Bronze on rings and silver on vault were Denis's reward for hard work, earned today in Rio.
Interviewed by Sportbox after the event, Denis said he would take a break after the Games to treat and rest a 'very sore shoulder'. He plans to return to competition with his most complicated routines, not watering down, as that 'is not my way'. He pointed out that he was better prepared for Rio than he had been for London; by implication I wonder if we can take that to mean he'll be better still in 2020?!
Russia's other qualifier to vault final, 19 year old Nikita Nagorny, performed well to finish in fifth position.
In the women's competition, the graceful Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands won gold with a beautiful and original beam routine after expected gold medallist Simone Biles bobbled on this precarious apparatus. Wever's win was the first Olympic medal in gymnastics for a Netherlands woman.
Today's finals were notable for the high standard of consistency, with only one fall in vault and two on beam, counting Simone's technical fall. Ukraine's Igor Radivilov performed his handspring triple front vault - severely cowboyed and a very low landing - the first of its kind.
Congratulations to all the competitors!!
