Australian Daria Joura is on a roll.
Fresh off her floor exercise gold at last month’s DBT Cup, Joura is leading the field after the preliminary round of competition at the Good Luck Beijing International Invitational, otherwise known as the Beijing Test Event.
The Invitational is being treated like a mini-Olympics, which in some ways it is. All it really needs is more of the world’s top competitiors, but enough impact gymnasts are there to make it interesting.
Second behind Joura by a little less than half a point is American rookie Bridget Sloan, the designated alternate of the Super Seven Stuttgart group, while 2007 Worlds competitor Jiang Yuyuan is third.
The competition is also the comeback ground of 2005 World Champion Chellsie Memmel (fourth after preliminaries) and 2006 almost World Champion Pang Panpan (fifth, competing exhibition only.)
Both sat out the 2007 Worlds nursing injuries, but both could have a huge impact this summer — provided they make their respective Olympic teams.
The Romanian effort continues to be shockingly subpar. Top Romanian qualifier Andreea Grigoire is sitting in 16th place after scoring only a 54.975 over four events.
China’s Cheng Fei was the top qualifier on vault (15.15) and floor exercise (15.0), while 2007 European bars champion Daria Zgoba qualified first on that event (15.8). Memmel earned the highest score on balance beam (15.525).
Tags: Andreea Grigoire, Bridget Sloan, Chellsie Memmel, Cheng Fei, Daria Joura, Daria Zgoba, Jiang Yuyuan, Pang Panpan
