KOPER, Slovenia, May 13, 2017 – Eddie Penev of Penfield, N.Y./U.S. Olympic Training Center, and 2016 Olympic team alternate Donnell Whittenburg of Baltimore, Md./U.S. Olympic Training Center, took the gold and silver medals, respectively, today on the floor exercise at the Koper (Slovenia) World Challenge Cup. The top eight finishers on each event from Friday’s qualification round advanced to the finals. Fans in the U.S. will be able to watch final day of competition from Koper online through NBCSports, Sunday at 8 a.m. ET.
Sunday’s finals will feature Whittenburg on the vault and parallel bars and Penev in the vault final.
In today’s floor final, Penev opened with a whip half to double front pike half-out and closed with a triple full to take the gold medal with a 14.400. Whittenburg was close behind in second, posting 14.300, after executing a front double full to double front and front full to double pike. The Netherland’s Bram Verhofstad took the bronze at 13.900.
Whittenburg also participated in the still rings final where he finished fourth, earning a 14.200. He finished his routine with a triple back pike, a skill he has submitted to be named after him. 2012 Olympic still rings champion Arthur Zanetti of Brazil was the champion with a 14.850. Italy’s Marco Lodadio (14.550) and Hong Kong’s Kiu Chung Ng (14.400) rounded out the top three.