17. October 2015  
Glasgow  
WCh 2015

PREVIEW: Pre-Olympic Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2015

Kohei Uchimura: ... the sixth title in a row?

With 594 athletes representing 87 different countries - from Algeria to Vietnam - registered to compete, the 2015 46th Men's Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Glasgow from October 23 to November 01 breaks all previous records in terms of participation.
During the competition, other records stand to fall as well. The uncontested king of Gymnastics since 2009, Kohei Uchimura will seek to extend his incredible winning streak in Glasgow. The 26-year-old from Japan, already owner 16 World and five Olympic medals, has won the last five consecutive World All-around titles, in addition to the Olympic gold in 2012.
May be that titleholder Simone Biles (USA) can realize the all-around hat-trick ...?!

* After the 2014 Worlds in Nanning the International Gymnastics Camp 'IGC' supports also the GYMmedia coverages of the 2015 Pre-Olympic Worlds in Glasgow.

Simone Biles, AA title holder

37th Women's World Championships
On women's side American Simone Biles (18), will try to become the first gymnast to win three consecutive women's World All-around titles. Russia's Svetlana Khorkina is currently the only gymnast in history to have won three World All-around golds, though she did not do it in consecutive years (1997, 2001 and 2003).

In addition to almost all 2014 World champions, a large number of 2012 Olympic gold medallists will be present in Glasgow, among them Gabrielle Douglas (USA), Alexandra Raisman (USA), Arthur Zanetti (BRA), Krisztian Berki (HUN) and Epke Zonderland (NED). The Glasgow Worlds will be all the more suspenseful because the quest for World gold doubles as the first of two qualifying competitions for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Following the qualification competitions (October 24 for the women and October 26 for the men), the top eight teams will secure the right to send five gymnasts to compete in the team event at next summer’s Olympics.

♦ The FIG-video explained the qualification modus:


The second Olympic chance ...
... for teams ranked ninth through 16th will have to qualify at the Pre-Olympic Test Event 2016, April 16-19 in Rio de Janeiro. For gymnasts whose nations do not advance to the Games or the Test Event, winning a medal in individual event finals October 31 and November 1 is the surest way to obtain their ticket to the Rio Games.

The Glasgow venue ...
The SSE Hydro in Glasgow offers a unique backdrop for showcasing the performers of one of the most popular sports in the Olympic programme. A giant 230 square meter screen will put spectators right in the middle of the action, while the judges will be seated at the sides of the arena, allowing maximum visibility of the gymnasts.

♦♦ A special View on the MEN's COMPETITIONS

Imperial China
For more than two decades, one nation has almost singlehandedly dominated the Men's team competition at the World Championships. Since Dortmund in 1994, the Chinese men have won 10 of 11 World team titles, in addition to three of the five Olympic titles up for grabs along the way. For the past eight years, the team competition has been a ferocious battle between China, which deploys a solid legion of event specialists, and Japan, led by its star Kohei Uchimura. The competition is so tight that of the 273 points earned by both teams last year in Nanning, the gold medal was decided by one tenth of a point!
* F.I.G - VIDEO --:

 
"King Kohei"
In Men's Artistic Gymnastics, he's the man: Since winning his first World All-around title in London in 2009, Kohei Uchimura has added another golden chapter to his stellar career with every passing year. With five consecutive World titles and the Olympic gold in 2012, Uchimura holds the record for All-around victories at the World Championships. Though his brilliance has brought him five Olympic medals (one gold and four silver) and 16 World medals (seven gold and five silver among them), the 26-year-old from Japan strives for one thing only: perfection.
 
A Dutchman in flight
In a sport filled with daredevils, Epke Zonderland (NED) does combinations on High Bar even the most envelope-pushing gymnasts only dream of. The 29-year-old's ability to do consecutive flipping release skills -- letting go of the bar, flipping and twisting over it, regrabbing it and letting go again immediately to do still more flips and twists -- has catapulted him to Olympic gold, two World titles and immeasurable Youtube stardom. Video footage of his winning Horizontal Bar routine in London in 2012 has received more than 1.8 million views to date, and earned him the nickname "The Flying Dutchman."
 
The incredible Japanese twisting sensation
An adolescent upstart with an aptitude for twisting like a top, Kenzo Shirai's prodigious talent first led him to become the youngest man ever to make the Japanese National team, and in 2013, one of the youngest-ever World champions on Floor. Shirai has two signature skills on Floor -- a triple twisting forward somersault and a quadruple twisting back somersault, which he performs at the end of his routine -- as well as a triple-twisting Vault, all of which are named after him. This year he plans to unveil a new tumbling run, which he hopes will help him regain the World Floor title.
 
Man of the year
2015 has been a golden year for Oleg Verniaiev: Since last November, the determined Ukrainian has won every competition he's entered, racking up All-around titles at the European Championships, European Games, World University Games and American Cup, the last of which earned him the FIG World Cup series title for the second consecutive year. While Verniaiev is considered Uchimura's most serious rival, the two have yet to meet in competition in 2015. The last time the two competed in the same arena was in 2014 in Nanning, where Verniaiev finished fourth All-around. Uchimura, of course, won the gold.
 
Great Britain awaits its first king
Beth Tweddle was the pioneer on the women's side, but no British man has yet won a World title in Men's Gymnastics. Nevertheless, before and since the London Olympic Games, the sport has experienced unprecedented growth and popularity on the island. During the London Games, Louis Smith (silver on Pommel Horse), Max Whitlock (bronze on Pommel Horse), Kristian Thomas, Daniel Purvis and Sam Oldham made history by taking bronze in the team competition. Those first four, aided by Nile Wilson and Brinn Bevan this year, hope to do as well in Glasgow, the first stop on the road to Rio.
 
38 gold medals
With the exception of Jake Dalton (USA), all medallists from the 2014 Worlds in Nanning are expected to compete in Glasgow. Additionally, no fewer than 15 former World champions will be present, including Marian Dragulescu (ROU/9 World medals), Kohei Uchimura (JPN/7), Zhang Chenglong (CHN/4), Krisztian Berki (HUN/3), Epke Zonderland (NED/2), Diego Hypolito (BRA/2), Lin Chaopan (CHN/2), Liu Yang (CHN/2), Yuri Van Gelder (NED/1), Arthur Zanetti (BRA/1), Oleg Verniaiev (UKR/1), Kenzo Shirai (JPN/1), Danell Leyva (USA/1), Fabian Hambüchen (GER/1), Vlasios Maras (GRE/1).
 
Lords of the Rings
Five Olympic gold medallists from London 2012 will also be present in Glasgow to continue the grand adventure that all hope will lead them to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. These are Kohei Uchimura (JPN/All-around), Epke Zonderland (NED/Horizontal Bar), Arthur Zanetti (BRA/Still Rings), Krisztian Berki (HUN/Pommel Horse) and Zhang Chenglong (CHN/Team competition).
+++ * Source: f i g press
♦♦ Have a look at the GYMmedia WCh historical statistics:
   ►► MEN's All-around Champions, All
   ►► MEN'S App. World Champions, All

 

 

♦♦ A special View on the WOMEN's COMPETITIONS

 ♦ History in the making
After winning the World All-around title in Antwerp in 2013 and Nanning in 2014, Simone Biles (USA) is favored to win for a third consecutive time in Glasgow, something no female artistic gymnast has ever done. Svetlana Khorkina (RUS) is the only woman ever to have won a triple crown in the All-around. Golden for the first time in Lausanne in 1997, she lost the title in Tianjin in 1999 before reclaiming it in 2001 in Ghent and again in Anaheim in 2003.
 
 ♦ London calling back
Gabrielle Douglas (USA), who reigned over the London Olympic Games in 2012 with gold medals in the All-around and with the American team, and Aly Raisman (USA), the Olympic champion on Floor Exercise and with the team, have rejoined the U.S. squad after a two-year absence. Viktoria Komova (RUS), second to Douglas in the All-around at the Olympics, is also making her big return to the World Championships in this pre-Olympic year.
 
 ♦An enduring legend
Still fresh at age 40, Oksana Chusovitina (UZB) is living proof that Gymnastics is not just a sport for adolescents: Her first international exploits date back to the World Championships in Indianapolis in 1991. With a collection of 11 World and two Olympic medals, Chusovitina, who has competed under four different national flags (USSR, Unified Team, GER and UZB), hopes to qualify for an unprecedented seventh Olympic Games in Rio, where she would set a new record for Olympic presence in Gymnastics.
 
 ♦ The first big dance
Just a little more than a year ago, Seda Tutkhalyan stood proudly atop a podium in Nanjing, where she was coronated as the Youth Olympic Games All-around champion. As a first-year senior and first-time World Championships competitor in Glasgow, the young Russian will get the chance to test herself against older World and Olympic stars. Same goes for Brazil's Flavia Saraiva and Great Britain's Ellie Downie, who finished with silver and bronze, respectively, last summer in China. Also making her Worlds debut is China's Wang Yan, who won two Youth Olympic golds in event finals.
 
 ♦American domination
Since 2011, the American team has monopolized the top step on the podium at the World Championships and Olympic Games. Last year in Nanning, the U.S. bested silver medallist China by an otherworldly 6.5 points in the final. Since 2003, the Americans have made a habit of marking their territory in the pre-Olympic year by winning the World team title. With the exception of the currently injured Aliya Mustafina in 2010, every female World All-around champion since 2007 has also held a U.S. passport.
 
 ♦ Romania now and again
A small country population-wise, Romania nevertheless still counts among the great powers of Gymnastics 40 years after Nadia Comaneci stunned the world with her string of perfect 10s at the Montréal Olympic Games. Without injured star Catalina Ponor, who was expected to make her return to international competition in Glasgow, the women's team will be counting on the dynamic Larisa Iordache, silver medallist in the All-around competition last year.
 
 ♦ The Vault that will take your breath away
Specialists call it the "Produnova," named for Yelena Produnova (RUS), who was the first to do it in competition. The gymnast approcaches the table going forward and executes two front flips before landing. This Vault, which carries an exceptionally high difficulty score (7.0), attracts only the most adventurous gymnasts, who risk heavy penalties in execution for not landing it correctly. Three gymnasts -- Oksana Chusovitina (UZB), Yamilet Pena (DOM) and Dipa Karmakar (IND) -- are the only ones daring to perform it today.
 
 ♦ Happy returns
Seven Olympic medallists from the London Olympic Games and two from the Beijing Olympics are set to compete in Glasgow. From 2012, there's Gabrielle Douglas (USA/gold in the All-around and gold with the U.S. team), Alexandra Raisman (USA/gold on Floor Exercise and gold with the U.S. team), Viktoria Komova (RUS/silver in the All-around and silver with the Russian team), Maria Paseka (RUS/bronze on Vault and silver with the Russian team), Ksenia Afanasyeva (RUS/silver with the Russian team), Larisa Iordache (ROU/bronze with the Romanian team) and Diana Bulimar (ROU/bronze with the Romanian team). From 2008, there's Hong Un Jong (PRK/gold on Vault) and Oksana Chusovitina (GER/UZB/silver on Vault).
Six individual World champions will also be present: Oksana Chusovitina (USSR/UZB: Floor in 1991 and Vault in 2003), Vanessa Ferrari (ITA/All-around in 2006), Viktoria Komova (RUS/Uneven Bars in 2011), Simone Biles (USA/All-around in 2013 and 2014, Floor in 2013 and 2014, Beam in 2014), Hong Un Jong (PRK/Vault in 2014) and Ksenia Afanasyeva (RUS/Floor in 2011).
* source: f i g press
 


♦♦ Have a look at the GYMmedia WCh historical statistics:
     ►► WOMEN's All-around Champions, All
     ►► WOMEN'S App. World Champions, All