Qualifying for the Olympic Games in artistic gymnastics is demanding. It is even true for figures and great champions of the discipline. Nina Derwael’s last three years included Olympic title, shoulder injury, surgery, recovery and frustration for her country at the World Championships. This combination of diverse causality determined that the Belgian is currently fighting for a place in Paris 2024.
The series of four World Cups for Apparatus of the International Gymnastics Federation is one of the last chances of winning the Olympic ticket for Derwael and other important figures in the discipline. The one that begins today at the huge National Gymnastics Stadium in Baku is the penultimate date of this circuit, which establishes rankings by device according to the results in the four competitions. The truth is that if there are some combinations, some classifications can be confirmed mathematically this weekend.
Winning in Baku -or failing that being the highest-ranking gymnast among those eligible to win Olympic classification points- would mathematically confirm Derwael (beam), An Chang Ok (women’s jump), Ryu Sunghyun (men’s floor) and Tang Chia-Hung (high bar) to confirm their place for the Games. All four scored the maximum possible 30 points in their specialties during the first two World Cup stops in Cairo and Cottbus and could qualify this weekend, although the rankings will close after the final event of the series in Doha in April.
The door is wide open for other contenders who seek their dream of Paris 2024 through their favorite specialty. The battle is closed and the stage is especially open in rings, where five competitors are serious candidates; and in pommels, where the fight is led by two-time world medalist Ahmad Abu Al Soud.
Another focus is on women’s jumping, where the legendary Oksana Chusovitina is trying to reach her ninth consecutive Olympic Games at the age of 48. After an inconsistent start in Cairo and Cottbus, the current representative of Uzbekistan is fifth in the ranking of the device and has no room for error.
It is also true that the Baku World Cup is an opportunity for gymnasts qualified for the Olympic Games to consolidate series, try new elements or get international filming. This explains the presence of ten men’s world champions; a very prominent delegation from China, with parallel Olympic champion Zou Jingyuan; and the presence of rising Algerian star Kaylia Nemour.
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