COTTBUS, Germany, Nov. 21, 2019 –2019 Winter Cup vault champion Colin Van Wicklen of Magnolia, Texas/University of Oklahoma, and 2019 U.S. pommel horse silver-medalist Stephen Nedoroscik of Worcester, Mass./Pennsylvania State University, qualified for the floor exercise and pommel horse finals, respectively, on the first day of qualifications at the 2019 World Cup in Cottbus, Germany. Held at the Lausitz Arena, the qualification round concludes tomorrow beginning at 4:30 p.m. local time. The event is part of the International Gymnastics Federation’s individual apparatus World Cup Series and the Olympic qualification process.
In the floor exercise qualification, Van Wicklen advanced to the final with his sixth-place ranking via his 14.300 for his routine. Japan’s Kazuki Minami posted a 14.866 for the top spot. Russia’s Kirill Prokopev and Kazakhstan Milad Karmi were second (14.666) and third (14.533), respectively. 2019 U.S. still rings bronze-medalist Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center, withdrew during his floor exercise routine and from the still rings qualification. Whittenburg and his coach will decide tomorrow whether or not he will compete in Friday’s events. Both Van Wicklen and Whittenburg are entered for both vault and parallel bars, with Van Wicklen also performing on the horizontal bar.
Nedoroscik had the third highest pommel horse mark at 14.933. China’s Weng Hao and Ukraine’s Oleg Verniaev took first (15.100) and second (15.066), respectively. Van Wicklen also competed on rings, placing 22nd. China’s Liu Yang earned a 15.100 to place first.
The complete competition schedule is: Nov. 22, 4:30 p.m., qualifications for men’s vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar and women’s balance beam and floor exercise; Nov. 23,, 2 p.m., finals for men’s floor exercise, pommel horse and still rings and women’s vault and uneven bars; Nov. 24, 2 p.m., finals for men’s vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar and women’s balance beam and floor exercise. All times are local to Cottbus, which is six hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time. No U.S. women are competing in this event.
U.S. fans can watch the finals both live and tape-delayed on NBC Sports and the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA. The complete webcast and broadcast schedule is below.
- Saturday, Nov. 23 – 8:00 a.m. ET – LIVE – Apparatus Finals Day 1 – OlympicChannel.com
- Saturday, Nov. 23 – 8:30 p.m. ET – Delayed – Apparatus Finals Day 1 – Olympic Channel and NBCSports.com
- Sunday, Nov. 24 – 8:00 a.m. ET – LIVE – Apparatus Finals Day 2 – OlympicChannel.com
- Sunday, Nov. 24 – 8:30 p.m. ET – Delayed – Apparatus Finals Day 2 – Olympic Channel and NBCSports.com
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 Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.
Coverage of the event is available via the event’s website, Facebook page and the German Gymnastics Federation’s Facebook page. The individual apparatus World Cup Series is part of the qualification for individual athletes for the 2020 Olympic Games.