Rebecca Bross admitted she “messed up” after blowing the chance of a gold medal in a dramatic finale to the women’s all-around competition at the World Gymnastics Championships on Friday.
The 16-year-old from Michigan needed just a clean landing at the end of her final routine in her last discipline, the floor exercise, to take the title.
In a sensational denouement, however, she stumbled on landing and fell, handing gold to fellow American Bridget Sloan by the narrowest of margins, 0.050 points. It allowed Sloan, the favorite heading into the final, to add the world title to her US championship crown, but how silver-medalist Bross will rue that late fall.
PHOTO: AFP
“I was pretty nervous, but once I started my routine I couldn’t feel it. I just concentrated on what I wanted to do,” Bross said. “I was going at it like I normally do, I took my last breath, I went for it and it didn’t work out. I messed up, but I still won a silver medal.”
Bross added that her legs “just gave out” as she went to land and was adamant she had not taken gold for granted heading into the final rotation, when she only needed a score of better than 12.925 to win.
Sloan, 17, said: “I was very nervous for Rebecca. I was cheering for her and I wanted her to go out there and do the best she could. I didn’t notice until I looked up at the scoreboard and said: ‘Oh, I’ve won,’ but I’m so proud of her.”
With Shawn Johnson having won all-around gold in Stuttgart in 2007, it meant the US hold on to the title.
Japan’s Koko Tsurumi, who led after two rotations, took bronze and Lauren Mitchell of Australia was fourth just 0.025 points further behind.
“I believe I was able to perform elegantly and I am very happy to get the bronze,” said Tsurumi, who proved to be the surprise package in the final after qualifying in seventh place.
Tsurumi, who is 17 and weighs just 33kg, had made the most of her two favorite apparatus, the uneven bars and the beam, to build a narrow 0.225 points lead over Sloan, with Bross just behind in third.
The American juggernaut then took charge with both excelling on the beam, making them the lead 1-2, although Bross’ exhibition was more fluent and gave her a cushion of 1.275 points over Sloan going into the medal-deciding floor exercise. Sloan laid down the gauntlet with a sublime routine, twisting and flipping her way to a score of 14.200 points.
Whether it was nerves, a stroke of misfortune or a combination of both, Bross slipped up at the death.
Ana Porgras, the 15-year-old Romanian who qualified in second place, saw her tilt for the title end on the third rotation when she fell off the beam. She was consoled by her coach, Nicolae Forminte, but she finished seventh overall.
France’s Youna Dufournet came fifth and China’s Yang Yilin was sixth.
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