08. October 2023  
Antwerp, BEL  
Artistic Gymnastics

43rd WOMEN's ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Simone BILES: t- her 21st Champions title!!

After a historical delay of more than 30 years, the female gender made its debut in international artistic gymnastics in Budapest in 1934. Now in Antwerp/BEL (01.10. - 08. 10.), parallel to the men's competition, the 43rd World Championships in Women's Gymnastics will take place. Here, too, the top priority is for the 9 countries that joined the trio of medallists already qualified for the World Championships last year (USA, GBR, CAN) to get now the Olympic tickets for the maximum possible 12 national starting places. This was decided after the two qualifying days, before the team world champion will be determined among the best 8 teams in the Team Final on Wednesday (October 04).
* After team gold and all-around victory as well as two more apparatus titles on beam and floor, the US-American Simone OWENS-BILES has the sceptre in her hands again as the four-time crowned world gymnastics king! With the vault victory (- before Biles!) as well as silver in the all-around and on floor as well as bronze on beam, her Brazilian Rebeca ANDRADE was hardly inferior to her as an elegant competitor and this top duo also only gave up one victory on the last day of the finals, the one on uneven bars, to the technically brilliant Chinese QIU Qiyuan (* see below →).
* As expected, the women's all-around final turned out to be a great performance by the exceptional athlete Simone Owens-BILES, who won her 21st world championship title with 58.399 points, after her first all-around success here in Antwerp, now the 6th all-around gold of her career at the same place. It was a thrilling contest with the defending champion from Brazil, Rebeca ANDRADE (56.766), who, as at the Olympics in Tokyo, now also won silver at the World Championships and relegated the second USA gymnast and last year's runner-up, Shilese JONES (56.332), to bronze.
In the first women's World Championships decision, the favoured USA gymnasts won the 9th team gold in gymnastics history with 167.792 points. In an exciting last round, the Chinese gymnasts, who were among the favourites, fell back to fourth place due to a weak vault round. For the first time, BRAZIL won a World Championships team medal with silver and relegated FRANCE to bronze with 165.530 points. With 164.064 points, FRANCE passed the Chinese by almost 2 points and won a team medal for the first time in 73 years (silver in Basel in 1950) and for the second time.


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⇒ The chronology of events ... :

♦♦ WOMEN's TEAM COMPETITION
     (*FINAL: Wednesday, Oktober 04)

* The Initial Situation --: In addition to the three medallists already qualified at the 42nd World Championships in Liverpool 2022, world champions USA, runners-up GREAT BRITAIN and bronze medallists CANADA, a further 9 nations will now compete in Antwerp for the coveted Olympic quota places.
* Germany finished 12th in Liverpool last year and will be severely handicapped this year:
After Elisabeth Seitz tore her Achilles tendon and former European champion Emma Malewski injured her syndemous ligament, the German girls not only have to cope with these two absences: To make matters worse, Lea Quaas from Chemnitz suffered a knee injury during the podium training on Friday (29 September), the consequences of which are absolutely not conducive to the team profile of a desired Olympic qualification when she is scheduled to perform on two apparatuses !
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* Wednesday, October 04: ►STARTING LIST
♦  WOMEN's TEAMFINAL

  GOLDEN TEAM  U S A - 9th WCh titel - the 7th GOLD in direct row!!

* R E S U L T S :

1. USA            - 167,729
2. B R A        - 165,530
3. F R A          - 164,064
4. CHINA                 - 163,162
5. ITALY                   - 162,997
6. GREAT BRITAIN   - 161,864
7. NETHERLANDS    - 159,563
8. JAPAN                 - 157,469
         ► Detailed Results
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As described at the beginning, there was a highly exciting medal fight of a quartet, which was surprisingly joined by the French instead of Great Britain.
Sad Britain had a sad fall today due to too many instabilities, also because their top gymnast Jessica Gadirova already had a fall on the first apparatus vault and then in succession did not have a good day. The leading gymnasts of Brazil, Rebeca ANDRADE, and France, Melanie de Jesus DOS SANTOS, created a fighting atmosphere in their teams, which the other teams did not manage to do, also because the most powerful gymnasts were not without instabilities and thus failed to score points, e.g. Alice D'Amato for Italy (fall on vault) and Olympic beam champion Sanne Weavers for the Netherlands.
And China's absolute strengths on uneven bars with fantastic super techniques and their breathtakingly difficult beam exercises were not enough to maintain the initial contact with the sovereign top nation USA, but they could not compensate for their weaknesses on vault (content) and floor.
* Overview of
► All WCh Women's Team decisions of the last years
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(→... next:
* Thursday, Oct. 05, from 07.30 pm on: ► MEN's All-around Final)

♦ S C H E D U L E  //  R E S U L T S  (> dailyResults)

* SUNDAY / Monday Oct. 01,/02
♦ WOMEN's Qualification, Day 1
*Intermediate results ...:
Already the first of 10 rounds turned out to be an educational demonstration of modern women's gymnastics, celebrated by the US-Americans, led above all by the "extraterrestrial" Simone BILES, who demonstrated her explosiveness on floor and especially on vault and celebrated her double somersault bent over at a gigantic height. The safety presence of her coach on the podium cost her half a point deduction, but the super difficulty set at 6. Of course, the super difficulty set with a 4-D value gave her the lead - not only on vault, but also on beam and floor, but - one should not underestimate the slender, technically elegant runner-up of last year's world championship, Shilese JONES, who did not perform as difficult as Biles, She celebrated her acro on floor with playful ease and seems to be the aesthete among the top favourites, even though she was almost 2 points behind Biles (58.865) in the all-around (56.932). ..
But everything is still at the beginning and the first preliminary decisions will be made on Monday evening.
That one had to reckon with the Italians, the Dutch and above all the British was already confirmed on the first day of qualification ...
* 3. Subd.:  AA2, GBR, KOR, RSA
As expected, at the end of the first day of the competition, the British women came in behind the USA but also clearly ahead of the Italians, especially thanks to Jessica GADIROVA (56.766), who came within two tenths of a point of the two leading Americans Biles and Jones:
*Intermediate results: - after Subdivision 1 - 3
1. USA-171,395;    2. GBR-166,130;   3. ITA-162,395;   4. NED-161,19;
5. KOR-157,297;    6. RSA-147,997;   7. TPE-145,030;
           ► Intermediate results - after Day 1
   + + +

♦ FINAL STANDING after Subdivision 10: (1-12 qualified for OG Paris 2024)
   1. USA-171,395;       2. GBR-166,130;     3. CHN- 165,663;    4. BRA-164,297;
   5.  ITA-162,395;        6. NED-161,197;      7.  FRA-160,930;     8. JPN-158,497;
   9. AUS-157,896;   10. ROU-157,795;     11. KOR-157,297;   12. CAN-157,229; 
  13. GER-157,128;      13. MEX-154,628;       15. HUN-153,563;     16. ESP-152,895; 
  17. BEL-151,662;       18 SWE-150,263;        19. RSA-147,997;     20. AUT-147,830;
   21. CZE-147,063;      22. FIN-145,296;          23.TPE-145,230;     24. ARG-145,197.
                    ► Detailed Results
                      ► Ind. All-around qualification results
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* APPARATUS RESULTS & Final Qualifier
    ► VAULT      ► U.BARS;     ► B.BEAM;     ► FLOOT EX.

→. .. next:
 (→ * Thursday, Oct. 05, from 07.30 pm on: ► MEN's All-around Final)
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♦ FRIDAY, Oct. 06. 10. MEHRKAMPFINALE, FRAUEN
    7.30 pm - 10.05:  (- (- the best 24 gymnasts, max. 2 per nation)
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♦ SATURDAY, Oct. 07.: APPARATUS FINALS, part I
   02.00 pm - 06.00:  (- the best 8 per apparatus, max. 2 per Nation)
         * WOMEN:  > VAULT;  > UNEVEN BARS
             (►MEN: > FX;   > PH;  > SR;)

♦ SUNDAY, Oct. 08: APPARATUS FINALS, part II
   02.00 pm - 06.00:  (- the best 8 per apparatus, max. 2 per Nation)
         * WMEN: > BALANCE BEAM,  > FLOOR EXERCISES
             (►MEN:  > VT;  > PB;  > HB;)
  + + +
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♦♦ INDIVIDUAL ALL-AROUND: Who will be Gymnastics Queen 2023?
      (Friday, October 06)

Liverpool 2022 saw the crowning of the first Brazilian all-around world champion in history with Rebecca ANDRADE, who had already won Olympic silver in Tokyo the year before. In the absence of defending champion Angelina Melnikova and the sanctioned Russians, Shilese JONES (USA) and Jessica GADIROVA took the medal places ahead of Alice Kinsella (GBR) and Elsabeth Black (CAN), who will all be favourites again in Antwerp 2023. Germany's only finalist Karina Schoenmaier finished 22nd in Liverpool.
* Overview of ► All Worlds All-around decisions of the last years

* F I N A L   R E S U L T S  :

1. BILES Simone              (USA)  - 58,399
2. ANDRADE Rebeca       (BRA)  - 56,766
3. JONES Shilese            (USA)  - 56,332
      4.  QIU Qiuyan                     (CHN)   - 54,799
      5. D'AMATO Alice                   (ITA)  - 54,265
      6. THORSDOTTIR Eythora     (NED)  - 54,098
... 22. VOSS Asahra                     (GER)  - 50,799
... 24. SCHAEFER-BETZ Pauline   (GER)  - 49,932
         ► Detailed Results

Even though the ex-French gymnast Kayla NEMOUR, who has been competing for Algeria since July, started with a great routine on parallel bars and took the lead, Simone BILES calmly registered a -0.7 point deficit on this apparatus, the exceptional gymnast then marched through on the following apparatus as expected:
On beam, floor and vault the sovereign top favourite left the competition behind her. Her team mate and last year's vice world champion Shilese JONES offered less substance, especially in the medal fight against the Brazilian defending champion Rebeca ANDRADE - on floor even half a point less, which she then lacked in the final ranking. And so, as already in Liverpool in 2022, the Brazilian passed Jones in Antwerp, although she also over-rotated her dismount row with double somersault bent over on floor and landed outside. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old was very happy about the silver medal, because she also knew that at the moment nobody can threaten Simone Biles in this form.

Surprisingly, last year's third-placed Jessica Gadirova (GBR) did not compete. Alice Kinsella, however, represented her in a worthy manner in 6th place. Weak floor and vault performances as well as a beam fall did not make the petite Chinese QIU Qiyuan on rank 4 (54.799) a real threat for the medal trio. And Italy's star Alice D'AMATO did not have a good day either, falling her 2nd acro row on floor, but then kept the damage in check on uneven bars with the third-best performance (14.666) in the last round and finished a comforting fifth (54.265).
However, there were a double-digit number of falls (!!) in the second rotation alone, which also affected Canada's Elsabeth Black and France's Melani de Jesus dos Santos, as well as 32-year-old Flavia Saraiva, so that this WCh All-around final should probably be denied the title "outstanding". The two German gymnasts Pauline Schäfer-Betz (on floor) and Sarah Voss even twice (on parallel bars) were also badly affected, so that they did not get beyond the ranks 24 and 22, but also because of the insufficient content compared to the international competition.
   + + +.

♦♦ WOMEN's APPARATUS FINALS  (Sat / Sun, October 07/08)

** PREVIEW / Situation --: After the sanctions against Russia, all the apparatus titles 2022 in Liverpool - as in the men's - went to gymnasts from four different nations:
* Vault:        Jade Carey (USA),                //   * U. bars:    Wei, Xiaoyuan (CHN)
* B. beam:  Hazuki Watanabe (JPN);   //    * Floor ex.: Jessica Gadirova (GBR).
The leading nation USA altogether won the most medals with 1 gold, 3x silver and 1x bronze.
Germany's exceptional gymnast Elisabeth Seitz only just missed a medal this time as fourth on parallel bars, after winning bronze in Doha in 2018 and having been in a World Championships uneven bars final a total of 5 times since 2010. A torn Achilles tendon prevented her active participation in the World Championships this time.
* Historical Overview about the Apparatus Champions:
  ►Women's vault / Sprung (Frauen)VAULT;   ►Uneven bars / StufenbarrenU. BARS     ►Balance beam / SchwebebalkenB. BEAM;   ►Floor exercises / Boden (Frauen)FLOOR EX.;
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* Saturday / Sunday, October 07/08

♦♦ WOMEN's APPARATUS

   V A U L T * Titel holder:Rebeca ANDRADE (BRA)
                                     *  Quali.:   ► V a u l t;

ANDRADE Rebeca (BRA) - (5.6/5.0) =14.750
BILES, Simone      (USA) - (6.4/5.6) =14,549
YEO Seojeong       (KOR) - (5.4/5.0) =14,416
              ► Detailed Results
* Simone Biles started again with great hope her power jump - Yurtschenko - double somersault rw. bent - a borrowing from men's gymnastics ("YANG Wei") as the first gymnast in the world, but she overpeced the jump and had to roll off. Nevertheless she leads until the last gymnast: Rebeca ANDRADE marks the highest score with the "Cheng" already in the first vault and also passes Biles by 2/10 points with rank two. Her second vault title after 2021!!!

♦ WCh GYM History:
►► VAULT Champions All

   U N E V E N   B A R S * Titel holder : WEI, Xiaoyuan (CHN)
                                                                   *  Quali.:   ► U. b a r s; 

QIU Qiuyuan        (CHN) - (6.7) =15,100
NEMOUR Kaylia   (ALG) - (6.7) =15,033
JONES Shilese    (USA) - (6.3) =14,766
          ► Detailed Results
** Two 16-year-olds are at the top of the uneven bars: QIU Qiuyuan continues the Chinese gold tradition after 2-time world champion WEI and with Kaylia NEMOUR the Frenchwoman who changed to Algeria wins the first world championship gold for this African country. Former vice world champion Shilese JONES (USA) finishes this final with bronze.

♦ WCh GYM History
►► UNEVEN BAR Champions All

  B A L A N C E   B E A M  * Titel holder : Hazuki WATANABE( JPN)
                 * Quali.:   ► B. b e a m;

* In the duel between the two top competitors, Biles and Andrade, the technically brilliant Chinese gymnast ZHOU Yaqin joined in, supported by her performance but with the same difficulty score of 6.5 as Biles. Again powergirl Simone Biles was convincing with her acrobatic dynamics, but why the judges deducted one tenth of a point more in the execution (E-value) from the dainty but technically almost perfect Chinese gymnast remains their secret. A little bit of the "Biles bonus" must have been there! Silver for ZHOU ,bronze for ANDRADE!
BILES Simone      (USA)  - (6.5) =14,800
ZHOU Yaqin            (CHN) - (6.5) =14,700
ANDRADE Rebeca  (BRA)  - (6.9) =14,300
             ► Detailed Results

►►
WCh B E A M  Champins, All
   + + +

  F L O OR  E X E R C I S E S- * Titel holder : Jessica Gadirova (GBR)
  * Quali.:   ► FLOOR e.

Not unexpectedly Simone BILES literally gymnastics everything "in the ground ... "better on the floor: highest difficulty (6.7) - not even an unauthorised landing outside the mat border after one of her flights almost under the roof of the hall affected that. And not unexpectedly, the women's duo from Brazil also set a new benchmark on the last apparatus: Brazil's Rebeca Andrade ahead of her compatriot Flavia Saraiva, silver and bronze on one apparatus - that has never happened before, although Andrade was able to truly "silver" her bronze medal from last year.

BILES Simone           (USA) - (6.7) - (14,633
ANDRADE Rebeca     (BRA) - (6.1) =14,500
SARAIVA, Flavia        (BRA) - (5.7) =13,966
             ► Detailed Results

►►
WCh F L O O R  Champions, All
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