Individual event finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics will begin on Aug. 3 with the men's floor final, the women’s vault final and the men’s pommel horse final.
The men’s floor final will kick off the competition with a decorated field. Great Britain’s Jake Jarman topped the standings in the qualification round and will enter the final as the No. 1 qualifier. Jarman has the highest difficulty value of all the competitors (6.6 D-score in qualifications) and will be looking to make his very first Olympic medal a gold one.
Jarman finished two tenths ahead of 2019 world floor champion Carlos Yulo of the Philippines, who will be looking to make history and bring home his country's first Olympic medal. Other notable names to watch in the final are Rayderley Zapta of Spain, the Tokyo Olympic floor silver medalist who qualified in third, and defending Olympic floor champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel.
QUALIFICATION RESULTS:
1. Jake Jarman (Great Britain) - 14.966
2. Carlos Yulo (Philippines) - 14.766
3. Rayderley Zapata (Spain) - 14.600
4. Illia Kovtun (Ukraine) - 14.533
5. Luke Whitehouse (Great Britain) - 14.533
6. Zhang Boheng (China) - 14.533
7. Artem Dolgopyat (Israel) - 14.466
8. Milad Karimi (Kazakhstan) - 14.433
The women’s one and only event of the day will be the vault, which will feature 2016 Olympic vault champion Simone Biles and 2020 Olympic vault champion Rebeca Andrade. The two will go head-to-head as the top two qualifiers and the favorites for gold and silver.
At the 2023 World Championships, Andrade edged out Biles on the event after Biles fell on her eponymous Yurchenko double pike. Because of her difficulty levels, Biles undoubtedly has the edge with the Yurchenko double pike (6.4 D-score) and Cheng (5.6 D-score), but Andrade could throw an upgrade in place of her Yurchenko double that will put the pressure on Biles to land both of her vaults.
Andrade submitted a Yurchenko triple twist (6.0 D-score) to be named after her and although she hasn’t been seen performing the vault in Paris so far, she could be saving it for the final. If Andrade were to successfully land the vault in competition, it would bear her name in the Code of Points.
American Jade Carey will join Biles in the final and will be looking for redemption after tripping on the vault runway in Tokyo, which pushed her out of medal contention. Carey went on to win gold on the floor in Tokyo, but won’t have that chance in Paris as she missed qualifying to the final. South Korea’s Yeo Seojong, who won bronze on the event in Tokyo, could contend for a medal once again as well.
QUALIFICATION RESULTS:
1. Simone Biles (United States) - 15.300
2. Rebeca Andrade (Brazil) - 14.683
3. Jade Carey (United States) - 14.433
4. Yeo Seojeong (South Korea) - 14.183
5. An Chang Ok ( North Korea) - 14.183
6. Shallon Olsen (Canada) - 14.166
7. Ellie Black (Canada) - 14.000
8. Valentina Georgieva (Bulgaria) - 13.999
The first day of event finals will conclude with the men’s pommel horse final – another field that is stacked with gymnastics royalty.
Two-time world champion Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland ranked first after qualifications but his score was actually tied with the viral ‘pommel horse guy’ Stephen Nedoroscik, who is a world champion on the event from 2021. Nedoroscik, who is the only American man in an event final, performed a slightly more difficult routine in qualifications (6.4 D-score to McClenaghan’s 6.3 D-score) but McClenaghan was able to break the tie with his slightly higher execution score.
McClenaghan hinted at some possible upgrades after podium training and Nedoroscik can upgrade as well.
“I've been training a 6.7 (D-score) before coming out here in preparation for that final,” Nedoroscik told NBC Olympics. “After seeing some of the scores that people have put up, I think a 6.5 (D-score) is competitive enough, but I know other guys are going to upgrade as well, so it's going to be a discussion for me and my coach later.”
Third place qualifier Max Whitlock of Great Britain will be looking for his third consecutive title on the event. In qualifications he performed a routine with a 6.6 D-score, which will certainly make him competitive in the final.
Hur Woong (6.7 D-score) of North Korea and Oleg Verniaiev of Ukraine (6.6 D-score) are also expected to be competitive with their difficult values.
QUALIFICATION RESULTS:
1. Rhys McClenaghan (Ireland) - 15.200
2. Stephen Nedoroscik (United States) - 15.200
3. Max Whitlock (Great Britain) - 15.166
4. Takaaki Sugino (Japan) - 15.033
5. Oleg Verniaiev (Ukraine) - 15.033
6. Nariman Kurbanov (Kazakhstan) - 15.000
7. Hur Woong (South Korea) - 14.900
8. Loran De Munch (Netherlands) - 14.766