Angelina Melnikova has Olympic, World and European medals but none of them in the all-around despite being one of the strongest all-arounders in the world. Perhaps, this will change today as she finished the qualification yesterday as the leader. She surpassed the reigning silver European AA medalist Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos thanks to her stellar performance on three events. Her beam, the undoing of the Russian team, has been shaky but she stayed on.
Melnikova said to the media that even though she really wants to finally get an all-around medal in the final, her main goal is to stay consistent:
“I feel great [after the competition]. I liked some parts of my performance and didn’t like the others. I didn’t like the beam because there were serious mistakes. But the rest, except for some minor mistakes, went smoothly. A good performance at the start of the competition always helps feeling more confident. Of course, I really want [to win a medal at the all-around] but the first goal I set for myself is to be consistent and do my routines well.”
In addition to the all-around, Melnikova once again qualified to three event finals.
Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos was not originally expected to compete in the all-around as she had a finger injury. Last year, at the European Championships in Glasgow she was the unofficial leader, as there was no all-around competition, so she has a great shot at the title. She said that her injury healed faster than expected and she decided to compete AA two weeks before the championships.
"With my finger injury, it wasn't in our plan to do uneven bars," said Melanie de Jesus dos Santos. "I thought I would just do beam and floor. I did all four because we I felt that I could."
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) April 11, 2019
That decision led to second place during tonight’s qualifications at #ECSzczecin2019. pic.twitter.com/8HItW79Zaz
Ellie Downie, the reigning European champion who’s still coming back after injuries, had a less stellar performance, qualifying in fourth, behind her teammate Alice Kinsella. However, with hit routines, she can absolutely defend her title.
Alice Kinsella’s third place in the all-around qualification was a bit of a surprise as her teammate Amelie Morgan was the favorite to be the second British gymnast in the all-around. The selection of Kinsella over Georgia-Mae Fenton raised some questions originally but she proved that she absolutely deserved that spot. Kinsella also qualified in the third place on beam.
The competition will resume today:
13:00 (7 am ET, 4 am PT) – MAG AA final
17:30 (11:30 am ET, 8 am PT) – WAG AA final
Live stream (available worldwide)
Photo: E. Mikhaylova, Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation
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