Monday,
October 23, 2006
Gymnast, Vanessa Ferrari Takes Gold in
World All Around
The
ANNOTICO Report
Vanessa Ferrari became the first Italian
gymnast, man or woman, to win the world all-around, putting on a dazzling show
to capture the gold.
Ferrari overcame a fall on the balance beam
with a high-flying routine on floor. "After I fell on the beam, I knew I
had to fight to the last note of the music and I did," Ferrari said.
"I knew I just had to keep on fighting."
Vanessa Ferrari: Born: November 10th, 1990;
Hometown: Brixia; Coached by Enrico Casella -Gold medallist with her Team at European Championships in Volos
2006; -AA Winner of the Mediterranean Games in Almeria 2005;-AA Winner of
European Youth Olympics in Lignano 2005
Videos of Vanessa Ferrari at the Italian Nationals 2006: (Floor) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqTUCYGQWtg
Also assessable are performances on Uneven
Bars, Beam, and Vault.
Her teammates are:Francesca Benolli,
Monica Bergamelli,Ilaria Colombo,Adriana Crisci, Maria Theresa
Gargano, Elena Olivetti, Lia Parolari
Fri,
Oct. 20, 2006
AARHUS,
Vanessa Ferrari
became the first Italian gymnast, man or woman, to win the world all-around
Thursday, putting on a dazzling show to capture the gold medal and edge out
overlooked American Jana Bieger, who took silver.
Ferrari overcame
a fall on the balance beam with a high-flying routine on floor to finish with
61.025 points, .275 ahead of Beiger. Sandra Raluca Izbasa took third.
"After I
fell on the beam, I knew I had to fight to the last note of the music and I
did," Ferrari said. "I knew I just had to keep on fighting."
Defending
champion Chellsie Memmel
pulled out before the event with a shoulder injury, leaving not a single
medalist from last year's worlds on the floor and turning the all-around into
anybody's game.
There were spills
from one end of the arena to the other. Ferrari overcame hers, and at the end,
it came down to her, Bieger and American Ashley Priess, who took Memmel's spot in
the all-around when she withdrew.
They closed the
night in that order on the floor and Bieger came
through with a practically perfect routine, full of big jumps and big landings
and hardly a missed step. Ferrari was better though, getting her tiny body just
a bit higher and also not making a mistake.
But this hardly
felt like a loss to Bieger. She has tumbled in the
shadows of Memmel and national champion Nastia Liukin, also not available
for the all-around because of an injury, and on this night, she finally got her
chance to be
"It's
fantastic," Bieger said. "Last year, I was
pretty much watching on the sidelines. Unfortunately, Chellsie
got hurt. But I was able to go out and show what I could do. It was totally
different."
Priess, meanwhile, was in line
for the bronze medal, but she fell out of bounds on her first tumbling pass.
She finished 10th, but it was hard to quibble with her performance on the night
after American national coordinator Martha Karolyi
put her on the bench for team finals.
Priess was flawless on her beam
routine -- the one she missed in team qualifying, which led to her benching --
and were it not for the fall, it would have been a magical night.
"There might
have been just a little too much adrenaline going there, and not enough
experience to control it," said her coach, Mary Lee Tracy. "But
overall, it was a great night."
Karolyi called it a successful
night given the circumstances -- Memmel's injury and a disappointing silver the night before in the team event.
"It shows we
have many gymnasts who can succeed at the top level," Karolyi
said.
Earlier, in the
men's event, Yang Wei won the third gold of these championships for
Defending
champion Hiroyuki Tomita of
Another
gold
was within reach for
The
ANNOTICO Reports
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