The Ghent World Cup concluded Sunday with gymnasts from three countries taking event titles.
Oksana Chusovitina (Uzbekistan) earned the top spot on vault in preliminaries, which she did not relinquish during finals. Alicia Sacramone (USA) and Joanna Skowronska (Poland) were second and third, respectively, after preliminaries. Sacramone and Skowronska retained those placements in the final.
After earning the highest score in preliminaries with a 15.400 on uneven bars, Li Ya (China) won that event with the highest score in the finals (15.725). Russia’s Svetlana Klyukina was nearly a point behind Li to take the silver medal. Spaniard Tania Gener placed third.
Hilary Mauro was the top American qualifier for uneven bars with a 14.150, which put her into sixth place heading into finals, where she dropped to seventh place. Ashley Priess placed tenth in preliminaries.
First after qualifying, China’s Fan Ye dropped to eighth place with a 12.875 on balance beam in the finals. Lenika de Simone (Spain) improved on her 14.850 and fourth place finish in preliminaries to win the beam with a 15.325. Priess and Mauro placed second and third, respectively.
De Simone had another come-from-behind win on floor exercise. After squeaking into the finals with a 13.900 and an eighth place finish in preliminaries, de Simone edged preliminary leader and teammate Patricia Moreno with a 14.525. Priess won the bronze medal with a 14.300.
Sacramone, who won double golds on vault and floor at last year’s Ghent World Cup, didn’t even qualify into finals. Sacramone’s qualifying score of 13.250 was only good enough for fourteenth place.
Final results:
Women's Vault
1. Oksana Chusovitina UZB 14.862
2. Alicia Sacramone USA 14.650
3. Joanna Skowronska POL 14.375
4. Tatiana Kazantseva RUS 14.337
5. Jana Komrskova CZE 14.250
6. Veronica Wagner SWE 13.950
7. Joanna Litewka POL 13.887
8. Valeria Maksyuta UKR 13.612
Uneven Bars
1. Li Ya CHN 15.725
2. Svetlana Klyukina RUS 14.800
3. Tania Gener ESP 14.775
4. Oksana Chusovitina UZB 14.675
5. Marina Proskurina UKR 14.400
6. Laura Campos ESP 14.275
7. Hillary Mauro USA 14.100
8. Chloe Henry BEL 13.700
Balance Beam
1. Lenika de Simone ESP 15.325
2. Ashley Priess USA 14.825
3. Hillary Mauro USA 14.725
4. Valeria Maksyuta UKR 14.450
5. Oksana Chusovitina UZB 14.075
6. Aisha Gerber CAN 13.675
7. Marina Proskurina UKR 13.125
8. Fan Ye CHN 12.875
Women's Floor Exercise
1. Lenika de Simone ESP 14.525
2. Patricia Moreno ESP 14.375
3. Ashley Priess USA 14.300
4. Aisha Gerber CAN 14.250
4. Lichelle Wong NED 14.250
6. Loes Linders NED 14.025
7. Pang Panpan CHN 13.600
8. Fan Ye CHN 13.100