Uneven Bars, Women

He Kexin of China was the defending Olympic Champion, the 2009 World Champion, and the 2010 Asian Games Champion in the women’s uneven bars, making her a stronger contender to defend her crown at the 2012 London Games. Her biggest threat was probably Viktoriya Komova of Russia, the reigning World and European Champion, although the hometown advantage for Beth Tweddle, 2006 and 2010 World Champion and European Champion from 2009 through 2011, could not be discounted. In fact, in the qualification rounds, Tweddle finished first with the highest execution score and the only combined total greater than 16.000.

In the final He went first and set the bar high, executing the highest difficulty routine of the competition and completing it with a final score of 15.933. Komova went next and scored 15.666, which was decent, but far from untouchable. In fact she was soon passed by Yao Jinnan of China, and then Tweddle, whose scores of 15.766 and 15.916 respectively knocked the Russian off the podium. The Russian team then got their revenge, however, when Aliya Mustafina, 2010 all-around World Champion and newly-minted Olympic all-around bronze medalist, matched Tweddle’s score from the qualification round at 16.133 with only to gymnasts left to go. When these competitors posted the lowest scores of the final, Mustafina became an Olympic champion while He took home the silver and Tweddle settled for bronze. American Gabby Douglas, who was a serious, but less-touted contender, committed an error in her routine during the final left her in last place.