Olympic Men's Gymnastics 2012 Day 1 Results: Qualifiers, Medal Hopefuls & More
Great Britain is a serious player is men's gymnastics at London 2012.
It's only Day 1, but Louis Smith's performance on the pommel horse helped push Great Britain past defending champion China in the qualifying competition.
He nailed his routine and received a 15.800 for his efforts. The score was the highest score on the apparatus of the day, and second place wasn't really close.
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The closest competitor behind him was Cyril Tommasone of France, who received a 15.333 for his routine.
Smith wasn't the only standout performer from the host country. Here's a look at the other British stars of the day, and the rest of the overall standouts and medal hopefuls:
(Gymnastics Standings and Results available at NBC Olympics)
Top Performances
Kohei Uchimura Good, But Not Great
Kristian Thomas and Daniel Purvis were solid performers in the floor exercise on Day 1. They are the only two British gymnasts competing in this event, but they did not produce stellar results.
Kai Zou of China set the pace with a 15.833 and Koehi Uchimura was second with 15.766. This is perhaps Uchimura's best event, and I think the best is yet to come from him.
United States Shows it Will Be a Serious Threat
For as good as the surprising British team was, Team USA was even better. They lead after two of the three sub-divisions with a combined score of 275.342. That was almost three full points ahead of Russia and Great Britain, who finished the day at 272.420.
It's only the first day of qualifying, but right now both Danell Leyva and John Orozco are ahead of the prohibitive favorite, Kohei Uchimura in overall score.
Leyva's total combined score in all events is tops with 91.265 and Orozco is fourth at 90.597.
Uchimura is ninth at 89.764, but there is a long way to go.
Russia Has Strong Day
Led by David Belyavskiy, the Russians delivered an awesome performance that was second only to the Americans.
Belyavskiy had the second highest all-around score after Day 1 with 90.832. He is nipping at Leyva's heels as he and the rest of the Russian team figure to be major players in London.
Here are the top performers in each event:
Floor Exercise
| 1 | CHN - Kai Zou | 15.833 | ||
| 2 | JPN - Kohei Uchimura | 15.766 | ||
| 3 | ROU - Koczi Flavius | 15.666 |
Pommel Horse
Parallel Bars
| 1 | JPN - Tanaka Yusuke | 15.866 | ||
| 2 | JPN - Tanaka Kazuhito | 15.725 | ||
| 3 | CHN - Feng Zhe | 15.633 |
Vault
High Bar
Rings
All Around
| 1 | USA - Danell Leyva | 91.265 | ||
| 2 | RUS - David Belyavskiy | 90.832 | ||
| 3 | GER - Fabian Hambuechen | 90.765 |
Medal Hopefuls
Predictions for Gold
Floor Exercise
Kohei Uchimura is still the one to beat here and in the all-around. This was just the first day of competition, and though he is currently ninth in all-around and second on the floor, he will shine in the medal round.
Pommel Horse
Louis Smith was amazing today and I believe he'll carry that momentum throughout. Great Britain may be overtaken and ultimately pushed out of a team medal, but Smith will make a mark in the sport for his country.
Parallel Bars
I can see Uchimura raising his game here as well, but the gold medal seems certain to land with Japan either way. Both Yasuke and Kazuhito are sharp, but right now I'd go with Yasuke.
Vault
My choice he is Denis Ablyazin of Russia. He was explosive and technically sound today. He will get some late competition, but I think he holds up.
High Bar
I believe Danell Leyva will make himself the standout performer from the U.S. in Gymnastics. He'll win top honors here, and have the second highest all-around score.
Rings
Matteo Morandi of Italy looked good on Day 1, but this is the prediction I feel least confident in. There are a lot of contenders on the rings, and even though Matteo finished Day 1 with the second-best score, I'm not sold.
Still, he's my pick for the event.
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