Live Blog: WAG Beam Final on the Last day of Artistic Gymnastics at Paris 2024.
Women's Artistic Gymnastics Beam final at the Paris Olympics
It’s the last day of Artistic Gymnastics finals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and I can already feel the withdrawal looming. But before that, let’s soak in every moment of these last apparatus finals.
Today’s Women’s finals are the Balance Beam and Floor. Simone Biles will be competing in both and, unusually, the Gymnastics events will conclude with the Women’s floor rather than men’s High Bar.
The women are warming up, the medals are waiting to be won.
Beam Final
11.47: we’re off.
Zhou Yaqin, China. (18 years old)
Qualifyied in 1st place with a score of 14.866 off of a 6.6 D score (start value).
Simple leap-on mount at the end of the beam. Handspring tuck front into a split jump. Simple full spin. Change-leg ring leap. Side somi, into tuck jump 1/1, straight-jump 1/1 - a difficult and unique combination but her hand goes down to clasp the beam. That will likely be a full mark off of the E-score: it’s the same deduction as a fall if the hand has to grasp the apparatus to stop you from falling.
Change leg, w-jump. Free walkover, split-jump ring, Korbut flic. She’s really building the D score with steady connections. Roundoff triple twist dismount - a huge F tariff worth 0.6, with a 0.2 dismount bonus. A level of difficulty not often seen. It’s a shame to have that grasp in the middle because otherwise, the routine hit beautifully. It earns her 14.100, a bit down on qualifying but it may still be enough to contend for a medal.
Sunisa Lee, USA. (21)
Lee Qualified in 4th with a score of 14.033 from a 6.0 start value. And she’s off:
Japana mount, an easy A. Triple squat spin (she missed it in qualifying but makes it this time). Free-walkover, split jump, flick - smoothly connected. Obligatory side-dance. Change-leg, change 1/2, split jump ring. Free-cartwheel, layout, another layout and she’s off the beam! Both feet found the beam but the back foot slipped off. Change-leg ring with a wobble, a bit unsettled perhaps. The straight gainer 1/1 dismount, one of the more unusual skills we tend to see.
She went for broke adding in the extra layout on the acro series but it sadly hasn’t paid off. It’s a 13.100 for Suni Lee.
Julia Soares, Brazil. (18)
She qualified in 8th with a 13.800 from a 5.6 D score.
Flick mount with a half-turn in the middle of the beam. Double squat spin and the compulsory low-to-the-beam dance. Acro series: flick, layout (just the one). Free walkover, split jump, tuck back somi. Change leg leap on its own, doesn’t connect it into the next skill. Then a tourjete leap, unusual on the beam and lovely to see but sadly she falls on it. W (Wolf) jump into a sissone for her dance passage requirement. Dismount is a flick to 1, flick to 2, double pike back. The second time buzzer sounds during the dismount so there may be an overtime penalty of 0.1.
She’ll be slightly down on the D score for missing the leap connection. The score is… 12.333 from a 15.300. They didn’t take the time penalty though - lucky.
Manila Esposito, Italy. (17)
Qualified with a 13.966 from a 5.6, in 6th place. She’s had a bit of a shaky outing so far this games.
An unusual mount connection: roundoff flick onto the beam, into a layout and another flick. Change-leg, split jump half, flick for the mixed series. Free walkover on its own. Free cartwheel, bit of an unsteady landing and she omits the split jump connection we saw in qualifying. Triple squat spin, it’s solid and an upgrade from qualifying where she did a double so the D score will be up 0.2. A Valdez brings her up from the low dance, a nice traditional move we don’t see too often anymore. Round-off double pike dismount. She goes clean overall.
The score is a 14.000 from a 5.8.
A bit of a wobbly first half overall. Beam final is so often about who manages to hold their nerve and go clean. Zhou Yaqin for China leads so far with big names still to come. The podium remains up for grabs.
Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, Romania. (17)
Qualified 5th with a 14.00 from a 6.1 start value.
Forward roll mount. A huge round-off straight back 1/1 and off the beam. W-jump, sissone for the leap series. Flick, straight back salto. Stayed on this time. Free walkover. Free-cartwheel and she’s off again! Her foot slipped down the side. Split-jump 1/2 turn, on it’s own. Change-leg, change-half, tentatively into a flick. Dismount: Round-off, flick, double tuck. She calmed down into the last line but she’ll be disappointed with that routine. A hug from her coach and mum, Camelia Voinea, coming off of the podium.
The score is: 11.733 from a 5.8 D score, down 0.3 on difficulty from qualification and carrying two falls.
12.09:
Alice D’Amato, Italy. (21)
D’Amato had to settle for 4th in the AA final. Can she get a medal here?
Qualified 7th with 13.866 from a 5.6 D score.
Change-leg mount connects into a free-walkover, straddle jump, sissone. She missed that leap connection out of the mount (worth 0.4) in qualifying so we can expect a boost to the D score. Change-leg, change-ring. Nicely connected. Flick layout, well controlled to land on one leg. Punch-front tuck-somi with a small landing adjustment. Down for her low dance and the double squat spin. Nice flow in the dance. The dismount is a round-off, 2-and a half twist. It’s solid and this looks like our new leader… it’s 14.566! D score of 5.8. She’s guaranteed a medal. Jubilation!
Simone Biles, USA. (27)
Qualified 2nd with a 14.733 from a 6.4 start value.
The stadium erupts and the GOAT steps up. Change-leg mount. Pause before the change-leg, change-half, pike back somi. It’s solid. Low to the beam for the triple spin, sper speedy and solid. Free walkover, split jump, straddle jump. Easy connections. Flick layout, and she’s off the beam! Missed the second layout. That’s very uncharacteristic. Side dance, a free cartwheel. She’s not giving any more deductions away. Dismount: Flick to 1, flick to 2, full twisting double tuck. She’s clearly unhappy with that performance.
Both American gymnasts falling off the beam is a huge surprise. Off the podium she says to her coach ‘why does that happen’? Seems like a complaint about ‘shushing’ - the spectator noise?
It’s not going to challenge D’Amato.
12.20 bit of a wait for the score…
It’s a 13.100 from a 6.300 with a 0.3 penalty. Not sure what that was for…
A time penalty at the start of the routine perhaps? She gets off the podium and says to coach Cecile ‘Why are they shushing?’. Gymnasts have 30 seconds to mount after the green light goes on, and she may have waiting too long for the crowd to quiet down. A shame if so, we’ll check that out later.
Simone will have a chance at redemption in the floor final later today.
Depending on Andrade’s routine, Biles could be out of an 11th Olympic medal. It really is a make-or-break apparatus.
Only the two Italian gymnasts have gone clean so far this final. One gymnast left to go. Its feeling dramatic!
12.21:
Rebeca Andrade, Brazil. (25)
Qualified 3rd with a 14.500 from a 6.1 D score.
Change leg mount onto the end of the beam. Change-leg, change-half, split jump. Flick, layout. Smooth. Free-walkover, little wobble so it doesn’t connect into the next skills - usually we see a split-jump ring, flick out of that so expect it to be reflected in the D score. Change-leg ring. Free cartwheel, again on its own. Split-jump ring, on its own. Full spin. W jump, sissone for the dance series. Round-off double pike. A nice landing. It was a smooth routine but she definitely missed some connections there.
The score is…
13.933. A 5.7 D-score. She goes into fourth!
The podium is:
Alice D’Amato, Italy - gold with 14.566
Zhou Yaqin, China - silver with a 14.100
Manila Esposito, Italy - bronze with a 14.00
A surprising beam final! All over the 14 mark. High quality and it was all about making those connections and staying on the beam.
Watching Simone’s back, I can’t work out where the 0.3 penalty has come from. I’m sat here with a Brevet judge (my mum) re-watching the clock. It looks like the timer was on 24, counting down from 30. She presents at 17, mounts with 7 seconds to spare. If not a time penalty, where did the 0.3 come from? The view of the Toblerone (it’s triangle-shaped), where they show the timing and go light in the arena, isn’t hugely clear from home. Over-time is a best guess but we can’t precisely account for this penalty. Perhaps it could be a podium penalty… Will give an update if I discover clarification…
*Update* new theory is that Simone’s 0.3 penalty was for failing to present at the end of her routine. She presents the dismount landing (which technically belongs to the skills itself) but her arms are on the way down as she turns to the judges and they don’t really get their own present. It’s a conduct convention, an interesting quibble and Simone’s coach perhaps could have queried it, but without a medal chance, there’s no point doing that.
It’s Italy, China, Italy on the podium.
Come back later for the WAG floor final.