- Day 1 Event Qualifications: Women’s UB, VT | Men’s FX, PB, SR
BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 14, 2019 – Jade Carey of Phoenix, Ariz./Arizona Sunrays, qualified for the women’s vault finals at the International Gymnastics Federation’s World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. Trevor Howard of Columbus, Ohio/Ohio State University, and Colin Van Wicklen of Magnolia, Texas/University of Oklahoma, are first reserve athletes for still rings and floor exercise, respectively. The qualification rounds continue tomorrow with men’s vault, pommel horse and horizontal bar, and women’s balance beam and floor exercise. The finals are set for March 16-17.
In tomorrow’s qualification rounds, the U.S. athletes are expected to compete in the following events: Carey, floor exercise; Howard, vault; and Van Wicklen, vault and horizontal bar. The top eight for each event, with a maximum of two per country, advance to the event finals.
In the vault preliminary round, Carey had the highest women’s average of 14.700. Her two vault scores were 14.900 and 14.500. Mexico’s Alexa Moreno was second (14.533) and India’s Dipa Karmakar was third (14.299). No U.S. woman competed on the uneven bars.
For the men, Van Wicklen is the first reserve athlete for the floor exercise final with his 14.000 and ninth-place finish. Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi had the highest qualifying score at 14.433. Howard is the first reserve athlete for the still rings final, after posting a 14.300 for ninth. Great Britain’s Courtney Tulloch had the top prelim score of 14.800. Howard also competed in the parallel bars preliminary round, finishing 12th at 13.833. Russia’s Vladislav Poliashov tallied the highest mark of 14.866.
The remaining competition schedule is as follows. All times in the schedule are local to Baku, which is eight hours ahead of the U.S. Eastern Time Zone.
March 15
12 p.m. – Rotations 1-4, men’s vault, pommel horse and horizontal bar, and women’s balance beam and floor exercise
3 p.m. – Rotations 5-9, men’s vault, pommel horse and horizontal bar, and women’s balance beam and floor exercise
March 16
12 p.m. – Event finals: men’s floor exercise, parallel bars and still rings, and women’s vault and uneven bars
March 17
12 p.m. – Event finals: men’s vault, pommel horse and horizontal bar, and women’s balance beam and floor exercise
Fans in the U.S. can watch the event finals simulstreams online at NBCSports.com and olympicchannel.com at 4 a.m. ET for the first day, as well as on the Olympic Channel at 5:30 p.m. ET, on March 16, and at 4 a.m. ET, as well as on the Olympic Channel at 10:30 p.m. ET, on March 17 and on NBCSN at 12 p.m. ET on March 18 for the second day. In addition to USAGym.org and USA Gymnastics’ social platforms, fans can follow on Azerbaijan gymnastics’ website, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram accounts.
Based in Indianapolis, USA Gymnastics is the national governing body for gymnastics in the United States. The organization is committed to creating a culture that encourages and supports its athletes and focuses on its highest priority, the safety and well-being of the athletes. USA Gymnastics has taken specific, concrete steps to strengthen its safe sport policies and procedures. Former gymnast and business executive Li Li Leung is the new president and chief executive officer of USA Gymnastics. The organization’s disciplines include men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, acrobatic gymnastics and gymnastics for all (formerly known as group gymnastics). For more complete information, visit usagym.org.