VAULT

Most of the finalists looked confident on this event. They all had two good vaults and the first vault was at least 9.7 SV. Just as in the all-around final, Pavlova and Shire threw double twisting Yurchenkos, which had 9.8 SV. Pavlova, the fourth-place all-around finalist at Athens, stuck her landing and her execution was much better than that of Shire. She used a roundoff half-on front handspring layout barani for a gold. Shire also performed a good second vault: roundoff, half on, front handspring, piked front, but the lower SV of her second vault (9.5) and the poorer execution of both vaults cost her a gold. Ishizaka did a very clean and solid 1 1/2 twisting Yurchenko, and stuck her roundoff, half-on, front handspring, piked front. Her second vault was the same as that of Shire, and she executed it much better than Shire; however, the lower SV of her first vault cost her second. Price did a very beautiful 1 1/2 twisting Yurchenko for 9.375, but she had no second vault for the apparatus final; she performed a simple layout Yurchenko, and received a penalty of 1.0 because the Code required the finalists to perform two vaults from different groups. Since she performed two vaults from the Yurchenko entry group, the penalty was applied.

UNEVEN BARS

The gymnasts had many disasters again. The two Americans were expected to perform good routines, and they were truly great in the warm-ups. They, however, broke rhythm in their routines. They didn't fall but lost control. Shire missed her el-grip giant sequence and had an extra movement to get bonus points for combination. Price missed her Stalder combination and could not get the bonus she had expected. Price's huge Hindorff was just amazing and the biggest release in the final. Russia's Pavlova had a balance check on her front giant and this caused a fall on her Jaeger. As she had the highest score in the all-around final, Uemura had aimed at winning the title, but she could not perform her Stalder full on low bar, and she lost 0.2 of SV. She immediately changed her routine, and the routine looked as if it had been planned. But the lower SV (9.8) cost her a medal. Eventually, a solid and safe routine received the victory. Ziganshina did not perform her SE release, Shushunova, but showed a very interesting combination in the first partof ther routine: Stalder, immediately change direction, full twisting front giant, full twisting el-grip giant, Gienger. Nistor did not connect more than three elements for the bonus, but she had many interesting combinations. This was an improvement for Romania, which had been considered to be very weak on this event. Ziganshina and Nistor tied for first eventually followed by Ishizaka (she was also solid!).

BEAM

Pavlova was the event-winner in the all-around but she could not perform well. She was supposed to connect three elements in her first acrobatic combination, but failed to do the third one, back dive half turn to handstand. She had other wobbles throughout the routine, and lost some points of SV. Nistor fell on full twisting tucked back somi. In contrast, the two Japanese were just great. Oshima had her best performance. She hit her routine perfectly. She had good combinations; punch front, ff, layout stepout; full twisting tucked jump, full twisting stretch jump, one arm ff. She dismounted with a very smooth 2 1/2 twisting back somersault, and the landing was amazingly clean. She scored 9.275 for a gold!! Uemura also hit her routine. She performed with much confidence as the Japanese national champion on this event. She nailed punch front to ff to layout stepout combination and did not show any wobble for second. Oshima and Uemura were absolutely the top two in the final! Pavlova eventually finished third.

FLOOR

The two Russians upgraded their routines. Pavlova started with a high double layout back somersault, and continued with a triple twist, 2 1/2 twisting back to front aerial, and double pike. She improved her execution and her very beautiful choreography impressed the crowd. She was the winner on this event with no doubt. Ziganshina also upgraded her first pass to tucked full-in, but she missed her dismount, double pike (overrotated to sit down). Romania's Nistor showed very characteristic Romanian style on this event. She was very strong in her tumbling passes: tucked full-in, 2 1/2 twist to punch front full, triple twist, and double pike. She executed her dance elements correctly. Besides Nistor, Ishizaka hit her routine. The biggest error was only one small step backward in her tucked full-in, and the rest of her routine was solid. Nistor and Ishizaka tied for second. Oshima and Price also performed well, and the contention was the most exciting in the meet. Finally, Pavlova was crowned on two events and Ishizaka won medals on every event that she had competed on.

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