Trampoline Gymnastics – Men’s Competition

LONDON (GBR), FIG Office, January 13, 2012: The Visa International Gymnastics event currently underway in London’s North Greenwich Arena continued on Friday morning with the Men’s Trampoline Qualification and Finals.

Sixteen gymnasts representing eleven countries had secured participation rights for the competition, with thirteen eligible for Olympic qualification (maximum one per NOC) and setting their caps for the remaining places this morning. The three medallists of the 2011 World Championships in Birmingham, Dong Dong (CHN), Lu Chunlong and Masaki Ito (JPN), who were already qualified, followed an invitation to test the waters in London, adding extra value to the competition.

Eight Olympic spots were allocated following the competition in Birmingham, with China, Japan and Russia securing two places and Ukraine and France one place each.

Qualification

In a high level competition, Dong Dong of China came out on top with a total of 110.473 points, impressing with high difficulty, clean execution and immense height. Dong was followed by his compatriot Lu Chunlong, who scored 109.270, and 2011 Bronze medallist Masaki Ito of Japan in third with a 108.790 total.

The places qualifying the NOCs for the Games are led by Canada’s Jason Burnett in fourth rank, followed by Diogo Ganchinho of Portugal, Blake Gaudry (AUS) and Henrik Stehlik (GER). The list of qualifiers will be officially confirmed shortly.

1 DONG Dong CHN 110.479 Q
2 LU Chunlong CHN 109.270 Q
3 ITO Masaki JPN 108.790 Q
4 BURNETT Jason CAN 106.369 Q
5 GANCHINHO Diogo POR 105.170 Q
6 GAUDRY Blake AUS 104.470 Q
7 STEHLIK Henrik GER 103.740 Q
8 MERINO Nuno POR 103.730 Q
9 CANNONE Flavio ITA 103.650 R1
10 GLUCKSTEIN Steven USA 103.340 R2
11 JENSEN Peter DEN 103.100
12 KAZAK Mikalai BLR 102.675
13 SOEHN Keegan CAN 102.500
14 DOOLEY Logan USA 101.825
15 MODZEL Viatchaslau BLR 101.750
16 SCHORI Nicolas SUI 100.145

Finals

The best eight gymnasts from the qualifying round advanced to the final that took place immediately following the qualifications.

The 2011 medallists came out on top again, with 2009 and 2010 World Champion Dong outscoring reigning World Champion Lu by .21 points to take the Gold, and Ito confirming his third place during preliminaries with a 60.785.

Commenting on his fellow competitors, Dong explained: "The other athletes were under pressure because they needed to qualify and they knew it was a high-level event. But they did very well." On competing at the Visa International Gymnastics event he said: "The atmosphere is very impressive. It is what the athletes need."

Gold CHN DONG Dong 61.375
Silver CHN LU Chunlong 61.165
Bronze JPN ITO Masaki 60.785
4 CAN BURNETT Jason 58.075
5 AUS GAUDRY Blake 57.265
6 GER STEHLIK Henrik 56.555
7 POR MERINO Nuno 56.120
8 POR GANCHINHO Diogo 54.305

The event continued with the Women’s Trampoline Qualifications and Finals.