Best. Floor. Final. Ever.
Floor finals are always exciting. They always signify end of the WAG competition and they are the most theatrical and fun competition of the event. Today’s floor finals, with its slew of fabulous performances, the constant re-shuffling of the line up and the closeness of each performance made this one better than ever.
Three gymnasts were given a rare gift today, the opportunity to compete in this floor final, even though they had been relegated to the three reserve position days ago in the preliminary competition.
Australia’s Lauren Mitchell found out a day or two before, when Romania’s Diana Bulimar sustained a foot fracture. Despite having the highest difficulty and performing the highest scoring floor routines of the competition over the past week, Mitchell was not able to quite bring it back to that level today, despite an excellent performance. She missed one of her leaps during the routine, but the quick thinking Aussie showed her experience and threw it in at the end. It was not enough, however.
Poor Diana Chelaru had no such warning. She was probably snacking on peanits with her team mates in the delegation seating, watching the first floor finals without a Romanian in it for a long time, when she got the call to compete.
I had known something was up when I returned to the media stand only to run into Vanessa Ferrari hopping on one foot and holding a bag of ice. She and Chiara Gandolfi were trying to work out how to get her up the steep narrow stairs. The solution; a piggyback! By the time I returned to the stand FIG had tweeted that Chelaru would be replacing Ferrari. It was very sad to see Ferrari not being able to perform after her beautiful floor performances this week or the upgrades she had planned for today. Sadly, she sprained her ankle on a simple salto.
When the other gymnasts marched out, Chelaru was still warming up in the other gym and only came out five minutes before her routine. The little charmer performed a good routine, with her usual smile and effortless bounce, but the difficulty just wasn’t where it was last year after a period of injury.
We will probably never know if Ksenia Afanasyeva replacing Viktoriya Komova after Komova botched her beam final was due to aggravated injury for Komova or just a good old Russian switcheroo. What I do know is that there were many, many overjoyed fans who had been terribly disappointed by her failure to qualify. When the news hit the internet, there were shouts of joy all over Twitter and Facebook.
Some of the gymnasts received a rare gift of these finals, but so did those viewing it. It was one of those finals. Everybody hit- or had no major mistakes. And everybody not only hit, but looked strong, charismatic and exciting. At no point could you feel any kind of confidence in a result. I know when Aly Raisman nailed her floor, I stupidly thought, “Well, that’s it, no one can catch that.” Then little Sui Lu did just that with an effortless floor exercise that combined Raisman’s power with Adriana Pop’s delightful choreography.
Then Ksenia Afanasyeva took to the floor.
Last year the Russian had officially earned herself a spot in this same final, having upgraded her floor to show a double layout to open and a whip-whip-bhs-triple twist as a second pass. If she could pull off that routine in floor finals, she had every chance at striking her first individual gold. Instead she landed on her knees on her very first pass, the double layout. Long time fans- fans who had watched her come so close in individual competitions only to fall apart could only sigh and see their worst fears realised. In a team situations Afanasyea could shine, but on her own she never seemed able to pull it off.
I once wrote this about Ksenia Afanasyeva;
“Watching Ksenia Afanasyeva’s career has been like watching someone trying to start a temperamental car. Sometimes the engine wheezes and grumbles and won’t start at all. Sometimes the engine sputters and eventually turns over, chugging away. Sometimes it resembles that famous comic scene where all the pieces fall of piece by piece until all that is left is a horrified driver, frozen, clutching the steering wheel in the middle of a busy intersection.
And sometimes, when you least expect it, it simply shoots off with no warning, streaking toward the horizon.”
Today was the day. The unpredictable Russian took to the floor last and hit her routine with decent landings, fabulous dance elements and a whole lot of personal style. There are those that will say she didn’t deserve the gold any more than Raisman or Sui Lu, and the execution scores will show how little there was in it between the three. Martha Karolyi frankly admitted in a post-meet interview that she thought her gymnast deserved the gold.
She told Ria Novosti; ”I was preparing myself for this, but still did not expect the judges to give the first place to me. I saw the girls had high scores, and decided that’ll just do my job. And it worked out. I’m stunned and happy.”
But there is something special about Afanasyeva’s floor work. It has a quality that no other gymnasts possesses. This is not to say she is more elegant than others, or more powerful. Sui Lu was as effortlessly elegant while Aly Raisman eclipsed her in power. Somehow, Ksenia managed to combine the two and give that intangible something else to her performance. There is no other gymnast whose music matches her personality and who can perform such complex choreography with such a sense of ease. I honestly think any of the top three could have won the gold, but Afan won the judges over. And the audience in the arena, who had been so enthusiastic all day, seemed to adore this routine.
I also think being thrown into the final was the best thing that could happen to a gymnast like Afanasyeva who clearly has a tendency to over-think.
It was a truly fabulous floor final. One of the biggest criticisms of the all around competition was the lack of clean performances. Today we saw eight of them. They varied in difficulty, finesse and style, but it was the most competitive event of the women’s competition. It was suspenseful, delightful and surprising. And for that I am grateful.
(I want to add a postscript to this article. I thought it was sufficient enough to say that any of the top three could have won floor when I wrote this, because yes, it seems the judges were finding some differences I simply could not see. Yes, I do agree that Afanasyeva’s win was helped by being placed last in this final, just as I think Wieber landing outside the medals was about her performing first. I also think Afanasyeva helped herself by selling the routine and its choreography but I cannot see where she outclasses Sui Lu in execution, either- but once again, that is not her fault. I maintain that it was a fabulous floor final- because everyone hit and because we saw both incredible tumbling and some beautiful dance- sometimes at the same time. I was not judging the judging because if I think too hard about it, it will only turn me into a bitter fan of the sport I love. It was still, to me, the most impressive floor final, in terms of the gymnasts performances as a body of work, that I have seen in a long while.)
49 Comments
SH
“Best. Floor. Final. Ever.”
I agree. This was also my favourite win of the Championships (despite the whining of the Chinese fans on Facebook and other sites). Ksenia and her coach reacting to the score = priceless. So happy to see beauty winning. She deserved it.
Raisman needs to straighten her legs, point her feet and stop with the thrusting on the mat as her ‘dance’ before I’ll herald her as a floor champion.
I felt a bit bad for Wieber going first. She was incredible, but three medals already – not bad!
16 Oct 2011 12:10 pm (@Twitter)
Dympie
Nice one Brigid… You always echo my thoughts so precisely… It was a great floor final.. I too was thrilled for Afan, devastated for Ferrari, glad to see Chelaru get her shot, thought Raisman did great and was pleased to see her get a medal.. I was also please to see the great sportsmanship of the Americans seeking out the Russian winner to congratulate her in comparison to how they were treated a couple of days ago by the Russians. Jordyn Wieber is now up there with my favourites and I see so much of Shawn Johnson in her… in both her gymanstics and her adorable personality and mature attitude. I came into this championships a staunch Komova fan and leave feeling a little confused as to what I loved so much about her.. I hope uses this compeition as a wake up call and comes back better and stronger and more positive in London when we can have a real megga show down in the AA. Thanks Brigid for your great reports and backstage news… you’re always right on the money !!!
16 Oct 2011 01:10 pm (@Twitter)
giRafe
I keep a bitter taste of Komova too. I did not have any opinion on her, as it was the first time I saw her in competition. But have we ever seen her congratulate, kiss, shake hand or even look at another gymnast? That's bad sportsmanship. I don't like it. And for that, I am happy that she did not win any more than the UB medal (which she definitely deserved).
17 Oct 2011 01:10 am (@Twitter)
Sam
“Martha Karolyi frankly admitted in a post-meet interview that she thought her gymnast deserved the gold.” ??????? The whole world thought Komova deserved AA gold not her gymnast.
JUSTICE
16 Oct 2011 01:10 pm (@Twitter)
ALM
The journalist asked her, and she told her the truth. She didn't deny what she was thinking. At least she was being honest, and she explains why she thinks that way. Watch the interview on gymnastike.org
16 Oct 2011 02:10 pm (@Twitter)
anonymous
Unfortunately Komova gave two very poor performances. Beam was an utter disaster and floor was worse. So awarding Komova a silver in AA was a big gift. It’s a shame that she also shows little artistry in her gymnastics. It’s as if she is disinterested in performing. For some reason being extra skinny is called artistry nowadays.
16 Oct 2011 02:10 pm (@Twitter)
Skylar
Beyond, beyond happy that Afan finally got her moment to shine… and didn’t falter. Beyond precious. Favorite moment of worlds, especially because it was so surprising. Finally, a gorgeous, artistic floor worker gets recognized. (And long overdue for her) Even after she completed it, I had no idea it was good enough for Gold (a medal sure, but Gold! You go girl!)… and her reaction = priceless. But does anyone know if Komova was really injured, or just stepped aside (voluntary or not?) for her teammate? Hope it is the latter (because Komova and Russia cannot afford another injury), and that is so reminiscent of Khorkina giving up her spot for Zamo in Sydney.
Afan’s slightly higher E score… maybe a teeny sign that judges do appreciate artistry? (Rather than you know, Martha and USA complaining about overscoring)
Sadly, Afan’s chances at making it to 2012 seemed a little dubious, especially with junior wunderkinds Grishina and Sidorova. But then she always surprises when people write her off! Fingers’ crossed.
16 Oct 2011 02:10 pm (@Twitter)
Linda
While I agree Afan gave an elegant performance, I think the judges seemed to have overlooked the hops and incomplete turns she did. The execution score seemed too high for her performance. If that's the standard they are going by, then they should apply it across all the gymnasts. I find it difficult to pin down the deductions for Sui Lu so there seems to be double standards here. My guess is because of the Russian coaches' complains of unfair judging during the AA, the judges relented and went easier on Afan. I won't be surprised if judges hold a close-door meeting after every competition to see if their judging had been fair. So in other words, Afan was over-compensated.
16 Oct 2011 06:10 pm (@Twitter)
Cee
"that is so reminiscent of Khorkina giving up her spot for Zamo in Sydney"
Khorkina gets flak for her poor sportsmanship (and rightfully so) but her giving up her floor final spot to Zamo--*especially* when she was still so devastated by the craptacularly mismanaged AA--was a class act.
17 Oct 2011 02:10 am (@Twitter)
Rachel
Afan's win was definitely helped by her going up last (so that's overcompensation I guess), Jordyn's score is the flip side of that. But really, E scores, I just don't get it. Nobody can pin down all the deductions these days, for Sui Lu or for anyone. How about this: Sui Lu's leaps were gorgeous, and was much neater than Aly (epic tumbling aside, she had lots of form issues), and how on earth is her E score *just* 0.066 higher? Or how is her E score higher than Yao Jinnan? Overcompensating for AA...interesting theory, especially with that Russian article/interview thing that surfaced. But I don't see what Komova's coaches could have complained about, they can't really blame the judges for her (careless) mistakes on FX, the judging was strict (like she wasn't given the benefit of the doubt for some of her skills), but not unfair.
The Sydney Olympics is a complete fiasco really. The whole AA vault thing, then the drug controversy, then 10 years later, the whole chinese underage thing, that competition was just tainted. And actually, the Sydney AA is perhaps the one competition I would say is really *unfair*. The EFs redeemed it a teeny bit. And I think Khorkina gave up her vault spot, not floor? Hah, Khorkina is an interesting character alright.
18 Oct 2011 04:10 pm (@Twitter)
World Champion – Ksenia Afanasyeva — Gymnastics Coaching.com
[...] Brigid loved the final competition for women in Tokyo – Best. Floor. Final. Ever. [...]
Thiago Simoes
Best floor final ever?
The Floor Final was a sad finishing point to a confusing, mistake-ridden and sometimes incomprehensible World Championships. I want to believe everything is a joke and you will eventually write “Gotcha!” as a comment at some point.
The WC started with a huge number of great gymnasts out due to injury. Then, the incomprehensible scoring during Qualifications. US women were clearly overscored, Romania was helped (not exactly as much overscored as the Americans, but helped anyway) by the judges, Brazil was hammered, Ukraine, Poland and Belarus were humiliated. Then, the team competition came in and USA deserved to win, but when the medals were awarded there was a strong debate about whether Li or Sacramone deserved the gold the most. I also believe I should not further commnent about the Wieber vs. Komova AA debate (especially since mentioning inconsistent, biased judging seems to be a sin for many people).
When Event Finals started, judging kept at its worst. Hypolito’s score was incomprehensibly low, Zou’s score incomprehensibly high and had not Uchimura protested about his score, he would have dropped from World Champion to fourth place. Then the PH finals started and many people wanted it never actually happened. It was a splatfest, worse than the 2011 PH Final at the Euros. There was also a controversy about one judge apparently talking to Komova’s mom about her daughter winning the gold prior to the competition, because she is soooo much better than all the others. She hit her routine and earned the gold. It was predictable, actually, but it was NOT ethical for one of the judges to come and say publicly she would win if she hit. This is just pathetic. Then, in the Women’s Vault Finals, the inefficiency of the Code of Points allowed for two gymnasts with severe form issues to medal — Chusovitina and Phan — while clean gymnasts like Barbosa had to settle with the fourth place thanks to a mistake that should not be so severely punished. Beam Finals were also controversial since Ponor was also hammered on her E score, and also seemingly lost vital tenths in her D score. Not that the tenths would help anyway, since her E score was so botched she had no chance at all. Just sad. And then Afanasyeva wins the gold thanks to a judging mistake when the champion should have been Sui Lu.
This is probably one of the worst World Championships ever. The gymnasts, for the most part, did their job. The judges did not. It makes me sad to see that the outcomes could have been completely different had not the judging been so faulty and inconsistent.
Sorry for the long rant, but I’m furious.
16 Oct 2011 04:10 pm (@Twitter)
admin
Maybe you should start a blog? This rant is longer than my article!
16 Oct 2011 04:10 pm
Julia
Well, this rant was also much better than your article.
16 Oct 2011 08:10 pm (@Twitter)
Cee
"Well, this rant was also much better than your article."
Nah, not really :)
17 Oct 2011 02:10 am (@Twitter)
Mer
I wish I could "Like" things on your blog. I think I would Like just about everything.
" 'Well, this rant was also much better than your article.'
Nah, not really :) "
Especially this :)
19 Oct 2011 04:10 am (@Twitter)
Rachel
I didn’t realize Afan won – or was even in this final – until reading this. If I had been alone in my house when I read that, I would have screamed. I’m so thrilled for her, really. I just adore her on floor – her personality, her presentation – she’s simply fantastic. I’m also happy to see Sui Lu take home the silver – I love her routine. And as for Aly, I’m happy to see her take home an individual medal at last. I can’t wait to watch the whole final.
16 Oct 2011 04:10 pm (@Twitter)
Sara
I just hope this means Aly will get the recognition she deserves. She’s never the “it” girl, always in the shadows of Sacramone, Bross, Wieber, and even some of these new girls like Maroney. But she’s such a magnificent gymnast, so consistent and such a great attitude. I’m so happy she finally won a medal (I wish I was gold but Afan and Sui had beautiful routines). Praying that Aly makes the olympic team next summer! They’d be crazy not to take her- 4th AA, 4th beam, 3rd floor and so solid.
16 Oct 2011 07:10 pm (@Twitter)
Jayd
I have a huge amount of respect for Aly Raisman. She's such a mentally strong, consistent, reliable gymnast, and has some big skills as well. However, she is just not in the same class as gymnasts like Sui Lu, Komova, Wieber, Mustafina and Afanasyeva. These gymnasts have a mix of power, high difficulty, and beautiful artistry (Wieber not so much of the artistry). Half the time it appears that Raisman is simply chucking her skills due to her shocking lack of form. I find it difficult to swallow when a gymnast with form like hers manages to do so well in international competitions.
17 Oct 2011 11:10 pm (@Twitter)
Sharon
Agreed. I do appreciate her consistency, but she really needs to point her toes a bit and work on those leaps.. and dance to the music.
19 Oct 2011 08:10 am (@Twitter)
Anon
Anon at 4:10, 16/10
Are you a fig qualified and registered judge?
If not then kindly stop criticizing the judging and devaluing athletes’ performances by claiming that they don’t deserve the medals they won. It’s petty and shows bias on your behalf in that you can’t accept that a girl who isn’t your favorite won floor
16 Oct 2011 09:10 pm (@Twitter)
Tmoney
International judge bias to the USA aly r won hands down and jordyn should have gotten the silver what a joke aly robbed again she should hav won last year that’s int bias by all this politics the Russians cry and get favoritism this just sucks aly worked so hard she won and politics played against Jordyn she was silver worthy
16 Oct 2011 10:10 pm (@Twitter)
admin
I don't think it is 'politics' with Wieber- just the sad fact of going up early, which is sad in itself.
17 Oct 2011 02:10 am
Sharon
Again, take your comments ELSEWHERE. nobody cares and nobody agrees. 'International bias against the USA' wtf are you talking about
17 Oct 2011 08:10 am (@Twitter)
Larissa West
Holy run-on sentence, Batman!
17 Oct 2011 12:10 pm (@Twitter)
kelly
Wasnt Hannah Whelan the R3 gymnast?? I didnt realize that in EFs, a country can just replace with another gymnast from their country last minute. Glad the Afan won but would have loved Hannah to get her chance too! When I saw that 3 gymnasts were replaced I got my hopes up. Glad it was such an amazing final. Thanks for all your commentary!
16 Oct 2011 10:10 pm (@Twitter)
admin
I thought Whelan was r3 beam? I would have to check.
17 Oct 2011 01:10 am
Mer
She might have been, but if Afan placed higher than her in quals, but was out by the 2per country rule, Russia could just replace her. I think. As I'm typing this, I'm beginning to question it ;)
19 Oct 2011 04:10 am (@Twitter)
Catherine
I thought there was some kind of artistry mark or deduction for lack of artistry on floor, but the judges usually don’t take any notice of it?? Or maybe I’m dreaming. Is there? Does anyone know? It would be good if they finally started rewarding artistry and penalising lack of artistry. This floor final gives me hope!
16 Oct 2011 11:10 pm (@Twitter)
tulip
I am fairly removed from the rules so I hope you can help me understand the substitution to Afan. Are countries allowed to pull an athlete in EF and sub another of their choosing?
Thank you- great coverage!
16 Oct 2011 11:10 pm (@Twitter)
Julia
They are not allowed, but Afan was R2 and since R1 Mitchell already replaced Bulimar, Afan was the next reserve! Check the Q results on the official site: http://www.fedintgym.com/microsites/11Tokyo/Results/PDF/C73I_ResultsApparatus_GA%20Women%20Senior_Concours%20I_Floor.pdf
17 Oct 2011 09:10 am (@Twitter)
Enough
Sui Li should have won. If she was Russian she would have. Not like this comment will be allowed since this blog doesn’t allow free speech.
17 Oct 2011 12:10 am (@Twitter)
admin
I don't allow trash-talking, actually.
17 Oct 2011 01:10 am
Hayley
Don’t get me wrong! I totally love afan! So happy for her but I still can’t help but think that Sui Lu’s routine was much cleaner and had such beautiful artisty in her routine similar to afan. I honestly believed Sui Lu had it. I truly believe if you want a medal or gold at the Olympics on floor. You need to hope your the last competitor. Lol
17 Oct 2011 12:10 am (@Twitter)
admin
I do agree that part of Afan's win was going up last, and the Wieber's chances were shot by going at the start. It was the same for gymnasts last year.
17 Oct 2011 02:10 am
Rachel
Sigh. I’ve came to the conclusion that no matter who win, there will always be people screaming “robbed” or “overscored”. Subjectivity in judging is part of the sport, really. There is no objective standard, so there is no “should have”. Though I think the “invisible” E scores deductions are confusing everyone. Sui Lu was super clean with her tumbling, Beth and Aly were messier… and the E score doesn’t reflect that at all.
17 Oct 2011 02:10 am (@Twitter)
admin
I agree.
17 Oct 2011 02:10 am
GymNay
I agree with you as well!
17 Oct 2011 07:10 pm (@Twitter)
Nette
Loved Afan. Lover her floor. Loved your article.
17 Oct 2011 03:10 am (@Twitter)
Cathy
Love your comment! :)
18 Oct 2011 10:10 am (@Twitter)
anna
Thanks Brigid, your blog is the best!
17 Oct 2011 03:10 am (@Twitter)
Tamara
I had never really paid much attention to Jordyn Wieber until this year, and now I’m so impressed with her presence, energy level, and precision. Her floor routine in particular is exciting to watch, not just the high-point skills but every lesser skill and transitional move. Each movement is crisp and perfectly timed with the music Even when she’s simply standing upright, she does so with the greatest extension and back position. I had always loved the beautiful grace of Porgras and Mustafina, but I have to say I’m really liking Wieber’s style!
17 Oct 2011 02:10 pm (@Twitter)
GymNay
Great post! I actually thought Sui Lu had it as well but am very happy for Afan! I think the bigger issue sometimes is what gymnastics fans wants gymnastics to be vs what FIG wants gymnastics to be. I say if you dont like what FIG looks for to determine a top gymnast than take it up with FIG, the gymnast are just following the rules at the end of the day.
On another note, what is the deal with Komova’s sportsmanship, seriously! lol.
17 Oct 2011 07:10 pm (@Twitter)
jasimmons
I think that there is some truth to going last helps your score but there is simple fix. All the event finalist should have to do their routines twice like in vt finals but instead of doing them back to back like in vt or doing them in the same order they should switch the line up order during the second round of routines and average the two scores that way no one benifits or is harmed by their placement in the line up! also i think a change in scoring is needed too many great gymnast getting injured. i know injuries are a part of the sport but its getting ridiculous.
20 Oct 2011 04:10 am (@jasimmons4)
-
I think the difference between the top three difference is not only in the executions of the difficult tumbling skills and spins, but also in the execution of a simple backhandspring. Unlike some of the other gymnasts, Afanasyeva keeps her legs completely stuck together. A backhandspring might be easier than a double arabian, but the execution ways just as strongly.
20 Oct 2011 10:10 am (@Twitter)