Five artistic gymnastics storylines ahead of the Cottbus FIG Apparatus World Cup 2024
With the first of four competitions in the 2024 FIG Apparatus World Cup series done and dusted, the second, taking place in Germany from 22-25 February, will be equally as dramatic as the tussle for Paris 2024 places hots up.
Artistic Gymnastics
Well, bam, and we're off!
With barely enough time to let all the storylines and drama settle from the first artistic gymnastics FIG Apparatus World Cup of the 2024 series in Cairo, the second looms large.
The Cottbus edition runs from 22-25 February with another stack of the world's best gymnasts headed to the meet in Germany.
Not only are World Cup titles on the line in the annual four-competition series, but vital Paris 2024 qualification points are on offer for those nervous souls still looking to obtain a quota for the Games in France starting in just over five months.
A gymnast's best three results across four competitions secure points for where they finish, so 30 points for gold, 25 for silver, and 20 for bronze, and so on, down to one point for 16th place.
Two gymnasts per apparatus – so a total of eight women's artistic gymnasts and 12 men's – can earn berths for their nation through the series, which concludes on 20 April.
Only one country can secure a spot per apparatus, with a maximum of three overall per National Olympic Committee.
Gymnasts are not eligible if their team has already secured a quota via the 2023 or 2024 World Championships, or if they have already obtained a quota spot for their nation as an individual.
So, let's check out five storylines ahead of the second edition of the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Cottbus after the drama-filled event amongst the pyramids of Egypt.
How to qualify for artistic gymnastics at Paris 2024
Paris 2024 quotas all to play for as artistic gymnastics FIG Apparatus World Cup series begins
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Paris Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Paris 2024.
- Click here to see the official qualification system for each sport.
Chusovitina has it all to do to qualify for a ninth Olympics... but it is still possible
Okay, deep breath. Oksana Chusovitina's incredible attempt at qualifying for a ninth Olympic Games looks super shaky after the Uzbekistani was unable to qualify for the vault final in Egypt, finishing ninth. The top eight progress. The 48-year-old has three more chances but has it all to do, currently sitting eighth in the reallocated vault rankings.
An Chang Ok of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea scored the highest average mark (14.233) in the final to secure the maximum 30-point tally, in the nation's first World Cup back since the COVID-19 pandemic. A repeat performance in Germany would put her in the driving seat for a quota place for her nation.
Camille Rasmussen will want to put her 0.00 score on vault behind her after crashing her opening salvo in Cairo. Thankfully uninjured, the judges determined the Dane's feet did not land first, a prerequisite in completing a vault. The 19-year-old currently ranks seventh, courtesy of making the vault final.
Uneven bars showdown hots up as Kaylia Nemour set to rock up in Germany
Hang on to your hats, Kaylia Nemour – one of the favourites for the uneven bars title in Paris – will again be showcasing her hugely difficult routine and blowing everyone away like she did at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp in October.
Just losing out to People's Republic of China's Qiu Qiyuan in the final, the French-born Algeria-representing 17-year-old still made history by winning the first world championship medal by an African gymnast.
With a quota secured, honing the routine in Cottbus is key to her progression toward Paris.
Helen Kevric, the world junior silver medallist on uneven bars, will be making her senior debut in front of a home crowd. Scheduled to compete on bars, beam and floor, the two-time European Youth Olympic Festival all-around champion is quite the hot prospect and turns senior just in time to potentially secure a Paris spot.
Defending bars champion on track for alternative route to Paris 2024
The reigning Olympic champion on bars, Nina Derwael, will be eyeing Nemour from across the arena as she takes to the World Cup for the second time in a week.
Not yet ready to compete on the apparatus in which she became the first Belgian female gymnast to win an Olympic medal, after being out with a shoulder injury, Derwael instead was the top scorer on beam in Cairo, securing 30 points in the race to Paris, and ranks first.
If successful in securing a quota through the World Cup series on beam, she would be available to compete all four events in Paris if picked by her NOC, and therefore have the opportunity to defend her Olympic title.
Illia Kovtun continues World Cup dominance on parallel bars with meet's biggest score
We don't know what it is about the Ukrainian gymnast and World Cups, but Illia Kovtun blew everyone away in Cairo, scoring 15.600 on his favoured apparatus. That was the highest mark across both men's and women's competitions for the 2023 World all-around silver medallist.
Despite troubling uncertainty in his homeland, Kovtun has won eight of the last nine World Cup parallel bars competitions and will be looking to do the same again in Cottbus.
Another perennial World Cup winner honing his routines is Artur Davtyan, who won a seventh vault title in the World Cup series. The Armenian will be looking to match or improve on his Tokyo 2020 bronze medal in the event come the Games in France should he be selected by his NOC.
The gold medallist from Tokyo, Shin Jeahwan of Republic of Korea, will look to the competition in Germany to clean up his first vault after a mistake in Cairo left him out of the finals. His nation has secured a team spot for Paris and now it's all about who gets picked, so now's the time to shine.
Gymnasts with it all to do
Having not qualified a five-person team for their home Games, the French men have it all to do in Cottbus. The best results in Cairo came from Benjamin Osberger on pommel horse (4th) and floor (5th), with Samir Aït Saïd and Cameron-Lie Bernard also both securing fifth places on rings and parallel bars, respectively.
Aït Saïd, famed for returning to the sport despite a severe leg injury suffered on vault at Rio 2016, sits fourth in the rings rankings after an ineligible gymnast was removed from the list, with Bernard sitting a much more favourable second in the parallel bars rankings.
Croatia's Filip Ude, the Olympic silver medallist on pommel horse at Beijing 2008, fell on the apparatus in the final so must at least go clean in Cottbus to stand a chance of punching his ticket to Paris.
Angel Barajas will be looking for more success in Cottbus after securing a medal in his debut senior event. The Colombian won bronze on high bar and made good on his promise of last year when he won the all-around silver at the 2023 Junior World Championships.
In the throes of the hotbed of Olympic qualification, every gymnast must remember to take even the slightest opportunity available to them.
Take Bulgaria's Eddie Penev. The former US gymnast initially did not make the men's floor final, ending qualifying in ninth place, but claimed bronze and valuable qualification points, after being subbed into the final at the last minute.
There's still so much to play for.
The FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup Cottbus takes place 22-25 February in Germany. The Baku edition runs from 7-10 March, while the culmination of the series concludes in Doha 17-20 April.