2013 World University Games Event Finals RECAP and RESULTS

Jul 10, 2013 by Anne Phillips

The 2013 World University Games is now in the books. The Russian men and women continued their domination on the final day of competition, claiming thirteen more medals during the individual event finals.

The highlight of the day had to be the women's vault final. With three Amanars and a rarely seen Cheng, the competition was fierce. The biggest story was Russia's Ksenia Afanasyeva, still going strong at age 21, successfully debuting an Amanar vault. This suddenly makes her a World medal threat on the event and gives the Russian team three solid Amanars for team competitions (Afanasyeva, Maria Paseka, and Viktoria Komova. Aliya Mustafina has also competed it but has stuck with the double since tearing her ACL on the skill in 2011).

Watch Afanasyeva's gold medal vaults:

Afanasyeva's upgrade was good enough to tie for gold with 2008 Olympic Vault Champion Hong Un Jong of North Korea. Hong went big with an Amanar and a Cheng (yurchenko half on lay out rudi off). Hong has been off the scene in recent years due to North Korea's ban from international competition from 2010 through October 2012 following age discrepancies. With that kind of difficulty, Hong will be a gold medal favorite at 2013 World Championships this fall.

2012 Olympic bronze medalist Maria Paseka again earned the bronze while vaulting an Amanar and a laid out Podkapayeva.

Women's Vault Medalists:

1T. Ksenia Afanasyeva, Russia, VT1: 15.450 (6.300/9.150), VT 2: 14.800 (5.600/9.200). Average: 15.125 [video]

1T. Hong Un Jong, North Korea, VT1: 15.175 (6.30/8.975/-0.10), VT 2: 15.075 (6.40/8.675). Average: 15.125 [video]

3. Maria Paseka, Russia, VT1: 15.450 (6.300/9.150), VT 2: 14.450 (5.60/8.850) Average: 14.950

UNEVEN BARS

There were no surprises on uneven bars. 2012 Olympic Uneven Bars Champion Aliya Mustafina of Russia won yet another title on her best event with a solid 15.20. This is Mustafina's third Gold medal of these Games along with Team and All Around. Tatiana Nabieva of Russia won the silver, and Germany's Lisa Hill claimed bronze.

Women's Uneven Bars Medalists:

1. Aliya Mustafina, Russia, 15.200 (6.30/8.90) [video]

2. Tatiana Nabieva, Russia, 14.525 (6.00/8.525) [video]

3. Lisa Hill, Germany, 14.500 (6.0/8.40)

BALANCE BEAM

Mustafina's gold medal streak ended during the beam finals after touching her hand to the apparatus on her double turn. Zhang Yelinzi of China surpassed Mustafina late in the rotation with an impressive 15.150. She performed a steady routine with a difficult front tuck with a half twist. Canada's Ellie Black claimed the bronze medal for her hit routine. The top qualifier, Anna Dementyeva of Russia, unfortunately came off the beam on her roundoff+layout series.

Beam Medalists:

1. Yellinzi Zhang, China, 15.150 (6.60/8.550) [video]

2. Aliya Mustafina, Russia, 14.525 (6.10/8.425)

3. Ellie Black, Canada, 14.400 (6.00/8.40)

WOMEN'S FLOOR

Afanasyeva concluded the competition with her third gold medal, living up to expectations to take the floor title. Scoring a 14.350, it wasn't her best floor routine here in Kazan, but it was enough for the gold. Olympic bronze medalist Mustafina understandably ran out of steam in her seventh competition routine in two days, and slipped into last place in the final. This opened the door for Elsa Garcia of Mexico and Ellie Black of Canada to tie for the silver medal, each scoring 13.750. UCLA star and British team member Danusia Francis finished 6th with her trademark choreography and a beautiful performance.

Women's Floor Medalists

1. Ksenia Afanasyeva, Russia, 14.350 (6.30/8.450)

2T. Elsa Garcia, Mexico, 13.750 (5.50/8/250)

2T. Ellie Black, Canada, 13.750 (5.70/8.350)

MEN'S FLOOR

The day began with the men's floor final. Ryohei Kato of Japan claimed the gold medal with a 15.450 and the second highest start value of the competition at 6.70. German veteran Fabian Hambuchen (15.275) edged out Russia's David Belyavskiy (15.275) for the silver. Denis Ablyazin earned much praise for his 7.10 start value routine during the qualification round. However, he couldn't duplicate his brilliant qualification performance and finished a disappointing 7th place with a 14.30 (7.1D/7.90E/-0.70).

Men's Floor Medalists:

1. Ryohei Kato, Japan, 15.450 (6.70/8.75)

2. Fabian Hambuchen, Germany, 15.275 (6.30/8.975)

3. David Belyavskiy, Russia, 15.250 (6.50/8.750)

POMMEL HORSE

Nikolai Kuksenkov of Russia won pommel horse gold with a 15.050 (6.50/8.550). Daniel Corral Barron of Mexico claimed the silver while Oleg Stepko of Ukraine won bronze. Croatian pommel specialist Filip Ude competed the most difficult routine of the day at 6.70 but finished 7th with a low execution score.

Pommel Horse Medalists

1. Nikolai Kuksenkov, Russia, 15.050 (6.50/8.550)

2. Daniel Corral Barron, Mexico, 14.975 (6.40/8.55)

3. Oleg Stepko, Ukraine, 14.850 (6.40/8.450)

STILL RINGS

2012 Olympic Champion Arthur Zanetti of Brazil continues his reign on Still Rings. Zanetti claimed the gold followed by Russian powerhouse Denis Ablyazin. Igor Radivilov of Russia earned the bronze.

Still Rings Medalists

1. Arthur Zanetti Nabarrete, Brazil, 15.875 (6.80/9.075)

2. Daneis Ablyazin, Russia, 15.550 (6.70/8.850)

3. Igor Radilov, Ukraine, 15.525 (6.70/8.825)

MEN'S VAULT

The men's vault final was intense. And the result was the exact same medal podium we saw at the 2012 Olympic Games: Gold for Hak Seon Yang of South Korea, Silver for Denis Ablyazin of Russia, and Bronze for Igor Radivilov of Ukraine.

Men's Vault Medalists

1. Hak Seon Yang, South Korea, VT1: 15.975 (6.40/9.575), VT2: 15.600 (6.0/9.60) Average: 15.787 [video]

2. Denis Ablyazin, Russia, VT1: 15.325 (6.0/9.325), VT2: 15.375 (6.0/9.375) Average: 15.350

3. Igor Radivilov, Ukraine, VT 1: 15.225 (6.0/9.225), VT2: 15.250 (6.0/9.250) Average: 15.237

PARALLEL BARS

With the cleanest execution of the final, Emin Garibov of Russia earned the gold medal on parallel bars ahead of teammate David Belyavskiy. Oleg Verniaiev competed the highest difficulty at 6.90 but form breaks left him with the bronze.

Parallel Bars Medalists

1. Emin Garibov, Russia, 15.875 (6.60/9.275)

2. David Belyavskiy, Russia, 15.625 (6.70/8.925)

3. Oleg Verniaiev, Ukraine, 15.575 (6.90/8/675)

HIGH BAR

Moments after his p bars glory, Emin Garibov hit a crazy, 7.30 start value routine to win the high bar gold medal and give Russia its thirteenth medal of the day! Garibov crushed the competition with a 16.025. Japanese teammates Yusuke Tanaka and Ryohei Kato went 2-3 to conclude the exciting day of event finals in Kazan.