The Aussies looked super prepared. Very clean. Had smart routines.
With a 7th place finish in Team without former world champion Lauren Mitchell who withdrew last minute after an ankle injury in training, you’d best put the Aussies on the list of teams that will qualify for Rio. Some Down Under had doubts.
Who hit best and cleanest according to our Execution judges?
1. USA
2. ROM
3. GBR
These charts compare the official E-Scores scores posted by all the athletes who competed in the Women’s Team Finals at the 2014 World Gymnastics Championships in Nanning, China. Countries are listed in descending rank, 1st through 8th respectively. The data was compiled and visualized by Amanda Leigh Verhaeg from official scores at http://www.nanning2014gymnastics.com.
Back in the day, it was common practice for some nations to take out one of their finalists and replace them with a team mate with a better percentage chance of results.
It’s normal in team sport, of course. The coach makes the decision who to put in for the big game.
Nile has been carrying a sore wrist throughout the competitions in Nanning, China, that has been superbly managed by the medical staff. However, in light of this and with the priority being Nile’s long-term gymnastics career, Max Whitlock will replace Nile in the all-around final. Max qualified by right as the third placed GB gymnast but was initially excluded from the final by the “only two gymnasts per federation” rule. Nile still intends to compete in the high bar final on Sunday 12th.
Nile said “I’m obviously very disappointed, as I’m feeling great otherwise and have been really enjoying my first World Championships but my wrist was pretty sore today so I made the decision to pull out and save myself for the high bar final. The medical staff and coaches are unanimous that this is the right decision to make. I’ll be right behind Max and Dan Purvis in the all-around and can’t wait for the high bar on Sunday.”
Zhang Chenglong competed only his specialty in the Team Final.
Last competitor. Last apparatus.
He hit.
The host team China won the meet with that routine. He’s a National hero today.
But when his final score was flashed and the score was exactly enough for Team China to win by 0.10, I was angered and outraged. It looked very suspicious to me (and many).
We were in China. The apparatus supervisor was from China. Thousands of local fans were raising the roof with their cheering.
Was the score manipulated?
Were the Execution judges swept up in the moment?
Because the E-score for ZHANG Chenglong was too high.
Uchimura’s routine is cleaner. His angles are better. Kohei has fewer unnecessary hand placements. Kohei’s landing is better. The difference is far more than 0.034.
The judges got it wrong.
FIG MTC will review the scores from this meet, as they always do. Perhaps some action will be taken. More likely not.
___
… Sure, judges will mess up from time to time. They are human – just like the gymnasts. When it is crystal clear that the judges did mess up, they should be castigated.
But was Zhang Chenglong’s high bar score as painfully wrong as the Marian Dragulescu’s 2004 vault score situation?
No. … Don’t be so dramatic. …
Perhaps I did get too wrapped up in the competition myself. Too emotional.
But FIG Judges are not nearly held accountable enough when they make mistakes. I was a Brevet Judge myself for decades.
Here are the official results if you want to do more analysis yourself.
In my opinion Japan were the rightful winners of the Team competition at Worlds 2014. Just as I felt Japan should have finished 4th in Team at the London Olympics. The judges got it wrong there, as well.
And if anyone would like to put up a contrary opinion on this site, I’m happy to post if for you.
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