Marina Sarruf*
São Paulo – In the floor exercise won by Brazilian gymnast Diego Hypólito, the Tunisian Wajdi Bouallegue finished 6th. The competition, held this Saturday (16) in the southeastern Brazilian city of São Paulo, was part of the finals for the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup. “My biggest mistake was in my last move. I know I could have done better,’ claimed Bouallegue, who had hopes of finishing in one of the three first positions.
Although Bouallegue did not make any serious mistakes, he lost balance a couple of times, which lost him some points. His routine received 14.425 points, against 16.050 for Hypólito, 15.650 for Canadian Kyle Shewfelt, who finished second, and 15.625 for Brandon O’Neill, also from Canada, who received the bronze medal. “Diego was not at his best, but he deserved to win,” said Bouallegue, who considered the points as fair.
What earned Diego the gold medal was a leap to be named after him, “Hypólito.” Unlike Bouallegue, the Brazilian gymnast, who was the first to present himself, was very nervous. According to his coach, Renato Araújo, this was the first time Diego presented his move in an international competition. From now on, he will perfect the exercise in order to perform it flawlessly at the Pan American Games, to be held in July 2007 in Rio de Janeiro (southeastern Brazil). The “Hypólito” move consists of a piked Arabian double front with a flip in the second somersault.
According to Bouallegue’s coach, Mohamed Habib Bouallegue, who is also his father, Wajdi was not nervous, but very tired from his last trips. Before coming to Brazil they were in South Africa, for the African Gymnastics Championship. “I was surprised with his result. He could have done much better. But it was good for him to acquire experience,” said the coach.
Anyway, this was the first time an Arab gymnast ever got to a World Cup final. Bouallegue finished second at the last qualifying round in Glasgow, Scotland, and third in Stuttgart, Germany. His next championship will be held in March in Paris.
Overall, seven gymnasts competed in the ground modality. In addition to the four previously mentioned ones, also participating were Jeffery Wammes, from Holland; Evgeni Bogonosyuk, from Ukraine, and Filip Ude, from Croatia.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
