After three events, Ferlito led Sasada, 41.40-
41. 30. Sasada went for broke on vault with a double-twisting Yurchenko, but ended up short and put
her left knee down. Ferlito, who had scored 13.50
on floor exercise in qualification, needed a 13.75 to
pass Sasada. With her Japanese rival watching
intently, Ferlito stuck her opening tumbling runs of
triple twist and double pike, but landed slightly low
on her double tuck dismount. When the Italian’s
score of 13.95 was flashed, Sasada burst into tears
while Ferlito celebrated joyfully with her coach.
While the top four gymnasts already had made
names for themselves over the past few years, Ana
Sofia Gomez established herself and the Guatemalan team as one to watch. Coached by Romanians Adrian and Elena Boboc, Gomez again hit her
flip-flop, full on balance beam and tumbled well to
place fifth (54.05), ahead of Romania's Diana
Bulimar (53.95).
Coached by Shao Yi Jiang, Australia’s Angela
Donald showed impressive form to finish seventh,
ahead of Tess Moonen of the Netherlands. Spain’s
Maria Vargas, ninth, and
Sweden’s Jonna Adlerteg
rounded out the top 10.
