International Gymnast - October 2010

Sweet
Sixteens

CHINA’S latest pommel horse artist, Zhang Hongtao, is as good as it gets, which, in terms of score, is above 16.000. His 16.275 ( prelims) and 16.200 (finals) at the 2009 worlds were the two highest scores all week, except for on vault, where the marks are well above the other apparatus.

Zhang, 24, doesn’t rely solely on difficulty to pad his total. His prelim E-score of 9.675 in London was a meet high, and would translate to the 9.90-10.0 range of the 1980s.

The only time his body position changes from what the photo below displays is when he scissors to a handstand—forward and reverse—in the middle of his set.

Hungary’s Krisztian Berki may
have the highest scissors around,
but his overall swing is more
labored. Even with 0.30 more diffi-
culty than Zhang in London, he still
finished second by .125. Prash-
anth Sellathurai scored ‘only’
15.400 to win the bronze in
London, which means this: Zhang
is a heavy favorite in Rotterdam,
but also has everything to lose.

In the Mix
DEFENDING CHAMPION
ZHANG HONGTAO/CHN
• Krisztian Berki/HUN (2009
world silver)
• Prashanth Sellathurai/AUS
(2009 world bronze)
• Louis Smith/GBR (2008
Olympic bronze)
• Cyril Tommasone/FRA
(2009 world finalist)
• Flavius Koczi/ROU (2009
world finalist)

FX
Sticking
Around

WITH the average men’s floor routine comprising six pass-es, the event has become a sticking contest more than ever. As well, bonus from combination tumbling has often eliminated a gymnast’s biggest skill, such as Kohei Uchimura’s tucked triple-twisting double. Instead, the Japanese star goes back and forth and over and across with a half dozen sequences that fatten his D-score as much as possible within the 70-second time limit.

He is not alone. The usual floor finalists are still the guys to watch, and defending champion Marian Dragulescu is the most experienced, having also won in 2001, ’02 and ’06.

But at age 29, Dragulescu will need help to win in Rotterdam. His younger challengers must make mistakes to give the Romanian a chance for No. 5.

Olympic champion Zou Kai,
who placed second to Dragulescu
by a mere .025 last year, and
Diego Hypolito, who failed to
even qualify in 2009, should still be
two of the gold-medal favorites.
Each traditionally carries more diffi-
culty than Dragulescu, which gives
them at least a little wobble room.