Men's WCh's all-around:
China and Korea won't take part in the battle for the gymnastics crown
Olympic Champion China comes to London without title holder Yang Wei . Nonetheless, they will compete with strong gymnasts. However, it is not planned that any of them will show a full all-around.
Also from the fifth- ranked of the last Olympic Games, Korea, no gymnast will compete on all six apparatus. Their recent top stars, like KIM Dae Eun (5th in Stuttgart) and YANG Taeyoung (8th in Stuttgart and in Beijing, 7th in Aarhus) won't participate in London.
So the German Vice- World Champion from Stuttgart 2007, and 3rd of the WCh's in Aarhus 2006, Fabian HAMBUECHEN, is one of the top favourites now for the all-around gold medal in London. It would be his first World Championship- all-around title, after having become also for the first time European all-around Champion this year.

One of his toughest competitors, Yang Wei from China, World Champion 2006 and 2007 and Olympic Champion 2008, is not competing anymore.
Also other all-arounders like Japan's Hiroyuki TOMITA (2nd in 2006; 4th in Beijing) and the 3rd- ranked from Stuttgart, Hisashi MIZUTORI are missing in London. Takuya NAKASE only competes on 3 apparatus, so that the Olympic silver medalist from Beijing, Kohei UCHIMURA, probably is Japan's best gymnast at these World Championships. Maxim DEVIATOVSKI - 5th in Aarhus, then with bad luck in Stuttgart, and again 5th at the Olympic Games in Beijing - there he was one place ahead of Hambüchen. Also the bronze medalist of the European Championships Jury RYAZANOV is a contender for an all-around medal.
Also the British hosts shouldn't be overlooked - the only 19-year-old Daniel KEATINGS, Vice- European Champion from Milan this year and his one year older team mate Kristian
THOMAS. The 7th- placed from the 2009 European Championships will only compete on one apparatus.

Of the 24 ECh's-finalists, 21 compete also in London, 18 of them in the all-around, the 4th- ranked from Milan Philipp BOY (GER) only on high-bar.
Of the Olympic finalists from 2008, 11gymnasts still compete in the all-around. If Benoit CARANOBE (29) can repeat his surprising bronze medal from Beijing is uncertain, in the Olympic final everything was fitting perfectly for him.
Still 8 finalists from the WCh's in Stuttgart 2007 will compete also in London. Jonathan HORTON from the USA at that time missed the bronze medal narrowly by 2 tenths only. The 6th- ranked from the 2007 World Championships Rafael MARTINEZ (ESP) will compete only on 3 apparatus in London.

Also Romania's Flavius KOCZI shouldn't be forgotten. In Stuttgart he was 7th and in Milan 5th, one place ahead of Italy's best gymnast Enrico POZZO, who also want's to reach the top 10 again in London.

   >> WCh- History All-around

- On pommel horse China won the title the last four times with Teng Haibing (2003) and then three times in a row Xiao, Qin. Now in London only Zhang Hongtao can be found on the entry list. Olympic bronze medal, ECh's silver and home advantage: There couldn't be a better start for Lous Smith (GBR)...?!
   > WCh History Pommel horse

- On rings the Olympic Champions Chen Yibing and Yang Wei (Silber) aren't competing anymore. Also European Champion Yuri van Gelder (NED) is not participating in London, due to a doping suspension. However, the Vice European Champion Alexander Worobyov (UKR) and the strong Italians Matteo Moeandi, Matteo Angioletti and Andrea Coppolino will compete in London.
   > WCh History Rings

- Vault is difficult to predict. Title holder Leszek Blanik (POL)  is not participating. Can Romania's Marian Dragulescu (28) win a title again, after his desaster in Beijing...? Also the 3rd- ranked from the last World Championships, Ri, Se Gwang from Northkorea shouldn't be overlooked as well as Germany's Fahrig and Hambuechen. The same can be said about the best gymnasts from the European Championships,  Thomas Bohail (FRA) and Flavius Koczi (ROU)...
    > WCh History Vault

- On parallel bars maybe another victory by Mitja Petkovsek with 32 years...? But there are also Anton Fokin (3rd in 2007) or Asia's Yoo, Won Chul (KOR), who won the silver medal on this apparatus in Beijing, behind the absent Li Xiaopeng (CHN) and ahead of Fokin and Hambüchen. Petkovsek became "only" fifth there. European Champion Yann Cucherat hadn't even reached the Olympic final...
   > WCh History Parallel Bars

- On high-bar title holder Fabian Hambüchen will again have strong competitors, like the two most successful gymnasts from the Olympic Games 2008, Zou Kai (CHN) and Jonathan Horton (USA), Olympic Champion 2004 Igor Cassina (2004), former European Champion Vlasios Maras and many others.
   > WCh History  High Bar

All in all everything is open. Some countries use the post- Olympic year to start with new young gymnasts on the way to the Olympic Games in London 2012. It will be an intersting mixture of established gymnasts and newcomers - surprises can certainly be expected!


TV- Media- debacle for Germany
Certainly the BBC will show great TV- pictures from the O2- Arena to the World. The German TV- audience, like already at the European Championships in Milan this year, won't see any live broadcasts from the event. This is quite a scandal. Not even Eurosport will show anything from these World Championships. Further German TV channels wanted to broadcast part of the Championships but failed due to the uncooperative position of the FIG, for who the German TV- market doesn't seem to be important enough...
* Eckhard Herholz, GYMmedia INTERNATIONAL

**... Preview 32rd Womens World Championships follows soon!