Yang Hak-seon Grabs Gold for Vault in France
Doha (QAT) AGU Office; March 22, 2013: Olympic gold medalist Yang Hak-seon defended his spot as the world’s best vaulter at his first international competition this year.
Yang won the gold medal in men’s vault with 14.500 points on Monday (Korean time) at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in France, beating Vietnam’s Nguyen Ha Thanh, who earned 13.666 points.
This was his first event since the level of difficulty for his signature technique dropped one point under a new scoring system for men’s gymnastics.
But Yang was able to win an overwhelming victory even without performing his triple-twist handspring front somersault that won him the gold in London.
Russian gymnasts topped the medal rankings this past weekend at the 19th Internationaux de France, the first event of the 2013 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup individual apparatus series.
A total of 70 gymnasts representing 29 countries took part at the new Vendéspace arena in La Roche-sur-Yon (FRA), with four gymnasts qualifying for the final in each event. The medals were shared between 18 nations.
Russia, Italy, Greece and USA won three medals each but Russia came out on top thanks to Gold for Ksenia Afanaseva on Floor and Denis Ablyazin on Still Rings, with the latter adding Silver on Floor. Carlotta Ferlito and Vanessa Ferrari made it a one-two for Italy on Balance Beam, Ferlito taking Bronze on the Floor. Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) tied with Ablyazin for first place on Rings, while his team-mates Vasileios Tsolakidis and Vasiliki Millousi took Bronze on Parallel Bars and Balance Beam respectively. Danell Leyva and Jacob Dalton took Gold and Silver for the USA on Horizontal Bar, with Dalton also winning Bronze on Floor.
Both of the Olympic Champions from London 2012 who were taking part prevailed in their specialty events, Hungary’s Kristian Berki on Pommel Horse and South Korea’s Seon Hak Yang on Vault. Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland sprang a surprise with a double triumph on women’s Vault and Uneven Bars, and although Larisa Iordache had to withdraw at the last minute due to a minor injury her fellow Romanians, Diana Bulimar and Flavius Koczi, took Silver and Gold on women’s and men’s Floor respectively. Ryohei Kato of Japan won on Parallel Bars, with France’s Hamilton Sabot finishing fourth after a fall.
