Elise Ray finishes 7th in Uneven Bar Finals

Russians capture 4 of 5 Gold Medalsl

Tianjin, China – In an evening dominated by the Russians, who captured 4 of 5 gold medals in the individual event finals, Elise Ray of the U.S. finished seventh in the uneven bar competition at the 1999 World Gymnastics Championships. Competing in one of the most star-studded fields of the evening, Ray’s score of 9.687 was not enough against the likes of Svetlana Khorkina (9.837; RUS), Huang Mandan (9.825; CHN), and Ling Jie (9.812; CHN), who all scored better than 9.8.

“I am very happy. It was scary but exciting,” said Ray, who finished 8th in the individual all-around on Thursday. “This was a new routine for me. As soon as I entered the competition floor, my nerves turned to excitement.”
“Elise has demonstrated that she is a gymnast in her own right,” said Kelli Hill, Ray’s coach. “We learned we have a lot of work to do for Sydney, but this has been a great opportunity.”
Ray was competing with a new routine for the first time in these world championships, and only the third time she has performed the routine in competition.
In other events, Alexei Nemov of Russia won both the floor and the pommel horse with scores of 9.787 and 9.775, respectively. China’s Dong Zhen won the rings with a score of 9.775. Elena Zamolodchikova (RUS) won the women’s vault with a score of 9.710.
Competition at the 1999 World Gymnastics Championships concludes on Saturday, with the remaining event finals. The men will compete in the vault, parallel bars, and high bar. The women will compete on the balance beam and floor exercise.
Kristen Maloney is scheduled to compete on balance beam and floor, while Vanessa Atler is the first alternate on the balance beam and also qualified into the finals for the floor exercise. Both Maloney and Atler are questionable for tomorrow due to their recent injuries.