By Jessica Taylor Price
The 2018 World Championships are in full force, with day one of men’s qualifications bringing in our first official results–some expected and others not so much. In any case, gymnasts always manage to keep things interesting. Here’s what you might have missed on social media:
Feature Photo by Grace Chiu
Russia’s men dominated
Team Russia did very well in prelims, finishing the day easily in first as a team and earning the top three spots in the all-around, though this pushed David Belyavskiy out of the final (darn two-per-country rule!). Watch Nikita Nagornyy, the current all-around leader, do this triple tuck into the rafters.
Easy pic.twitter.com/doZyWbXwV5
— Daniel (@Daniel_san2013) October 25, 2018
It might as well be leotard fashion week(s) for Team USA
The ladies of Team USA are still making waves with their beautiful leos! Their lineups were released today as well, revealing that Ragan Smith has been named the team alternate.
Oleg looked iffy
Ukrainian star and Olympic all-around silver medalist Oleg Verniaiev is in first place on parallel bars after performing this gorgeous set, but is currently in seventh in the all-around after disappointing routines on pommels and the high bar.
UKR's🇺🇦 Oleg Verniaiev lit up the final session on the opening day @DohaGym2018 scoring a vast 15.458 💪to lead Parallel Bars 🍾
Catch up on all the scores 👉: https://t.co/N66JL7iOy6
Don't miss tomorrow: CHN🇨🇳, USA🇺🇸 and JPN🇯🇵#DohaGym2018 #GoGymtastic pic.twitter.com/OcGpTnUjiP— FIG (@gymnastics) October 25, 2018
Nestor did well, though
Spain’s Nestor Abad showed off this delightful high bar routine in qualifications, helping him to fourth place in the all-around standings.
Néstor Abad (@NestorAbad1) barra #DohaGym2018 pic.twitter.com/9BlmS09lsX
— RFEGimnasia (@RFEGimnasia) October 25, 2018
Melnikova’s okay
Angelina Melnikova’s nasty fall on vault made the rounds today, but she’s assured the gymternet that she’s okay, and [adorably] got some encouragement from reigning World All-Around Champion Morgan Hurd.
you got this❤️
— haunting hurd (@morgihurd) October 25, 2018
Ri Se Gwang confused everyone
Ri Se Gwang of North Korea sits in first place on vault after performing what was supposed to be a handspring double pike half-out. However, the gymternet is scratching its head over how he got credited for it.
?!?!?!?! pic.twitter.com/6UizdQJaxu
— MAGNASTICS (@magnastics) October 25, 2018
Worlds medals revealed
The world gold, silver and bronze medals are gorgeous, complete with cut-outs and a pink and purple ribbon. Just in case the competitors needed more incentive to earn some hardware…
Medals for world championships! pic.twitter.com/qtheD02LMp
— Craig Tilley (@CraigTilley95) October 25, 2018
The Flying Dutchman hit
Team Netherlands sat in second place after day one, and Epke Zonderland hit his high bar routine, finishing the day at the top spot for the event. Fun fact about Epke: He almost stayed home from Worlds—but we think he had a pretty good reason.
ICYMI: Epke Zonderland is unsurprisingly in first place on high bar after day 1 of qualifications. He performed a watered down routine (he won't if he makes finals), but he almost didn't come to Doha at all… for a pretty good reason. Read it here:https://t.co/pHp8OFXVtc
— Inside Gymnastics (@InsideGym) October 25, 2018
Tiny Carlos stood out
Eighteen-year-old Carlos Yulo of the Philippines is currently in eighth in all-around qualifications. He’s made his mark as the official darling of these worlds.
A STAR IS BORN!
Carlos Edriel Yulo (PHI): "I do not feel happy, because I think I made several mistakes, my dream is to compete in the Olympic Games and be a great gymnast. I train in Japan and my dream is to compite in #Tokyo2020 🇯🇵 #DohaGym2018 pic.twitter.com/a3V17WH0Xi— InternationalGymnast (@intlgymnast) October 25, 2018
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