UPDATE: The Fabulous one later improved his World Record to 16.600 (!!) (start value 17.3) at a meet in DESSAU.
We’re picking another favourite:
… World and European champion Fabian Hambüchen then showed why he is No. 1 on high bar right now: With a world record A Score of 7.3, he earned a personal best 16.350 points. A routine made for Beijing and for sure the news of the day.
There’s simply not much competition on Horizontal Bar for the boy star from Germany. If he hits, he wins.
Hambüchen scored 92.900 in the all-around despite fighting a bit on 2 apparatus. He’s certainly got a strong shot at an AA medal in Beijing.
Click PLAY or watch Hambüchen compete at the 2008 German Championships on YouTube.
I can envision a scenario where Paul Hamm does not compete AA due to his hand injury. And Yang Wei faltering in the AA competition.
Hambüchen could be Olympic Champion. And I think that would be very good for the sport.
See the rest of our Olympic Predictions, so far.
Related post: German Olympic Gymnastics Team
5 comments ↓
(Dumb question) I notice the mats moving often when gymnasts land off of high bar (even more so when there is a lot of horizontal motion). I would think the mat moving would make it harder for them to stick. Is this so? Could (should?) the mat be more firmly connected to the underlying mat or to the mat on the other side (with velcro?) so that it is easier for the gymnast to stick? Would this in any way, reduce the safety that the mat itself gives in terms of cushioning?
Most often coaches spray water between the bottom mat and the top mat in order to create a “suction” between them. That works well.
Many of the best in the world use no top mat thinking it will result in a smaller landing deduction.
Still … it’s surprising how often coaches do not fix the top mat somehow. It slides and the gymnast takes an unneeded deduction.
Tumbl Trak has come out with a pad that is used between mats to prevent them from sliding.
But commonly in Alberta a yoga mat is placed between the mats and there’s no sliding whatsoever. Not sure if would fly at a Provincial, National or even International competition, but it should be.
I think that’s odd, too. I either spray water or on beam, for instance if they are doing a salto dismount I keep foot on it so it doesn’t come out. That is definitely an unnecessary deduction.
i think fabian will be olympic champion in 2012. usually in mens the olympic champion had dominated the previous quad
e.g. alexei in 96, paul in 00, yang wei in the 01-04 quad
paul and yang and tomita are most likely retiring so i predict fabian be the best next quad. i dont think he can beat yang wei now even if wei falters because yang’s starts are so high. if yang does mess up, i can see tomita or paul overtaking hiim tho
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