Despite everyone else's tepid feelings going into this Worlds, I knew it was going to be a good one. And these event finals cemented in my mind that I was right! Some of the closest competition in recent years and with only one fall across the two finals!
Vault
Phan Thi Ha Thanh: It's great to see her in the final, even if it didn't go her way. It's her landings that get her, she just seems not to get enough air time to really wrap in the twists during the salto. In a way, I'm glad she came in last, because that's just a testament to how great this final was.
Claudia Fragapane: Definitely not the cleanest vaulter, but I do definitely think she's improved the Lopez on CWGs. It still had a bit of the whip open-whip closed of her Lopez there, but it was nowhere near as pronounced. The DTY was about like usual for her, nothing really memorable either way.
Alexa Moreno: I'm just so happy she made this final! I love how she does an FHS and a Tsuk! Not the cleanest and and the floor seems t come to her as a bit of a surprise, but it's just so lovely that she made the final! I do think her Rudi was my favorite of the final, as well.
Alla Sosnitskaya: The Cheng was fairly nice, other than the landing. She just doesn't seem to get quite enough power to make it to the ground easily. It's definitely one to keep and continue working on though. Her DTY was pretty soft, form-wise.
Giulia Steingruber: Not her best of outings, certainly. The Rudi wasn't one of her better efforts and seemed kind of all over the place. She seems to have kind of lost steam this year. I think it might have been a smart idea to keep the FTT in the locker in case the DTY didn't work out, as it didn't here. I'll always be annoyed at her lack of toe point in the salto of the FTY. It's sad to see how much she's gone back from last year.
Mykayla Skinner: The judges are certainly being generous where the block is concerned, because that second hand could barely have been said to touch the table. Otherwise, it was a gorgeous vault. The form and body position were both lovely, and it was the best Cheng in the air of the final. Her DTY is always nice and powerful, and her vault in the final was no different. Beautiful. She really does just look so great at this Worlds.
Simone Biles: That Amanar is breathtaking. And she minimized the hop for the final! She just rockets off the table and into the stratosphere. I just love the way she's able to really open up into the grouns because she does everything so well in the air. The Lopez was beautiful as well! There's just nothing negative to say about either of her vaults, they're just so precise!
Hong Un Jong: Hong's Amanar has quickly become one of my favorites at Aisian Games and Worlds. I finally understand why they thought she could do a triple. She just hangs in the air! This one was no different, though she took a bit of a large step. Just beautiful vaulting, still. She didn't seem to get quite enough power for the Cheng and looked to go more out than up, but other than a bit of a scrappy landing it was still a crackerjack vault. I never thought I'd be fawning over Hong's vaulting, but she really has just improved a ton. And at 24!!
This was definitely one of the best vault finals in a long time. No falls!!! The top three vaulters were definitely the ones to medal, which is what we always want. It was super close between Hong and Simone and it could have fairly gone either way. This was definitely one of the only times I was on the edge of my seat waiting for a vault result! Two Amanars, three Chengs, three Rudis- great difficulty. All in all an amazing final. Well done to everyone!
Bars
Aliya Mustafina: Gorgeous. Duh. She really is just gorgeous on this piece. I think her handstands were a little bit less perfect than usual, but they were all still very nice. She caught her Van Leuwen with the straightest arms I think I've seen her catch with. I remember Mitch Fenner one time commenting that she was "leisurely in the full turn," and I really think "leisurely" is the best word to describe her bars. She just always seems so calm throughout her work and it really makes you feel like you don't have to worry with her. Brilliant stuff.
Ashton Locklear: Ashton can definitely be really proud of herself after these Worlds. She went from not even having competed at a Nationals to a Worlds gold medalist and individual finalist in such a short amount of time! She did one of her best routines in the final, which was wonderful for her. And she got the six-skill connection! I know some people think this routine is too cookie-cutter, but that connection has the wow factor for me! She had some of her cleanest execution of the season and it flowed really well. She just had the small step on the dismount, which was disappointing after she'd been sticking them so well in the domestic season.
Becky Downie: Becky also did a great job here. Her only really noticeable errors were some short handstands, including the one before her dismount. I wonder if she was maybe playing a little safe since she knew that was where she fell last year. The connections in this routine are just dynamite and I love them so much. It's great that everything is finally coming together for Becky this season and she's really showing the world what she's made of!
Ruby Harrold: I was so sad that she had a fall here! I love this routine so much and it was just so sad to see her falter. The Van Leuwen to Zuchold was breathtaking, as always. Her stuck dismount was also great to see after the disappointing fall. Ruby's had a stacked year this year, and she's done really well overall.
Lisa Katharina Hill: This is a great composition. Her connection of toe full-Maloney-clear hip 1/2-clear hip full-Geinger is really unique and eye-catching! Her Bhardwaj was also beautiful. She definitely had some bobbles throughout the routine, but she covered really well and kept her head through it all. Really exciting stuff and she did very well in the deepest final of these Worlds.
Daria Spiridonova: This was absolutely one of Daria's best routines. Why not save the best for last? All the inbar work was really deftly completed. She caught pretty much everything with fully extended arms, which was wonderful to see. Her Van Leuwen was also really well done, and she managed to make it stand out. The piked Jager was gorgeous and well above the bar in the flight. She hit most of her handstand perfectly, her only really noticeable error being when she lost herself in her last half pirouette before the dismount. Really gorgeous work.
Huang Huidan: I just love her dismount. Just something a little different. She performed pretty much like always. The pirouette combination into the piked Jager was really deftly performed. She also caught her Chow 1/2 with COMPLETELY extended arms, which just made it look so nice! The stuck dismount was a great finishing touch for her great routine. The slo-mo afterward really made me appreciate her lack of grips. She seemed to barely have her hands on the bar at all in some of that elgrip work!
Yao Jinnan: Everything finally came together for Yao! The opening connection was incredibly fluid and beautiful. Her pirouette series into Tkatchev went very nicely, and a 1 1/2 pirouette is always a nice somewhat unexpected flourish. The highlight of the routine was definitely the dismount for me. She just hung in the air and stuck it so easily. And a perfectly done DLO dismount is very easy to watch.
Bars was pegged to be the nail-biter of this year's Worlds, and it didn't disappoint! Excellent work all the way through the ranks and a ton of super exciting routines. Who would have expected Daria to claim the bronze here? Really well done for her, she had an outstanding routine last night and totally deserved the bronze. Haung and Yao pulled off the Chinese 1-2 on bars everyone was contemplating, and they really have superior work. Ruby's fall was disappointing, but it was great that there was only one fall across both finals. It was great to see Yao finally bringing home a World title after a lot having not gone her way in her senior career. There were also some great unique moves- TWO Bharwajes, a Zuchold, and a half-in double front, showing that there is still a ton of creativity!
Leos
My favorite leo of the night belonged to Becky Downie. I love the flag-on-the-back design, and the red was just beautiful! I personally love the bumblebee leo, so I was totally down with Aliya wearing it in the UB final. I loved the American one! It's great to see them in red, white, and blue, and I liked how the design was done. I was also a big fan of Giulia's. The light blue color was really gorgeous on her and the combination and design was great too.
My least favorite was definitely Huang's. I'm a person who prefers long sleeves, and the nude mesh and yellow/green... stuff didn't look great. I'm not a huge fan of the North Korean leotard either. It just seems all king of thrown together to me. I thought Phan Thi Ha Than's was a bit strange as well, kind of space-agey mixed with we-put-together-our-scraps. Alla turned up in a Russian stand-by. I'm not a big fan of it. It is very busy and the colors all kind of compete with each other.
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