International Gymnast - October 2010

SR

Rotterdam

Ringer

THE expected return of Yuri van Gelder—who was sus- pended for cocaine use last year and reinstated July 14, 2010— could make the rings final more tense than ever. Van Gelder, who won the 2005 world title on rings, was kicked off the national team last summer and forced to train on his own. He hooked up with Boris Orlov (former coach of 1981 world champion Olga Bicherova), once the national women’s coach of the

Yan
Mingyong
(China)

Netherlands.

For van Gelder to return as a gold-medal contender after such an absence is asking a lot. Especially with the possibility that China will have both Chen Yibing and Yan Mingyong in the final.

Chen, who caught his leg on the rings strap on his dismount last year and didn’t reach the final, is every bit as good as defending champion Yan, who defeated Jordan Jovtchev by only 0.10 and bronze medalist Alexander Vorobyov by 0.125 in London. Chen, on the other hand, was hardly challenged on his way to the 2008 Olympic title.

The real drama could well involve

In the Mix
DEFENDING CHAMPION
YAN MINGYONG/CHN
• Chen Yibing/CHN (2008
Olympic champion)
• Jordan Jovtchev/CHN (2009
world silver)
• Alexander Vorobyov/UKR
(2009 world bronze)
• Yuri van Gelder/NED (2007
world silver)
• Matteo Morandi/ITA (2010
European champion)

the battle for bronze, which could go to any of the remaining finalists. Whether it is van Gelder depends on his physical condition and, to an extent, the prevailing sentiment among the home crowd. Indeed, a bronze under such circumstances would probably feel like a gold for the disgraced former champion. And doesn’t everyone like a happy ending to a sad story?

WORLD PREVIEW Finals

FIVE-time world vault champi- on Marian Dragulescu has little to prove at this point, other than to win his first Olympic gold medal. And he knows that North Korean Ri Se Gwang, who can do two 7.2 vaults, has the greatest winning potential right now. If he could only remain upright in a big final.

Ri is still waiting for that moment, and Rotterdam crowds are waiting to see the insane Tsukahara to tucked full-in back-out they’ve only viewed on You Tube. His piked Dragulescu isn’t bad, either.

Landing both under finals pressure is a tall order for the short Ri, which is why Dragulescu and peers still have a chance. Anton Golotsuts-kov, who led after preliminaries at the 2009 world championships, grabbed the 2010 Moscow World Cup title after prelim-leader Ri faced his full-in in the final.