Today is autograph day! Wandering around the Malley Sports Centre meant bumping into gymnasts right, left and centre. There was also the thrill of meeting in the flesh fellow gymnastics fans which I have been chatting with over the Internet. One friend brought me the bad news that Julia KOROSTILEVA has an elbow injury and is not on the Russian team. Oh double darn indeed! I do like that girl!
Galina Tyryk and Inga Shkarupa at the athlete's entrance. Very impressed with the Ukraine girls. They were really fighting wounded without their top 2 stars, PODS and KARPENKO. "World champion chalking the bars," my friend Edwin commented wistfully. And that was exactly what Lilia and Viktoria were doing for their teammates. The remaining 4 could not afford to put a single foot wrong in any of their routines and yes! How well they managed to hit all their routines! And they were the lower ranked 4 gymnasts on the team to boot! Inspired by Edwin, I was cheering them on and keeping my fingers crossed whichever apparatus they were on.
Injured Ji Liya obliging with an autograph. The Chinese team was very good. They took the top 4 places on the uneven bars. What was most impressive and surprising was the Chinese's floor routines - have they improved! And vastly! Everyone had complained that the Chinese were marvellous on the beam and UB but needed a lot of work on the floor and vault. Well, the FX was indeed a pleasant surprise. We had to take back all the jokes we made about them always doing the same dance routines, eg. running a big round around the floor. I hope the Chinese can do well enough to get into the top 3. Wouldn't it be fun if they get the gold?
The French girls were simply beautiful on the floor! Stunning start to their rotation in their subdivision. (Picture left to
right: Cecile Canqueteau, Elvire Teza, Ludivine Furnon, Magalie Ruffato.)
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