The men’s finals showcased the specialists on each apparatus, and indeed none of the winners even participated in the all-around final. The results didn’t change much from the qualification round to the finals; vault champion Thomas Bouhail of France was the only one who did not enter the final as the leader.

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I was pleased to read that the FIG has decided to allow all three World apparatus medalists in a pre-Olympic year to be automatically guaranteed a spot in the Games. In the most recent Olympic cycle, Krizstian Berki (HUN), Yuri van Gelder (NED), and Aljaz Pegan (SLO) all had the “misfortune” of winning the silver medals on their specialties at the 2007 World Championships. Clearly contenders for Olympic gold, they were denied the opportunity to attend the Games in Beijing simply because they had not won the event and because they were not so fortunate as to represent a Top 12 team that automatically qualified 6 gymnasts.

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“Shusuke Kikuchi!”…”Jad Mazahreh!”…the announcer put on some great accents as he presented the gymnasts at the second annual Montreal World Cup. Although the field was a bit sparse, there was some great gymnastics on display.

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