Oksana Chusovitina misses vault final at Cairo World Cup, narrowing pathway to ninth Olympic Games - Gymnastics weekly news
Plus, Fred Richard is nominated for the AAU Sullivan Award and a look back at Team Romania on the balance beam and floor exercise at London 2012
Oksana Chusovitina’s quest for qualification for Paris 2024 and a ninth Olympic Games are facing an uphill battle after the 48-year-old missed the vault final at the Cairo World Cup Thursday (15 February).
The 1992 Olympic artistic gymnastics gold medallist finished ninth, one spot away from the final, during qualifying in Egypt after scoring 12.833 and 13.166 in her first and second vaults, respectively, for a 12.999 average.
While she was just .100 away from advancing, she was more than a full point off leader An Chang Ok from the People’s Republic of Korea.
With the miss, the pathway to Paris for Chusovitina has little room for error. The three-time World gold medallist will need to bring her A game in her remaining appearances at the FIG World Cups.
Gymnasts receive ranking points based on their finish in the apparatus ranking at the World Cups, with the best three of four results counting. Two gymnasts on each event earn quota spots to the Olympic Games.*
Chusovitina is registered for the next two World Cup stops in Cottbus, Germany, 22-25 February, and Baku, Azerbaijan, 7-10 March. The series wraps up in Doha, Qatar, 17-20 April.
*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.
American Fred Richard among semi-finalists for AAU Sullivan Award
2023 World team and all-around bronze medallist Fred Richard of the U.S. is among 30 semi-finalist from a variety of sports nominated for the 2024 AAU Sullivan Award.
The winner is considered “the most outstanding athlete at the collegiate or Olympic level in the United States,” according to the AAU’s website.
Richard had a breakout year in 2023, competing for the first time as a senior international competitor. He was instrumental to Team USA’s team bronze medal at the 2023 Worlds, a first for the squad since 2014.
Individually, he rallied for a bronze medal in the all-around final and finished eighth on the floor exercise.
In addition to his Team USA duties, Richard is the leader of the University of Michigan men’s gymnastics team. Last season, he lifted the Wolverines to a second place finish overall while grabbing the NCAA titles in the all-around, parallel bars and high bar.
Fans can vote for Richard, once per day, every day, online on the AAU website. Voting runs through midnight Eastern time on Wednesday, 21 February.
Other semi-finalists include Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky and 100m and 200m track athletics world champion Noah Lyles.
From the vault…
This week, we take a look back at Team Romania on the balance beam and floor exercise at the 2012 Olympic Games in London where they claimed team bronze. In the team final, Catalina Ponor and Sandra Izbasa led the squad on the balance beam and floor exercise, respectively.