I spoke with one of the Men’s judges returned from the Olympic test meet. He said it was a great trip, well organized, superb venue — but that the Men’s competition was incredibly relaxed. Everyone knew that it was a “test” and not a serious competition. Few arrived in Beijing in top “shape”.
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Absent from last week’s “Good Luck Beijing” tournament, Japan’s top stars geared up for the Toyota International Invitational, which began Saturday in Toyota City, Japan.
But despite the presence of superstars Hiroyuki Tomita and Hisashi Mizutori, each two-time world all-around medalists, the foreign guests were the best on the first day of competition.
Mizutori won the silver on men’s floor exercise and tied for third on rings with teammate Takuya Nakase. Tomita was fourth on pommel horse.
Korean Kim Dae Eun won men’s floor exercise over Mizutori and Germany’s Marcel Nguyen. On pommel horse, Hungary’s Krisztian Berki led a European sweep of the medals, topping Great Britain’s Louis Smith and Romania’s Daniel Popescu.
Former world champions Yuri van Gelder (Netherlands) and Dimosthenis Tambakos (Greece) finished 1-2 on still rings.
In the women’s competition, only four gymnasts competed in the vault event. Germany’s Oksana Chusovitina won easily, topping co-silver medalists Keiko Mukumoto (Japan) and Alina Kozich (Ukraine) by more than a point.
On uneven bars, Ukraine’s Irina Krasnyanskaya defeated Romania’s Steliana Nistor and American Bridget Sloan.
The competition is not yet over as I write.
Yuri van Gelder (Netherlands) and Krisztian Berki (Hungary) have not qualified for the 2008 Olympics, I understand.
Yuri van Gelder
Krisztian Berki
photos – Samantha Davies
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