As We Wait for Worlds - Vault Part 2

Giulia Steingruber (SUI), Unknown Source

We're a little under 2 weeks until the official start of the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. Most of the teams have been officially announced although it's subject to change as the injury list is getting longer and longer. Vault finals was shaping to be a very exciting final but we've lost a number of gymnasts to injury. Things are still exciting as athletes like Noel van Klaveren shows an upgrade and Giulia Steingruber shows an entirely different family of vault. There's still reason to be excited for the vault event final.

Noel van Klaveren - DTY and Tsuk 1.5


These are the athletes that should be present at Worlds as of September 18th.

Athlete	SV 1	Name VT1	SV 2	Name VT2	Average
1. Hong Un Jong	6.3	Amanar	6.4	Cheng	6.35
2. McKayla Maroney	6.3	Amanar	6.0	Y1/2 on, 1/1 off	6.15
3. Fadwa Mahmoud	7.0	Produnova	5.2	? Tsuk 1/1	6.1
3. Ellie Black	6.2	Rudi	6.0	Tsuk 2/1	6.1
5. Phan Thi Ha Thanh	5.8	DTY	6.2	Rudi	6.0
6. Simone Biles	6.3	Amanar	5.6	Lopez	5.95
6. Maria Paseka	6.3	Amanar	5.6	Lopez	5.95
8. Giulia Steingruber*	6.2	Rudi	5.2	Tsuk 1/1	5.7
9. Noel van Klaveren	5.8	DTY	5.5	Tsuk 1.5	5.65
9. Oksana Chusovitna*	5.8	FHS 1/1	5.5	Tsuk 1.5	5.65
11. Giulia Steingruber*	6.2	Rudi	5.0	FTY	5.6
12. Larisa Iordache	5.8	DTY	5.2	Tsuk 1/1	5.5
13. Yamilet Pena*	5.8	DTY	5.0	FHS front	5.4
14. Maegan Chant	5.2	Tsuk 1/1	5.4	FHS 1/2	5.3
Athlete	SV 1	Name VT1	SV 2	Name VT2	Total SV
Yamilet Pena*	7.0	Produnova	5.8	DTY	6.6
Giulia Steingruber*	6.2	Rudi	6.0	Tsuk 2/1	6.1
Giulia Steingruber*	6.2	Rudi	5.8	DTY	6.0
Sandra Izbasa*	6.0	"Mustafina"	5.8	DTY	6.0
Oksana Chusovitna*	6.2	Rudi	5.5	Tsuk 1.5	5.85

We've lost a few vaulters along the way. Ksenia Afansyeva (5.95D) recently had surgery on her ankle and Jade Barbosa is recovering from an injury (5.7D). Janine Berger was not selected to go to Worlds since she has not been able to get back her Olympic level vaults (6.1D) due to a knee injury. Alexa Moreno was not selected to be on the team although the reason is not entirely known - perhaps political, perhaps injury. North Korea is only sending one gymnast and Ri Un Ha (6.1D) was not chosen.

I started to include athletes with D-scores below 5.3 but then I'd have to include everyone. There are rumors of Maegan Chant upgrading which is entirely possible since her current vaults are clean and seem too easy for her. Athletes like Ofir Nezir (ISR), Chantysha Netteb (NED), and Makarena Pinto and Martina Castro (CHI) are just a few of the athletes around the 5.2 range and could all sneak into the finals.

Has anyone else noticed that Phan Thi Ha Thanh tends to do an easier vault in qualifications than in finals? At Worlds 2011, she qualified with 5.9 (FHS pike 1.5) and 5.3 in vault difficulty, the second of which was upgraded to a 5.8. At the 2012 Olympics in London, she went qualified with a 5.3 and 6.3 in difficulty - the first we saw of her Rudi. Recently, at Osijek, she qualified with a 5.8 and 5.0 D-score. This second vault looks like it was a balked attempt since she had 1.1 in neutral deductions and probably decided to do a front handspring layout front. Her DTY was devalued by the judges to a 1.5TY in finals and she competed her Rudi.

Why is Steingruber on this list 4 times?! Steingruber competed the Rudi and Tsuk 2/1 vaults at the Olympics but fell on the Tsukahara and has not competed the double twist since. She competed a clean Tsuk 1/1 at European Championships where she earned gold and talked about upgrading again in an interview with GymNewstics. At Swiss Nationals, she showed a new FTY and is rumoured to be working a DTY for Worlds. Her Rudi is set but it remains to be seen what her second vault will be. Steingruber FTY here

Steingruber Rudi here or below



* Explained:
- Pena has not competed the Produnova vault since the Olympics.
- Izbasa has not competed 2 vaults since the Olympics. According to Alex Mladinescu, it's unlikely that we'll see her perform 2 vaults here.
- Chusovitna has competed a front handspring full twist with a 5.8 D-score as her 1st vault but has not competed her Rudi this year.



The list was compiled with help of Uncle Tim's UTRS (9/9) as well as my Explaining VT EF from the Olympics.

Who are you thinking will make the VT podium?