The FIG World Rankings were updated following the Savognin Category A World Cup and the Salzgitter Category B World Cup that took place these past two week-ends.
These rankings are relevant to determine which athletes will be allowed to compete at the World Cup Final to be held in Birmingham, Great Britain, in November 2006. The top 8 athletes of each ranking qualify for the World Cup Final. The host country can distribute 1 wild card for one additional spot to one athlete of its own in case it is not represented in that event.
Only two athletes per country are allowed to compete in the final.
The points from the previous years are reduced by 30% every January 1st. Athletes who have not competed for a year are supposed to be taken off the rankings. Unfortunately, the current rankings still feature athletes who have not competed for over a year (e.g., Heather Ross-McManus, Kirsten Lawton to name a few).
As a Category A World Cup, the Savognin World Cup respectively yielded 50, 35, 25,15, 12, 9, 6, and 3 points to the 8 finalists. Since the Salzgitter World Cup was a Category B World Cup, the winners obtained 30 points, the silver medalists 20, the bronze medalists 15. The other finalists respectively gained 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 points. Contrary to the other sports ruled by the FIG, no points are attributed to the finalists of continental championships such as the recent European Championships or Pan American Championships.
The new rankings allow to determine which 8 athletes will (or might) compete at the 2006 Birmingham World Cup Final as no major event is scheduled until then.
Men's - Individual Trampoline:
1. Ueyama Yasuhiro (JPN - pictured on the right)
2. Rusakov Alexander (RUS)
3. Nikitin Yuri (UKR)
4. Stehlik Henrik (GER)
5. Martin David (FRA)
6. Khnychev German (RUS)
7. Que Zhicheng (CHN)
8. Sotomura Tetsuya (JPN)
Link to the full ranking
2005 World silver medalist Yasuhiro Ueyama became the new leader of the rankings following his two gold medals in Savognin and Salzgitter, now topping 2005 World Champion Alexander Rusakov and 2004 Olympic Champion Yuri Nikitin. With his Salzgitter victory, Ueyama became the first male trampolinist to win four World Cups in a row. The rest of the top 8 remained in the same order. The other three athletes guaranteed to jump in Birmingham are 2003 World Champion Henrik Stehlik (GER), who was a bronze medalist in Salzgitter, former European Champion David Martin (FRA), and 1998 World Champion German Khnychev (RUS). It is interesting to note that the winners of the past 4 World Cup Finals will compete in Birmingham as Nikitin won the 2004 World Cup Final, Martin won the 2002 World Cup Final, and Khnychev won the 1999 and 2000 World Cup Finals.
The last two guaranteed spots are occupied by Que Zhicheng (CHN), who finished 3rd in Savognin, and 2005 World bronze medalist Tetsuya Sotomura (JPN), who has been battling lost skills lately.
Adam Goetz (GER), who was a silver medalist in Savognin, jumped 6 spots up to #9, but failed to capture the 8th spot that could have opened the doors of the Birmingham World Cup Final. Jason Burnett (CAN) also jumped 5 spots after his two finals in Savognin and Salzgitter.
Women's - Individual Trampoline:
1. Karavaeva Irina (RUS - pictured on the right)
2. Cockburn Karen (CAN)
3. Dogonadze Anna (GER)
4. Chernova Natalia (RUS)
5. Movchan Elena (UKR)
6. Huang Shanshan (CHN)
7. Wright Claire (GBR)
8. Lenders Andrea (NED)
Link to full ranking
The women's top 8 remained unchanged by the recent competitions even though Karen Cockburn and Huang Shanshan consolidated their rankings after respectively taking the silver medals and gold medals at the Savognin and Salzgitter World Cups. 2000 Olympic Champion and 4-time World Champion Irina Karavaeva (RUS) will try to win in Birmingham her 6 (!) consecutive World Cup Final following her wins in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004. She will have to battle against 2003 World Champion Karen Cockburn (CAN), Olympic Champion and former World Champion Anna Dogonadze (GER), 2005 World silver medalist Natalia Chernova (RUS), Elena Movchan (UKR), and Huang Shanshan (CHN), who became the first Chinese to ever win a trampoline World Cup.
Claire Wright (GBR) and Andrea Lenders (NED - disregarding Ross-McManus) are in the last two guaranteed spots on the list.
In the rest of the rankings, Ekaterina Khilko (UZB), Tatiana Petrenia (BLR) and Zhong Xingping (CHN) went up few spots following their good performances in Switzerland and Germany. Rosannagh MacLennan (CAN) went up 23 spots after her bronze medal in Savognin.
Men's - Synchronized Trampoline:
1. Kakorko Vladimir - Kazak Nikolai (BLR - Kazak pictured on the right)
2. Stehlik Henrik - Serth Michael (GER)
3. Ueyama Yasuhiro - Sotomura Tetsuya (JPN)
4. Boillet Michel - Martin Ludovic (SUI)
5. Laifa Sebastien - Jala Mickael (FRA)
6. Rusakov Alexander - Leven Alexander (RUS)
7. Villafuerte Alan - Mooij Sven (NED)
(8. Nakata Daisuke - Kawanishi Takayuki (JPN))
9. Alexander Mark - Milnes Simon (GBR)
Link to full ranking
World Champions Vladimir Karkorko and Nikolai Kazak (BLR) remain at the top of the new rankings following their good performance in Savognin and Salzgitter. 2005 World Games winners Henrik Stehlik-Michael Serth (GER) also stay in 2nd place, whereas Salzgitter World Cup winners Yasuhiro Ueyama - Tetsuya Sotomura (JPN) went up 3 spots to #3. World silver medalists Michel Boillet - Ludovic Martin (SUI) are in 4th place after taking the silver medal in Salzgitter. 2006 European Champions and 2002 World Cup Final winners Sebastien Laifa-Mickael Jala (FRA) will try to claim their title back in Birmingham. Despite not competing together lately, Alexander Rusakov and Alexander Leven (RUS) are still in 6th place in the ranking.
Savognin World Cup winners Alan Villafuerte-Sven Mooij (NED) went up 3 spots to take the 7th spot on the list. 2004 World Cup Final winner Daisuke Nakata-Takayuki Kawanishi (JPN) will not compete in Birmingham as only one pair per country is allowed to compete. Mark Alexander and Simon Milnes (GBR) should benefit from the home crowd support at the World Cup Final.
Other notable pairs that went up in the rankings include German Khnychev-Alexander Leven (RUS) and Scott Brown-Ben Wilden (AUS), who did well in Savognin.
Women's - Synchronized Trampoline:
1. Dogonadze Anna - Simon Jessica (GER - Dogonadze pictured on the right)
2. Karavaeva Irina - Chernova Natalia (RUS)
3. Cockburn Karen - MacLennan Rosannagh (CAN)
4. Movchan Elena - Domchevska Yulia (UKR)
(5. Karavaeva Irina - Kolesnikova Natalia (RUS)
6. Hanmoto Hiromi - Seto Yoko (JPN)
8. Wright Claire - Moore Jaime (GBR)
Link to the full ranking
World Games winners Anna Dogonadze-Jessica Simon (GER) remain at the top of the women's synchro rankings despite failing to make the final in Salzgitter. World Champions and European Champions Irina Karavaeva-Natalia Chernova (RUS) will try to win their first World Cup Final together. It would be the 3rd one for Karavaeva after her wins in 1997 (then paired with Irina Slonova) and 2004 (then paired with Natalia Kolesnikova). Savognin and Salzgitter World Cup winners Karen Cockburn-Rosie MacLennan (CAN) showed their ambitions and will fiercely defend their chances in Birmingham. 3-time synchro World Champion Elena Movchan paired with Yulia Domchevska (UKR) will also compete in Birmingham. As Karavaeva-Kolesnikova will not compete in Birmingham, Hiromi Hanmoto-Yoko Seto (JPN) and Claire Wright-Jaime Moore (GBR) will be in Birmingham (disregarding the ranking of the pair Lawton-Wright).
The rest of the ranking seems a little fuzzier. Elena Tarasevich seems to have stopped competing, which would mean that the pair Tatiana Petrenia-Elena Tarasevich (BLR) will not be in Birmingham. The same is true for the pairs with Ross-McManus and Elodie Dufau (FRA). This would leave the pairs Tatiana Petrenia-Ekaterina Mironova (BLR) and Kirsten Boersma-Patricia Meijer (NED) for the last two spots for the World Cup Final in Birmingham.
Men's - Tumbling:
1. Kabishev Andrei (BLR - pictured on the right)
2. Wadecki Jozef (POL)
3. Fournials Nicolas (FRA)
4. Wang Jiexu (CHN)
5. Pan Huanian (CHN)
6. Walters Damien (GBR)
7. Skorodumov Alexander (RUS)
8. Tarin Yves (FRA)
Link to the full ranking
The top 8 of the rankings remains fundamentally unchanged by the results of the Salzgitter World Cup. No tumbling event took place in Savognin. 2004 World Cup Final winner Andrei Kabishev (BLR) will try to defend his title in Birmingham. 2005 World Games winner Jozef Wadecki (POL), who won the Salzgitter World Cup, should be a threat for the gold medal as well. 2000 and 2002 World Cup Final winner Nicolas Fournials (FRA) will try to claim his title back. 2005 World Champion Wang Jiexu (CHN) will be the favorite as he will try to remain undefeated in international competitions after his wins in Krasnodar and Ghent earlier this year. His teammate Pan Huanian (CHN) will try to do as well as he did in 2004. 2005 Ostend World Cup winner Damien Walters (GBR) still occupies the 6th spot.
2004 European gold and silver medalists Alexander Skorodumov (RUS) and Yves Tarin (FRA) are in the last two spots on the list for the Birmingham World Cup Final. Alexei Batienko (RUS) finished just a couple of points behind Tarin after the final in Salzgitter. In principle, 2005 World silver medalist Chen Yang (CHN - #11) and 2006 European Champion Tagir Murtazaev (RUS - #15) will miss the Birmingham World Cup Final.
Women's - Tumbling:
1. Korobeynikova Anna (RUS - pictured on the right)
(2. Chabanenko Elena (UKR))
3. Hall Yuliya (USA)
4. Terenia Anna (BLR)
5. Palmer Samantha (GBR)
6. McLean Zoe (GBR)
(7. Bluzhina Elena (RUS))
8. Smith Emily (CAN)
9. Millory Emeline (FRA)
10. Diaz Alexis (USA)
Link to the full ranking
2005 World Champion Anna Korobeynikova (RUS) still holds a strong lead in the new rankings following her medal in Salzgitter. Korobeynikova will be the defending champion in Birmingham as she won the 2002 and 2004 World Cup Finals. 2005 Ostend World Cup winner Yuliya Hall (USA) and 2005 Krasnodar World Cup winner Anna Terenia (BLR) will also be in Birmingham. 2006 European Champion and 2006 Krasnodar and Salzgitter World Cups winner Samantha Palmer (GBR) went up 2 spots. Palmer might be the best chance of gold medal for Great Britain in Birmingham. It is still unknown whether Zoe McLean (GBR) will have recovered from her rupture achilles' tendon on time for Birmingham. Former World Champions Elena Chabanenko (UKR) and Elena Bluzhina (RUS) has retired from competition after the 2005 World Championships. Emily Smith (CAN) has the 6th spot for the Birmingham World Cup Final.
The next spots are occupied by Emeline Millory (FRA) and Alexis Diaz (USA). In case McLean could not compete, An de Win (BEL) is the next one in the rankings.
We would like to thank Stephan Duchesne, T&T High Performance Director at the Canadian Gymnastics Federation and FIG Judge, for his input. We would also like to thank Ulf Andersson, FIG Trampoline Technical Committee member for rectifying our mistake as the 6+2 rule was replaced by a 8+1 rule.
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