International Gymnast - December 2010

beam on her standing Arabian. Bross had refused to leave the apparatus without putting up a fight, however, grabbing the beam and even doing a handstand in desperation. It was Bross versus the beam, but gravity came out ahead.

Bross was even more tenacious on floor exercise. With an injured leg and little hope for the gold, she could be forgiven for a half-hearted effort. Showing herself to be every bit as fierce as Mustafina, Bross performed the best routine of her life for the highest floor score in Rotterdam ( 15.233).

Bross fought through the end, no doubt drawing on words of wisdom from coach Valeri Liukin, who had competed in Rotterdam 23 years earlier with his own injured leg. In the 1987 team final, Liukin had to be carried off the podium after standing up his triple back off high bar.

“I’m happy with third place and I’m upset with

Romania’s Ana Porgras (above) placed fifth, using a simple Yurchenko-full, while Russia’s Tatiana Nabiyeva (shown at left in prelims) fell from beam and wound up seventh.

my mistake on beam,” Bross said. “It’s like any
other competition—I just need to go back and
work hard. I’m looking forward to what comes
next. …I don’t watch the other gymnasts, but I’m
happy for Mustafina that she won. She’s a beau-
tiful gymnast.”
Third after three events, China’s Huang lost
the bronze after landing completely out of
bounds on floor exercise on her 21⁄2 twist, layout
front-full mount (. 50 deduction). She also broke
form on uneven bars on her 11⁄2 pirouette from
elgrip, but otherwise performed solidly in her
first major all-around final.

Porgras was fifth with only a simple Yurchenko-full on vault, but she competed impressively elsewhere. Six months after break-ing her ankle, she was unbeatable on beam again for the third straight meet in Rotterdam.

Australia’s Lauren Mitchell was sixth with a weak routine on uneven bars, but she had little time to prepare because of various injuries earlier in the year.