Rebeca Andrade didn’t know that her team, Brazil, had qualified in fourth place. Nor that they would compete in the Paris Olympics after missing the Tokyo Games. I could not see it. Now he wears glasses and doesn’t like contact lenses, so he couldn’t see the scoring screen where he was fourth in the all-around.
Neither Andrade nor Alexa Moreno nor Melanie Dos Santos were able to defeat Simone Biles this Monday. At the end of the qualifying day of the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, the American was the leader in all apparatus – with the exception of the uneven bars, where her partner Shilese Jones was successful – and in the all-around. Only one surprise caused a stir at the Antwerp Sportpaleis: Australia sneaked into one of the Olympic places awarded by the championship for the first time since 2012. Spain didn’t make it. He finished 16th with 152,895 points. However, Alba Petisco and Ana Pérez have secured an individual spot for the Games.
After Hurricane Biles, its new element and its unchallenged leadership, as of Monday there were seven divisions with 17 countries yet to debut; including Brazil with reigning world champion Rebeca Andrade, Canada, bronze last year, France and China. The big qualifying day, which lasted more than 12 hours, started first thing in the morning with Spain on the uneven bars. They shared playing fields and mats with the Belgian hosts, who kept nervously falling on the balance beams, and with the Romanian hosts, who showed off their potential and skill in jumping.
Ana Pérez, plagued by injuries for years, led the Spanish team after the first rotation with 12.933. The second, balance beam, was smothered by the Spanish team. Alba Petisco, unbalanced, couldn’t get past 11.566 after a few stumbles, and Laura Casabuena fell off the apparatus twice (11.233), while Pérez pulled the team with a valuable 12.966. Spain bounced back on floor with a 13.1 from Petistco and a 12.333 from the 25-year-old from Seville, who still didn’t lower the bar. This was followed by a solvent 12,266 from Laia Font and a necessary 13,066 from Casabuena.
It wasn’t enough. And not even the best results in jumping, such as Sara Pinilla with 12.8, Petisco with an unbeatable 13.633 or Casabuena with 13.066, made the comeback possible. Petisco fell too early on her first jump and made her way to the second in dismay. And the day ended for the Spaniards with a score of 152.895, surpassing last year’s score and Belgium, the hosts. They provisionally took seventh place among the ten countries that had already taken part. But with three divisions to go, the Spanish missed the chance to take part in the Olympic Games as a team. Only Alba Petisco and Ana Pérez received an individual place.
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