Saturday marked the first day of event finals at the 2014 Cottbus World Cup.

The first event of the day was men’s floor exercise. Denis Abliazin (RUS) took the title with a score of 15.525. His routine included a full-twisting double layout, 1.5 twist to double front, and a triple twist. In second place was Claudio Capelli (SUI) with a 15.25, beating out longtime great Diego Hypolito (BRA) by a mere 0.025 for the silver medal. Hypolito took the bronze. Irish floor specialist Kieran Behan (IRL) finished in fourth place with a 14.75, but he told Gymnastike in a post-competition that he will be upgrading several passes for future competitions in order to contend for the titles. Behan was followed by Pablo Braegger (SUI) with a 14.70, Christian Bazan (ESP) with a 14.325, Filip Ude (CRO) with a 13.275, and Eduard Shaulov (UZB) with a 12.45.

On women’s vault, Germany took the gold and silver medals. Janine Berger scored a 14.7125 combined score to earn the gold. Her first vault, a front handspring front 1.5 twisting layout, set her apart from the rest of the field. Teammate Kim Bui took silver with a 14.2625, while bronze went to Paula Plichta (POL) with a 14.100. Noemi Makra (HUN) placed fourth with a 14.012, Kirsten Beckett (RSA) took fifth with a 13.9875, and Marina Nekrasova (AZE) landed in sixth with a 13.625. The seventh and eighth places went to Hiu Wong (HKG) and Jasmin Mader (AUT) with scores of 13.5625 and 13.425 respectively.

On the pommel horse, it proved to be a game of staying on the horse, as the medals went to the three competitors without falls. Hungarian Krisztian Berki took gold with a dominant 15.55, a score that beat the next place by 0.65 points. The silver went to Kohei Kameyama (JPN) with a 14.9, and just behind him was Robert Seligman (CRO) with a 14.875. Daniel Keatings (GBR) performed well despite a fall, but his score of 14.525 was not enough for a spot in the medals, and he landed in fourth place. Following him were Oleg Vernaiev (UKR) with a 14/45, Filip Ude (CRO) with a 14.25, Nikolay Kuksenkov (RUS) with a 14.1, and Abdulla Azimov (UZB), who earned a 13.85.

In the last rotation of the day, the men took to the still rings while the women competed on uneven bars. American Brandon Wynn (USA) hit a clean routine despite a minor foot injury earlier this week, scoring a 15.425. However, the world bronze medalist was squeezed out of the medals and ended in fifth place overall. The gold went to Denis Abliazin (RUS), who scored a 15.700. Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE) was second with a 15.65, and there was a two-way tie for third place between Alexandr Balandin (RUS) and Koji Yamamuro (JPN), each with a 15.45. Coming sixth was Igor Radivilov (UKR) with a 15.325. Rounding out the field were Oleg Vernaiev (UKR) and Ibrahim Colak (TUR), who scored 15.2 and 15.05 respectively.

The German fans had good reason to cheer during the uneven bars final, as their countrywoman Sophie Scheder (GER) dominated the rest of the field with a 14.925. Her routine included a Shaposhnikova, a straddled Jaeger, and a full twisting double back dismount, which she stuck. Anna Rodionova (RUS) scored a 14.625 to take silver, and a 14.275 was enough to earn Noemi Makra (HUN) the bronze. Fourth place went to Kim Bui (GER) with a 14.125, and birthday-girl Natalie Vaculik (CAN) ended up fifth with a 13.85. Sixth place belonged to Ana Martins (POR) with her score of 13.30, and seventh went to Marta Pihan-Kulezsa (POL), who scored a 13.225. Aleeza Yu (CAN) scored a 13.10 for eighth place.

The final day of competition will take place on Sunday, March 16^th at 2:00pm CET. We will see many of the same names again in both the men’s and women’s fields. Americans Chris Brooks and Josh Dixon will be competing in the parallel bars and high bar finals. You can follow the live updates from the competition HERE.