Romania Off to Rough Start at World Gymnastics

Kuwait bags three silver one bronze in shooting tournament SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2015 OCTOBER SATURDAY, SportsSports 43 GLASGOW: Spain’s Nora Fernandez performs on the vault as she takes part in the women’s qualification competition at the World Artistic Gymnastics championships in Glasgow, Scotland, yesterday. — AP Romania off to rough start at world gymnastics GLASGOW: The back of their blue, red ing to Brazil sooner. Failing to make the exercise and uninspired on vault before position for the finals. They felt relaxed and yellow warmup jackets read team finals at worlds would force the unraveling on uneven bars. Laura Jurca enough to pose for selfies afterward, a “Romania.” The performances on the floor, Romanians to qualify through the test was the only one among her teammates to stark contrast to the Romanians. under the lights and in front of the world, event next April. Star Larisa Iordache, run- get through a routine without hitting the Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan likely hardly looked like it. Shaky on balance ner-up last year to two-time defending mat. Diana Bulimar came off twice, stand- won’t make the individual all-around final, beam and shakier still on uneven bars, the world champion Simone Biles, slipped off ing there stunned for several seconds after but the 40 year-old - yes, she’s 40 - should former gymnastics superpower the bars and finished with 55.698, well off her second miscue. make the vault finals even though she sat crumbled on the opening day of the what she would need to be a serious threat while trying to land a Produnova , basically 2015 world gymnastics championships. to Biles in the individual all-around. The Great qualification two forward flips. Her two-vault average of Once a regular medal contender and still 19-year-old broke down in tears before The mistakes continued on beam, with 14.683 puts her in good position to make it considered among the sport’s elite, ushering her sullen teammates back to the Iordache botching an early skill and to the event finals and has her on track as Romania might not even make next week’s hotel to regroup. appearing disgusted as she tried to com- she tries to make it to a seventh Olympics. eight-team final. Sitting up in the stands, 1976 Olympic plete her set. The scores will reset for the Chusovitina said she feels “fantastic,” The once mighty have fallen. And fallen. champion Nadia Comaneci sat in shock. team final next Tuesday. If Romania makes three years after saying she was going to And fallen. And they might not get the The Romanian great understood her home it. “Sometimes when you have a great retire following the 2012 London chance to get up. Not until next year any- country walked onto the floor at The SSE qualification I would be worried about the Olympics. “We are women,” she said way. Romania’s lethargic total of 217.220 Hydro shorthanded after veteran Catalina final,” Comaneci said. “I think you should through a translator. “We say one thing left it vulnerable to finish outside the top Ponor injured her leg in training a few be somewhere in the middle. But this was and we change our mind. It happens all eight, a once seemingly impossible sce- weeks ago and Anamaria Ocolisan twisted not very lucky for them. (I just) pray to be the time.” nario for a country that has medaled in her ankle in practice on Thursday. there in the first eight and I think we’ll talk Russia and rising Britain are scheduled every Olympic team final since 1976. Comaneci didn’t expect to see what differently in the final.” to compete later yesterday. The US Though there are still more than nine amounted to a full-on meltdown. Japan had no such issues in early com- women, the defending Olympic champion months before the flame is lit at the 2016 “I am sick to my stomach,” Comaneci petition, posting a strong team total of and defending world titlists, will compete Rio Games, Romania could find itself head- said. The Romanians were sluggish on floor 223.863 that should have them in solid today evening. — AP.

Load more