Russia’s Ksenia Semenova performs on the uneven bars during the women’s qualifications of the 40th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships 02 September 2007 at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer hall in Stuttgart, southern Germany. … (OLIVER LANG/AFP/Getty Images)
Nastia was second, a decision openly criticized by her father coach, not normally known for being so outspoken:
Liukin Wins Silver in Uneven Bars
By EDDIE PELLS
STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Nastia Liukin moved within one medal of joining Shannon Miller as the most decorated American gymnast in world championship history Saturday.
Maybe when she ties the record, she’ll do it by winning a gold.
This time, Liukin settled for the silver medal in the uneven bars finals, falling one spot short of becoming a world champion in her signature event for the second straight year. Ksenia Semenova of Russia beat Liukin for the gold by 0.05 points.
Liukin’s father and coach, Valeri, wasn’t pleased with the result — but not so much because of any mistake his daughter made.
Rather, he was miffed that an Australian judge gave his daughter an 8.8 execution mark in this event when the other judges awarded her at least 9.1s. There were similar discrepancies in preliminaries.
“It’s cheating, and it’s been going on this whole competition,” Liukin said. “Even when she’d stick it, the scores were bad. So, I don’t know. There’s something going on. …
Associated Press
We should study the Finals routines closely and see if the ranking is correct. I love Nastia’s Bars, but she does take execution deductions.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 