Denis Abliazin talked to the media about competing in the rings final at Worlds where he won the silver medal:
“This silver was very hard for me to win, because I competed only on one apparatus there, and competing on one apparatus is always harder than when you have three apparatuses in the stock. One apparatus – one routine, you have no right to make a mistake. As you saw, I was able to compete without mistakes both days. I had to stick my dismount in order to pass the Greek gymnast. We had the same difficulty, same execution, so the dismount decided everything. The only thing, maybe, is that we’ll upgrade the dismount, but it’s not for sure yet.”
Abliazin said that his vaults are ready and next year he plans to compete on vault and floor as well, in addition to rings.
Emin Garibov, commenting on the results of the final, said that if Abliazin competed after Petrounias, the placement could have been different:
“I agree with the notion that name and the title of the Olympic champion played a role here. In addition, it’s a pity that according to the draw Denis competed before the Greek gymnast. If he went after, everything could’ve been different. He only lost by a little.”
Valentina Rodionenko also expressed an opinion that the results were affected by Petrounias’ status as the reigning Olympic champion on rings:
“Vitaly Bubnovskiy, Aleksandr Balandin’s coach, was a judge here and he told me that Denis performed better than the reigning world champion. He [Petrounias] almost ate the mat on the dismount, but his title of the Olympic champion helped him to become the first.”
Photo: Ginnastica Artistica Italiana
