BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 15, 2019 – Jade Carey of Phoenix, Ariz./Arizona Sunrays, qualified for the women’s floor exercise final and Colin Van Wicklen of Magnolia, Texas/University of Oklahoma, qualified for the men’s vault finals on the second day of event preliminary rounds at the International Gymnastics Federation’s World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan. Carey was also awarded the women’s AGF Trophy for the highest execution score in the preliminary rounds by a woman who competed in two events. The finals for women’s vault and uneven bars and the men’s floor exercise, still rings, and parallel bars are on Saturday, March 16. U.S. fans can watch the action live on OlympicChannel.com.
On Saturday, Carey will compete in the women’s vault finals, and Trevor Howard of Columbus, Ohio/Ohio State University and Van Wicklen, are the first reserve athletes for still rings and floor exercise, respectively. On Sunday, Carey will compete in the women’s floor final, and Van Wicklen will participate in the men’s vault final.
NBC Sports and the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will have coverage of the World Cups in Baku, Azerbaijan, and Stuttgart, Germany, this weekend. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. The schedule for Baku is: March 16, 4 a.m. – day one event finals livestream, and 5:30 p.m. – ET day one event finals telecast on the Olympic Channel, with a simulstream; March 17, 4 a.m. ET – day two event finals livestream, and 5:30 p.m. ET – day two event finals telecast on the Olympic Channel, with a simulstream; and March 18, 12 p.m. ET – NBCSN telecast of day two event finals with a simulcast.
Carey was second in the preliminary floor exercise rankings, right on the heels of the top score by Italy’s Lara Mori, 13.633 to 13.600. Carey won the AGF Trophy for top female execution score for her second vault in the preliminary round. Carey, who had the highest women’s average of 14.700, earned a 9.100 execution score for the second vault that was awarded a 14.500.
Van Wicklen advanced to the men’s vault final with the fourth highest average, 14.516. His two vault scores were 14.666 and 14.366. Australia’s Christopher Remekes had the top prelim average of 14.716. Howard also competed on vault, placing 18th at 13.816 (13.433/14.200). Van Wicklen also participated in the horizontal bar prelim, finishing 11th at 13.433. Japan’s Hidetaka had the best prelim score at 14.566.
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
FIn 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.