The Daily 9, TUE Oct 13

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The Inside Gymnastics team highlights 9 standouts of the day from the 2009 World Championships.

1.Class Act. Japan’s Kohei Uchimura (pictured) led the field not only in the standings on paper, but also in style and presentation. He not only performs gymnastics with a picture-perfect bodyline and textbook technique, but has a refreshingly unique style that just commands attention. All too often, we’re looking for elements, combinations, and how a routine matches up to the Code, but when Uchimura performs, you sit back and admire.

2.Dragulescu's BAAAACK! Romanian superstar Marian Dragulescu competed three eventstoday, and showed he's not just interested in hitting his routines but brining a “wow factor” to them. He scored a whopping 15.75 on floor and 16.5 on vault, to go into this weekend's apparatus finals in second position on both events. The Romanian has retired and unretired many times, but today's performances suggest he's once again committed to competition.

3.China MIA in All-around but stellar otherwise… Yang Wei has been a permanent fixture on the men's all-around podium for several years but has no all-around successor this year. China fielded six male athletes to these Championships, but none competed a full competition (6 routines). Tough for Feng Zhe, who finished second at the China National Games a mere month ago. Many consider a win at the China National Games tougher than a World Championships. Still, the Chinese ought to take home plenty of hardware from these Championships if the qualification round is any indication - if today were a medal round, they'd have earned four golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze.

4. Big Moment for McNeil. American Jonathan Horton has looked spectacular this week in London, but sat down on pommels in today`s prelims. Teammate Tim McNeill (pictured) wasn’t perfect either, but surprised by finishing ahead of Horton in qualifying to the all-around (3rd position vs 5th position) with calm confidence and consistency. The all-around is sure to be a showdown, but it looks like Japan's Kohei Uchimura is the favorite heading into Thursday's competition.

5.Running the Marathon at the World Gymnastics Championships. It was an exhausting day for one Worlds competitor. Canada's Jackson Payne attempted his all-around qualification in the early morning, competing on three apparatus in the first subdivision. He finished the day after 10pm, having competed the remaining three apparatus in the third subdivision!

6.Three Way Circus in Subdivision 3. Three of the strongest routines in tonight's third subdivision happened to be competed simultaneously; Dmitry Kasparovitch (BLR) stood up a Dragulescu vault, Igor Cassina (ITA) took to his signature event and hit a strong high bar set, while American newcomer Steven Legendre took to the floor. With all gymnasts finished, Kasparovitch qualified to the vault finals as first alternate, Igor Cassina to high bar in second, and Legendre to floor in seventh position. Inside Gymnastics spoke with Legendre after he finished his routine, before knowing he'd qualified to the floor final. "It was a great experience being out there, representing such a great country," shared Legendre. "I was so nervous in the warm-up gym, more nervous than I've ever been! I got out there [onto the podium] and warmed up and thought, ‘Okay, I can do this!’ My first pass obviously didn't go as well as I'd expected, so my SV was lower, but it was a great experience.” Former WOGA teammate Nastia Liukin thought so too, taking the time to visit Legendre in the stands as he waited out the qualification round with his father and brother.

7.Hometown Heroes! Competing in your own backyard can be a tremendous honor, but can also add pressure. The venue's announcer even introduced each British athlete as a “home crowd” athlete. Team Britain added to their impressive finishes at recent meets with strong performances by leaders Louis Smith (qualified to the pommel horse apparatus finals in third) and Daniel Keatings (qualified to the all-around in fourth position). Watch for them en route to London 2012!

8. Consistency, please! The Korean men have long stood out on the World stage, but have often lacked consistency and today was no exception. Only one athlete, Yoo Won Chul, qualified to an event finals. Eight years ago the 2001 World Championships the Koreans led prelims, but finished eighth in team finals after an athlete tore his bicep on rings.

9. Explosion of Spirit... Danell Levya is coached by his father, Yin Alvarez (pictured) whose reactions to well-performed routines (heck, sometimes even so-so routines!) are well known in the USA, but they've now hit the Worlds stage. He almost sent nearby gymnasts scattering at the end of Levya's routine, throwing his famous fist punches in the air and side skipping the entire length of the men's high bar to greet Levya after a job well done. The drama wasn't missed on the observant British crowd, and injected some genuine smiles into what was a long day. Imagine the reaction if Levya wins a medal in Sunday's apparatus finals! (As often happens, in an odd coincidence, the audience was playing Estelle's "American Boy" during Levya's routine.)

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Photos by Grace Chiu