Yamilet Peña of the Dominican Republic won gold on vault while Filipa Martins of Portugal took home the top prize on bars in the first day of event final competition at the World Challenge Cup in Medellín, Colombia.

Peña earned a 14.075 combined score after nailing a solid DTY to start her off. Her second vault was a handspring layout half instead of her usual Produnova; though her body line was pretty messy here, she landed it without any major problems.

Silver medalist Ana Derek of Croatia showed off two clean vaults for a 13.925. Her Tsuk layout full was a bit piked as she landed but was mostly clean throughout, while her handspring tuck half-out was the best of several showcased this afternoon.

In the bronze medal position was Isabella Amado of Panama with a 13.875. Amado, who trains at Excalibur Gymnastics in Virginia, competed a solid, near-stuck Yurchenko 1.5 followed by a clean handspring front pike with a small hop forward.

Other highlights on vault included Colombia’s Dayana Ardila as well as Valerija Grisane of Latvia. Ardila, who led the way coming into the final, unfortunately stumbled out of her landing after not getting a strong block for her Yurchenko 1.5, but her Tsuk layout full was great and the crowd went wild for her. Though she also scored a 13.875, her lower execution took her out of the running for a medal.

Grisane doesn’t compete difficult vaults, but was probably the gymnast most focused on her technique while competing. Her handspring front pike was textbook aside from the tiny hop, and her Tsuk layout was also incredibly tidy.

Unfortunately, performances on the uneven bars were not made available on the air due to time constraints. The organizers of the World Challenge Cup put together an impressive opening to the competition, including readings of the athlete and judge oaths, a speech from 1980 Olympic all-around champion Elena Davydova, and several dance performances showcasing the “cumbia” style famous in Colombia.

The ceremonies lasted nearly a full hour, however, so only men’s floor and women’s vault were televised. But though we couldn’t watch the uneven bars competition, we do have a quick recap of what went down, as well as the full results from the session.

Martins won bars with a 13.425 while a pair of Colombian gymnasts, Marcela Sandoval and Bibiana Velez, won silver and gold, respectively. Sandoval earned a 12.85 for her set and Velez picked up a 12.525, narrowly edging out Maria Belen Stoffel.

Vault Results

Uneven Bars Results

Article by Lauren Hopkins