The queen of the four apparatus of artistic gymnastics will be elected today, after one all around final which sees 24 athletes on the trackat most two for each nation. And Italy managed to place both of its top gymnasts: the 2006 world champion Vanessa Ferrari and the beautiful Catanian Carlotta Ferlito.
All eyes are on Vanessa, who failed to take the opportunity in Beijing due to an Achilles tendon problem. In the qualifiers, the champion from Brescia appeared particularly fit, even if in the team final a fall on the floor exercise, the apparatus where she shines the most and which sees her as a finalist also on August 7, tarnished her performance a bit.
Carlotta Ferlito has a less important palmares, but she is an elegant, expressive gymnast who could surprise the judges more than she has up to now. The girls have already done a lot, fighting for a medal with the team, a historical achievement which they finished with a decent seventh place. Today she can hope for something more, even if the opponents are really very good.
In the foreground the most elegant gymnast of these Olympics, the Russian Viktoria Komova, daughter of art, champion Vera Kolesnikova and gymnast Aleksander Komov. Viktoria seems to have grown up in the great Soviet school, when gymnastics was the specialty in which the countries beyond the Iron Curtain excelled, when the jumps, the style, the courage of those athletes seemed truly unattainable. She has the grace and perfection of the gesture of the past, something rare to see today on the platform even in top athletes. Because doing an exercise well in this very difficult sport doesn't just mean doing circus stunts, but doing them with style: legs stretched out, toes pulled, the turn balanced, the hands a little less fluttering than what is seen today on the beam.
Fluid, concentrated, smiling Vera, 1 meter and 54 for 38 kilos, is apparently the most complete gymnast and today has the opportunity to make up for the US victory in the team competition.
After all, the North American school seems to have nothing more to envy than the Russian one. The girls seen in London were the best and McKayla Rose Marony's vault during the team competition is the most beautiful and perfect of these Olympics so far. Today Viktoria will have to contend with Alexandra Raisman and Gabrielle "Gabby" Douglas, a squirrel girl, who seems to fly on tools. But the champions on the platform are many and unfortunately the error is always lurking: years of work are evaluated on the basis of a single exercise, so anything can happen and the competition is all to follow.
Meanwhile yesterday the men's round final was held in which Japan prevailed. Indeed, Kohei Uchimura took the gold medal beating the German Marcel Nguyen by two points, unexpectedly on the podium of this race. Bronze medal for the Cuban naturalized American Danell Leyva, great protagonist of the competition, with a talent that certainly projects him towards other future successes. Eighteenth position for the Italian Enrico Pozzo and 22nd for the other blue Paolo Ottavi.
