Saito makes history for Japan in Aerobic Gymnastics Worlds
19 June, Incheon
Gymnasts from four nations claimed a share of World gold as the 2016 Aerobic Gymnastics World Championships concluded on Sunday evening in Korea. While Japan’s Mizuki Saito and Italian Mixed Pair Michela Castoldi and Davide Donati and France’s Step Aerobics team all recorded firsts for their countries in their respective categories, China regained a title, says International Gymnastic Federation (FIG).
Mizuki Saito figured a single tenth could make the difference in the men’s individual competition. The 19-year-old Japanese gymnast, second to Hungary’s Daniel Bali in qualification, added a dash of difficulty for Saturday’s finals, gambling that the change could bring him gold. Turns out Saito didn’t need anything extra to put his name in lights: By a margin of 0.125, Saito became Japan’s first men’s World champion in Aerobic Gymnastics, and the first Japanese gymnast to win Aerobic gold since Yuriko Ito took the women’s title in 2002.
Despite the best Artistry and Execution scores in the field, 2014 World champion Ivan Veloz was unable to contend with either Saito or silver medallist Bali in terms of difficulty. But his improved routine on Sunday did allow him to leapfrog Korea’s Go Kyungmin for the bronze.Italy imposes in Mixed Pairs
For Italian duo Michela Castoldi and Davide Donati, a day made the difference between chocolate and gold.
The twosome qualified to the Mixed Pairs final in fourth place, but their improved effort on Sunday night assured the “Romeo and Juliet” of Italian gymnastics a happy ending. The Italians did get some help from top qualifiers Sara Moreno and Vicente Lli: The Spanish pair was light on difficulty in the final and finished eighth, a disappointment for the World Games champions, who were aiming to regain their World title from 2012.
In their place, the challenge came from Hungary’s Daniel Bali and Dora Hegyi, who finished with silver by a mere 0.025, ahead of China’s Yu Yangyang and Hua Feiyang. China (Ma Chao, Li Lingxiao, Pan Lixi, Xu Xuesong and Ma Dong) left no doubt of its superiority in Aerobic Group finals, taking gold by nearly a full point, leaving Italy (Paolo Conti, Sara Natella, Michela Castoldi, Davide Donati and Emanuele Caponera), Romania (Gabriel Bocser, Bianca Gorgovan, Lucien Savulescu, Lavinia Panaete and Dacian Barna) and Hungary (Fanny Mazacs, Dora Hegyi, Daniel Bali, Balazs Farkas and Panna Szollosi) to fight for the remaining spots on the podium. The theatrical Italian sqaud prevailed over Romania for silver by a single tenth, shutting out the Hungarians.
China last won World Group title in 2012 before losing it to Romania two years ago. Shut out in Group competition, the French (Aurlie Joly, Gavin Jourdan, Florian Bughalo, Ocane Ropital, Marine Vandroux, David Orta, Marion Bognitscheff and Nicolas Garavel) contented themselves to reigning as kings and queens of Aerobic Step, holding off 2014 World champions China (Fu Yao, Huang Chengkai, Huang Zijing, Wang Ke, Zhang Huiwen, Zhao Ming, Shou Minchao and Yang Qiaobo) to claim gold by half a tenth of a point.
The world title is France’s first in Aerobic Step, providing a golden sendoff for team leader Aurlie Joly, who interrupted her retirement to come to Incheon.