The men’s finals showcased the specialists on each apparatus, and indeed none of the winners even participated in the all-around final. The results didn’t change much from the qualification round to the finals; vault champion Thomas Bouhail of France was the only one who did not enter the final as the leader.

Eleftherios Kosmidis stuck both his opening layout double-double and his full-in dismount on his way to the top of the podium. He managed to stave off recently crowned all-around champion Kohei Uchimura, who suffered from low landings in this final. Greek fans will find this win reminiscent of Ioannis Melissanidis’s winning performance at the 1996 Olympic Games.

1. Eleftherios Kosmidis (GRE) 15.700, 2. Kohei Uchimura (JPN) 15.533, 3. Daniel Purvis (GBR) 15.366

Eleftherios Kosmidis (GRE), Floor Exercise Gold, 2010 World Championships

Krisztian Berki took advantage of the absence of Chinese superstars Xiao Qin and Zhang Hongtao to claim his first World title on his specialty. His routine starts off right with some scissors that demonstrate tremendous amplitude, accentuated by his long lines.

1. Krisztian Berki (HUN) 15.833, 2. Louis Smith (GBR) 15.733, 3. Prashanth Sellathurai (AUS) 15.566

Krisztian Berki (HUN), Pommel Horse Gold, 2010 World Championships

Chen Yibing’s medal collection just keeps growing! The 2008 Olympic Champ on rings claimed his third World title in Rotterdam. His lines, toepoint and flaired full-twisting double layout sealed the deal for this veteran.

1. Chen Yibing (CHN) 15.900, 2. Yan Mingyong (CHN) 15.700, 3. Matteo Morandi (ITA) 15.666

Chen Yibing (CHN), Rings Gold, 2010 World Championships (routine from Team Finals)

Thomas Bouhail managed to upstage prelims leader Anton Golotsutskov (RUS) when it mattered most, and ended up with his first title at a World Championships. The Frenchman was no stranger to the international scene, having won the silver medal on the same apparatus at the 2008 Olympic Games and the gold medal at last year’s European Championships. He landed his opening piked double Tsukahara with just a hop, and came close to sticking his Dragulescu.

1. Thomas Bouhail (FRA) 16.499, 2. Anton Golotsutskov (RUS) 16.366, 3. Dzmitry Kaspiarovich (BLR) 16.316

Thomas Bouhail (FRA), Vault Gold, 2010 World Championships

Feng Zhe performed his three double backs and high straddled front well, but it was the solid double pike dismount and his 7.0 D-score that really earned him the gold in what turned out to be one of the most competitive finals of the Championships.

1. Feng Zhe (CHN) 15.966, 2. Teng Haibin (CHN) 15.616, 3. Kohei Uchimura (JPN) 15. 500

Feng Zhe (CHN), Parallel Bars Gold, 2010 World Championships (V and PB from Qualifications)

Zhang Chenglong flew high above the bar with his layout Tkatchev, straddled Tkatchev-half, layout Jaeger, Yamawaki and layout double-double dismount. The releases, in addition to his pirouetting skills, allowed Zhang to grab the gold over Epke Zonderland, who retained his silver medal position from last year’s Worlds. Zonderland displayed a difficult set with a Kovacs-Kolman combination, a Gaylord 2 and a Yamawaki and a nice stuck layout double double.

1. Zhang Chenglong (CHN) 16.166, 2. Epke Zonderland (NED) 16.033, 3. Fabian Hambüchen (GER) 15.966

Zhang Chenglong (CHN), High Bar Gold, 2010 World Championships (routine from 2010 Nationals)

Four different gymnasts were awarded the gold medals during the women’s apparatus finals of the 2010 World Championships, held in Rotterdam last month. All-around queen Aliya Mustafina didn’t win any gold medals in finals, but she did come away from these World Championships with five medals in all and bragging rights as the only Russian lady to claim a medal after their shared team gold. Alicia Sacramone won her first vault title, bringing her total…

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Another World Championships has come and gone, and all is right with the (gymnastics) world! The Russian ladies (Ksenia Afanasyeva, Anna Dementieva, Yekaterina Kurbatova, Aliya Mustafina, Tatiana Nabieva, Ksenia Semyonova) finally won the team gold for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It’s hard to believe it took them 18 years to stand atop the podium, especially thinking back to the 2000 Olympic team that was jam packed with so many…

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Okay, so last time I made a Top 10 list of my favourite floor routines ever (I kinda forgot the fantastic routine Dominique Dawes did in 1992 and 1993, but luckily RJL commented on that!). I promised that my next post would be a list of the worst floor routines ever, so here goes…. After a lot of deliberating, I decided to narrow it down to just three routines. Unfortunately, there seems to be a…

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When I first set out to create a Top 10 list of the best floor routines ever, I had no idea what a task it would become. How could I leave out gymnasts such as Svetlana Boginskaya, Oksana Omelianchik, Maria Filatova, Natalia Ilienko? Believe it or not, I did consider making this a Top 10 Soviet Routines from the 1980s list…well, anyway, here is a compilation of ten of my favourites. Enjoy! 10. Lauren Mitchell…

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