it in only five passes. The new Code has some
gymnasts running from pass to pass as if they were
late for a train, but Hypolito racked up his bonus by
using some big tricks (Arabian double with a full
twist) and cramming in four skills in his second run
(whip, 21⁄
3
2 twist, front-double twist, front-1 ⁄
4). His
third run was the common 11⁄
2 twist, front-full, rudi,
fourth a layout Arabian 13⁄
4, and he ended with a
tucked Arabian double front (tiny hop). He
outscored Deferr, 16.150-15.950.
“I am very sad that a lot of people are injured,”
Hypolito said. “But I hope they will get better for
the competition next year. I did my job, so whether
I was first or eighth place, I was very happy with
how I did today.”
Criticized in the past for dismounting with a relatively simple combination pass, Gervasio deferred
to the big ending in Stuttgart, capping his fine set
with a stuck double layout. His mount of full-twisting double layout, punch front- 13⁄
4 was the most
impressive of the meet. Deferr also tumbled the 11⁄
2
twist, front-full, rudi; a whip immediate 21⁄
2 twist to
barani (crooked); and a tucked Thomas.
Hisashi Mizutori won the bronze mathematically,
if not aesthetically. Without a single double somersault, the spindly Japanese gymnast avoided poor
landings in a somewhat repetitive routine. He
opened with a running punch front-double twist to
barani, which is hardly the big bang you expect
from a world-class routine. After a twisting bounding pass, he threw a layout Thomas and then a
whip-tucked Thomas. After a side pass of a double
twist, he closed with a 21⁄
2 twist, which he stuck.
Talk about working the Code!
Mizutori, who competed last, edged American
Guillermo Alvarez by .05, and both had 6. 3 A-scores, lowest of the final. “Looking at the scores is
frustrating, because there’s nothing I can do,”
Alvarez said. “For me, especially, what I need to do
is raise the difficulty.”
Alvarez opened with a piked Arabian double
front, and followed with a nailed front layout, front-double twist, tucked front-full. After a whip- 21⁄
2 twist
and a handspring-randi, he drew applause for a
Manna and then closed with a solid double layout.
Mistakes marred the other four finalists. Israel’s
Alexander Shatilov grabbed fifth, nearly falling on
his opening 21⁄
2 twist to front-double twist, and
China’s Zou Kai mounted with the same combination but went out of bounds for sixth. His six-pass
set, which earned the top qualifying score of
16.275, also included a tucked double-double and a
tucked full-in dismount.
Liang Fuliang (China) mounted with a full-twisting double layout, but nearly fell on his 21⁄
2 twist dismount for seventh, and Japan’s Makoto Okiguchi
finished eighth after landing out of the area on his
spectacular mount of Lou Yun (side somi-in,
3⁄
4
twist-out), punch front- 11⁄
4.
With the highest A-score ( 6. 6) and B-score
( 9.700), China’s Xiao Qin won his third world
title on pommel horse in as many years.
