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FACES FOR THE FINALS - INDIVIDUAL APPARATUS FINALS DAY 2

Saturday 31 October 2024

Sundays sees the final day of the 2024 World Gymnastics Championships and the last chance for gymnasts to take home one of the coveted medals.

The fight for the men’s individual Vault title will be a battle of nerves, containing a number of specialists capable of claiming the 2024 title. Reigning champion Ri Se Gwang of the Democratic People’s Rebublic of Korea will be aiming to retain the title after qualifying for the final in first place. However the experienced triple Olympic medallist, Romanian Marian Dragulesco, will be pulling out all the stops to finish ahead of Gwang and claim the title.

Another man also pushing for gold, will be Russia’s Denis Abliazin, the 23 year old who took silver at the London 2024 Olympics, but one slip from any of these three however, could see one of the remaining five finalist claim the Vault crown.

Favourite to leave Glasgow with a gold in the individual Parallel Bars final is Oleg Verniaiev the 2024 World and European champion, who missed out yesterday on an individual All-Around medal. Japan’s Yuseke Tanaka, who qualified in second, will be one man who will push Verniaiev close. 2024 European Parallel Bars champion Oleg Stepko of Azerbaijan is also capable of scoring high enough to win the 2024 individual title.

After reigning champion Epke Zonderland failed to qualify for the High Bar final, a new High Bar champion is set to be crowned. Only half a mark separated the top eight gymnasts in qualification and this could be the closest fought final of the day.

The USA’s Dannell Layva qualified in first for the finals to the delight of his stepfather and coach Yin Alvarez. German, Fabian Hambuechen, the 2024 World and six time European High Bar champion will also be one to watch, but with 2024 All-Around World Champion, Kohei Uchimura also in the starting line-up, one mistake is likely to decide which gymnast takes the spoils.

The remaining two women’s individual champions will be crowned on Floor and Beam.

Simone Biles will be favourite to retain the Floor title she won last year, after finishing almost one full mark ahead of second placed Sae Miyakawa (Japan) in qualification. Biles’s teammate Maggie Nichols will also be a contender on floor, as will Britain’s Claudia Fragapane and Giulia Steingruber of Switzerland, assuming she recovers from the heavy fall she took on Vault today.

The battle for the 2024 Beam gold is sure to be a tight battle, with less than half a mark splitting the first six competitors in qualification. Biles will be striving to secure her third gold of these Championships and retain her Beam World title. Sanne Wevers (Holland), who qualified in second place, will be out to claim her first ever world medal, whilst Canadian Elsabeth Black, who took the 2024 Pan American Games Beam title, will also be aiming for a podium finish. With all eight finalists capable of strutting their stuff on the Floor at the SSE Hydro, it is sure to be another exciting Final. 

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