FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Cup A
Feria Internacional de Albacete World Cup
Albacete (ESP), September 3 – 4, 2010
LAUSANNE (SUI), FIG Office, September 6, 2010: At the fourth FIG Trampoline Gymnastics World Cup of the 2010 season, which took place on September 3 – 4 in Albacete (ESP), China proved yet again that it dominates the trampoline scene, winning three out of the four competitions.
In a crowded sports hall and under intense heat, the two 2009 World Champions, Dong Dong (CHN) and He Wenna (CHN), prevailed in the Men’s and Women’s individual events respectively. Li Dan and Zhong Xingping (CHN) took the title in the Women’s Synchronised category while Steven Gluckstein and Logan Dooley (USA) won the Men’s Synchronised event.
Dong Dong beat his compatriot and 2008 Olympic Champion Lu Chunlong in an impressive Men’s Final, showing off a number of new skills to the audience. Both gymnasts made it clear that the new Code of Points would mean a wider gap between them and the other athletes when they notched the competition’s best “times of flight”. Kazuma Takahashi of Japan garnered Bronze.
1 DONG Dong CHN 41.800
2 LU Chunlong CHN 41.500
3 TAKAHASHI Kazuma JPN 40.800
In Women’s, He Wenna nudged Huang Shanshan out of first position in the preliminary ranking, maintaining the same air style that brought her the Olympic and World crowns. The only gymnasts that even came close to them were Karen Cockburn (CAN) and 19 year old Emma Smith (GBR). Smith, who ultimately qualified in third place, took the Bronze, while 3-times Olympic medallist Cockburn struggled in the Final and finished 6th.
1 HE Wenna CHN 40.300
2 HUANG Shanshan CHN 39.700
3 SMITH Emma GBR 38.400
Party time for the local audience in the Men’s Synchronised competition; José Manuel Muñoz and Marc Piñol conquered a Bronze medal in Albacete. It was the first World Cup medal to be won by Spain in Men's Trampoline since the inception of the World Cup Series in 1992. In an unexpected Final, the Spaniards opened the competition and watched from their seats as several favourites failed to complete their routines.
“We did what we had to. We knew that we would only have a chance if we completed our routine, so that was our main goal. After doing that, all we could do was wait and see how the other Pairs performed. We are extremely happy with our success and we hope that it will not be the last one for Spanish Trampoline,” José Manuel Muñoz (ESP) commented.
Only Canadians Martin Myers and Chales Thibault and US Pair Logan Dooley and Steven Gluckstein proved to be better in Albacete.
Thibault and Myers, making their first-ever appearance as a Synchro Pair, bounced their way to an unexpected Silver medal. “We had never even trained together, so this came as a complete surprise,” said Thibault. “I think the key was that we just decided to go out and have fun.”
Gluckstein and Dooley won easily with more than three points over their contenders.
1 GLUCKSTEIN Steven / DOOLEY Logan USA 49.700
2 MYERS Martin / THIBAULT Charles CAN 46.300
3 MUNOZ Jose Manuel / PINOL Marc ESP 45.000
In Women’s Synchronised Trampoline, China’s Li Dan and Zhong Xingping maintained their first position, while Mariah Madigan / Samantha Smith (CAN) and Carina Baumgartner / Anna Dogonadze (GER) completed the podium, with Anna Dogonadze achieving her 41st World Cup medal.
1 LI Dan / ZHONG Xingping CHN 46.500
2 MADIGAN Mariah / SMITH Samantha CAN 42.000
3 BAUMGAERTNER Carina / DOGONADZE Anna GER 41.400
A Double Mini-Trampoline elite competition was organised parallel to the World Cup. Galina Goncharenko (RUS) and the reigning World Champion, André Lico of Portugal, performed solid passes edging out their rivals in powerful Finals.
The next stopover of the 2010 World Cup circuit in Trampoline Gymnastics will be in Astrakhan (RUS) on September 17 – 18, followed by Loulé (POR) on September 24 – 25.
