The vault competition at 2015 Euros will be a very interesting one and if no major surprises occur, at least six out of the top eight will be having strong chances for a podium placement. Looking at the D and E scores they have posted in competition this year, the final eight could look similar to the following (in no particular order):
Alla Sosnitskaya
Noel van Klaveren
Ksenia Afanasyeva
Giulia Steingruber
Michelle Timm
Claudia Fragapane
Teja Belak
Ellie Downie
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Let’s break down the list in a more logical order:
The locks:
By far the most successful European gymnast competing in Montpellier on this event is Giulia Steingruber, who will likely defend the titles won in 2013 and 2014. She does a Rudi vault since forever which is extremely well rehearsed and confident (6.2 D, so a 15+ score for this will be easily attained). The not-so-confident second vault will be the double twisting Yurchenko (5.8). She has not attempted the vault in competition too many times in recent months (replacing it with the FTY). But in Montpellier Giulia will need the DTY in order to win!
Alla Sosnitskaya will be Giulia’s strongest opponent. She has a Cheng vault (6.4) and a DTY, so a higher possible difficulty score compared to the Swiss. But the Cheng can be inconsistent. Although this vault looked improved at the Russia Cup (in March), compared to last year at Worlds for instance, Alla didn’t manage to land it in all three days of competition.
Claudia Fragapane has competed in important vault finals throughout 2014 – Euros, Commonwealth, Worlds. Her two vaults – DTY and layout Podkopayeva – have gotten better and better each time. The routines she succeeded at the recent 2015 British Championships would be enough for a medal, even silver.
The unknowns:
Ksenia Afanasyeva can be a strong vaulter and is said to have gained her Amanar back (or at least Valentina Rodionenko says so). But until she lands one in Montpellier we will just consider that her vaults are DTY and layout Podkopayeva (5.6). These have the potential of being two very good vaults indeed, that can potentially bring the title if done flawlessly. However, this will be Ksenia’s first important competition since the 2013 Universiade. It might take a while before Ksenia reaches a level of finesse in her vaulting that would allow her access to the podium.
Ellie Downie is an extremely strong vaulter, with medals on this event from her junior years: gold at 2014 Euros and the 2013 EYOF. She has a very high, powerful double twisting Yurchenko and a pike Podkopayeva (5.2). However, she doesn’t seem to be in the same shape of 2013-2014. The best indicative was that she chose not to compete the DTY at the 2015 British Championships (end of March). If she can pull off the two vaults she is capable of, and if the others have small mistakes, she could potentially medal on this event.
Favorites to qualify but less likely to medal:
Noel van Klaveren is at the moment a gymnast with big potential difficulty score. She has been doing a DTY and a stretched Podkopayeva in competition but is not yet in the same shape that brought her a silver in 2013 (when she tied with Larisa Iordache). Throughout March, at the Ljubljana World Challenger and the Dutch Euros qualifiers, the two vaults have been improving but (especially the DTY) were not medal-worthy yet.
Teja Belak won a silver on home soil in Ljubljana for two very good, if not as difficult vaults: handspring front full tuck (5.3) and a 1 1/2 Yurchenko (5.3). If she maintains the same execution, she is a lock for the final too.
Other possible finalists will be gymnasts that are gymnasts with vaults averaging a difficulty around 5.0 – Paula Plichta from Poland, Michelle Timm from Germany, Camille Bahl from France come to mind.
Your turn now: Let’s try to guess the podium, who do you think the top three will be? And who else has a strong chance to qualify (under the two per country rule)?
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Article by: Bea Gheorghisor
Photo cover: courtesy of Russian Gymnastics Federation
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