'Lord of the Rings' Petrounias takes aim at final Tokyo 2020 qualifying shot

It's the last chance saloon for the Lord of the Rings, Eleftherios Petrounias.

The Greek, who is the reigning artistic gymnastics Olympic champion on still rings, has yet to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in 2021, having missed out previously through the World Championships in 2019.

As Greece have not qualified a team, Petrounias' last shot at making the Games and getting the chance to defend his title will come at this week's FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup stop in Doha, Qatar, which runs from 23–26 June.

That event is the only one of four, on this year's World Cup circuit serving as Olympic qualifiers, that has not been cancelled.

"I have to do the fight of my life as I have to not only win, I also need a specific score," Petrounias wrote on Twitter recently.

"Mixed emotions"

Petrounias suffered a setback in his qualification when he only finished fourth on rings at the 2019 Worlds after an injury-hit season.

That, coupled with Greece not sending a team, meant he would have to rely on the FIG World Cup circuit to book his Tokyo spot.

Those plans were then thrown into doubt by the pandemic, with only three qualifying events (two of them applying to apparatus) taking place at the start of 2020 before the remaining events were postponed, then later cancelled.

An event in Baku, Azerbaijan, in March 2020 was cancelled after qualifications with Petrounias leading the standings.

With those results considered official, the 30-year-old now needs to win in Doha and obtain a specific mark to confirm his spot in the Japanese capital.

"Emotions are mixed, a lot of stress, scary pressure, anxiety," Petrounias – who won European Championships gold in April – added on social media.

"But what mostly prevails is the anticipation of the fight and the amazing feeling that I will feel after the result that will send me to Tokyo!

"The "after" does not bother me because then everything will be one way for the result in Tokyo! So ready for the fight of my life."

Uncertainty

Back in April, Petrounias won his fifth European title in Basel, Switzerland.

The three-time world champion beat Nikita Nagornyy, one of the favourites for multiple medals in Tokyo, to clinch his first championships title since 2018.

However, the uncertainty over the Doha World Cup, before it was confirmed to be going ahead on 3 June, had left Petrounias worried.

"I'm wondering what is going on with the Doha World Cup?" he tweeted the day before Doha was confirmed. "Can anybody explain or answer what’s going on with this weird situation?"

He would not have been the only one with concerns.

With American Jade Carey already mathematically qualified in women's vault and leading the women's floor qualifying standings, the next woman in that apparatus – currently, Italians Lara Mori and Vanessa Ferrari are tied on 80 points – is in line to qualify.

Mori currently leads Ferrari on a tiebreak, so a win for either of them in Doha would be enough to put them through.