13th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup concludes in Qatar

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DOHA, June 27, (Agencies): The 13th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup which was held at Aspire Dome in Qatari capital Doha over four days concluded. The Qatar Gymnastics Federation (QGF) said in a statement that Japan’s Hidenobu Yonekura won the gold medal of the men’s vault contest and qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. Turkey’s Ferhat Arican grabbed the gold medal of the parallel bars competition and Cypriot Marios Georgiou snatched the gold medal of the horizontal bar category.

In women’s competitions, Ukrainian athlete Diana Varinska came first in the balance beam completion and Italy’s 2006 world all-around champion Vanessa Ferrari won the WAG Floor Exercise gold medal. Meanwhile, Brody Malone grew up in northwest Georgia and spent part of his childhood tinkering around as a rodeo rider before finally committing full-time to gymnastics. It’s a decision that’s carried him all the way to the Olympics. The 20-year-old locked down a spot on the U.S. Olympic men’s gymnastics team on Saturday, earning an automatic berth on the five-man team by capturing the Olympic Trials with a two-day all-around total of 171.600.

The victory, on top of the NCAA crown the Stanford junior won in April and the national title he won earlier this month cemented Malone’s status as the leader of the men’s program heading to Japan and beyond. Yul Moldauer, the 2017 national champion and a three-time world championship team member, is heading to Tokyo next month too after finishing runner-up to Malone while also ranking in the top three on four events. The two other spots will be decided by a selection committee later Saturday afternoon, though six-time national champion and two-time Olympian Sam Mikulak and Shane Wiskus seem like virtual locks after steady and occasionally spectacular performances inside The Dome at America’s Center. Malone, however, took his choice out of the selection committee’s hands with a confident and controlled display. He hardly seemed bothered by the stakes, improving his score on five of six events compared to Day 1.

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