enemy. He grimaced as he fell during a travel on
pommel horse in the first rotation (landing him in
last place), and later sat down his double front vault
to finish ninth.
With the London Olympics just more than a year
away, relative youngsters Kuksenkov and Daniel
Purvis (Great Britain) pushed themselves to a share
of bronze as they asserted themselves among the
veterans. The 21-year-old Kuksenkov, who narrowly missed an all-around medal at last year’s worlds,
drifted into second place after the first four rotations by hitting his high bar set that included a
Kolman and a stuck layout double-double. He maintained that rank after floor, although he ended his
routine conservatively with a double twist.
Kuksenkov, who safely navigated pommel horse
in the last rotation to tie the 20-year-old Purvis for
third place, said he plans to upgrade his routines in
order to challenge for gold in the future. “I have had
a problem win my knees, so I think vault will have
to be a 21⁄2-twisting Yurchenko,” said Kuksenkov,
who performed a double-twisting Yurchenko in
Berlin. “And floor must be more difficult. But I still
have pain in my knees so I’m working toward that.”
Acknowledging the faltering state of Ukrainian
gymnastics, Kuksenkov said the medal he won in
Berki said that he is adding
vault and high bar to his train-
ing regimen, to improve his
chances of qualifying for the
London Olympics. “It’s going
to be very hard training in the
future,” he admitted.
Berlin is particularly significant. “It’s a medal not
only for me, but also for my country, so it means a
lot,” he said. “It’s a medal but it’s a win. In the U.S.
[at the American Cup] they asked me what I think
about second place, and I said, ‘Second place is a
win.’ And now I say the same. Third place is a win.”
Purvis, who placed second at the 2008 Junior
Europeans and seventh in ’09 as a senior, valued
his medal as a virtual down-payment for a spot on
the highly competitive British team that will play
host to next summer’s London Olympics. His routines in Berlin were stable overall, although he
picked up a little extra swing during his rings routine. Purvis earned his best scores on vault ( 21⁄2-
twisting Yurchenko) and on floor, his last event,
where he tumbled six passes ranging from a piked
Arabian double front mount to a closing tucked
Arabian double front.
“To get a medal and get my name in there for the
Olympics is really great,” said Purvis, who finished
fifth all-around at the 2010 worlds, one position
behind Kuksenkov. “I’ve always thought I’d be in
(teammate) Dan Keatings’ shadow, and he won silver two years ago (’09 Europeans). It’s great to try
and achieve what he achieved. I will just try to tidy
up a bit. I know my all-around score could have
been a bit higher today, so hopefully next year it
will be.”
