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20 September 2000
At least 10 gymnasts pose a serious threat to the lead contender for the crown in the men'sindividual all-around final to be contested on Wednesday, 20 September at the Sydney SuperDome.
The top 36 gymnasts, with a maximum of three per National Olympic Committee, will compete on each of the six apparatus. The scores generated during the qualification rounds will revert back to zero, allowing the individual all-around competition to start afresh.
The Russian star, Alexei NEMOV, was the highest scorer in both the qualification round and Monday's team final. NEMOV is considered the hottest contender for the coveted all-around title.
During the team final, NEMOV scored highly on the rings, despite that being his weakest apparatus. If his performance remains as stable and brilliant as it was during the team final, it is expected that NEMOV will at last claim the all-around title that he missed four years ago in Atlanta. He won gold for the team and vault events at the Atlanta Olympics.
"I am a bit concerned that he may be too tired after having gone through two tough competitions and helping the team better than anyone else, but I still believe he can make it", said Russian coach Leonid ARKAEV.
The most likely threats to NEMOV include the fine all-arounder and twice world champion, Ivan IVANKOV (BLR), despite the small mistake he made on the floor during the qualifications. Olexandr BERESH (UKR), the 2000 European Champion, has also enormously matured as a gymnast.
From China, YANG Wei will perform with the confidence of being part of the first ever team which won an Olympic gymanstics title for his country, on Monday.
Japan's Naoya TSUKAHARA, who is trained by the 1976 Olympic Champion Nikolai ANDRIANOV (RUS), will also present a challenge.
The United States' strongest gymnast, Blaine WILSON, strong and elegant at 27 years of age, will be ready to seek compensation for the medal he narrowly lost (0.001 points) in Tianjin, China from Bulgaria's Iordan IOVTCHEV.
Romanian Marian DRAGULESKU will also be at the top of the table, proving Romania has a new future in men's gymnastics.
Providing Alexei BONDARENKO (RUS) maintains stability, he could also finish on top.
The key word in this competition is stability. At the 1999 World Championships in Tianjin, Nikolai KRUKOV (RUS) became a world champion "out of the blue".
A similar thing may happen in Sydney if NEMOV makes a foul step.
RUSSIAN HOPES
CANBERRA, Australia -- The Russian gymnastics teams hope to win at least five golds at the Sydney Olympics, veteran coach Leonid Arkayev said in Adelaide, Australia on Friday.
"Last year in the World Championships we had five gold medals, and we don't want to step back from that," Arkayev said during a break in training in Adelaide.
The men's team features Aleksei Nemov, a dual gold medalist in Atlanta and last year's World Championships, and the women's team has 1997 world all-around champion and Atlanta Olympics uneven bars gold medalist Svetlana Khorkina, who also claimed four European titles in May.
Nemov, who won the floor and pommel horse golds at the World Championships in Tianjin, China, last year, said he hoped to stay fit enough to extend his career to the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
The Russians, who arrived in Adelaide on Tuesday for three weeks of intense preparation, are training at a local basketball stadium.
Russia won the men's team title at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and placed second to the United States in the women's competition, winning a combined three gold medals.
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