Camilo Vera (Photo FIG)
Colombian sensation Camilo Vera snagged golds on Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar to become one of the big stories of the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships as it drew to a close yesterday in Manila.
The 18-year-old from Cucuta, the same city as Olympic medallist Angel Barajas, began by tying for the Parallel Bars title with Ojima Nao of Japan, but it was on Horizontal Bar — in the very last routine of the championships — that Vera really took flight.
The Colombian unleashed a daring Cassina-Kolman combination and stuck his double-twisting double layout dismount for 14.566 points and the gold medal, the last word and highest men’s score of the championships in a final loaded with talented performers.
Combining two of the most daring release skills done on Horizontal Bar helped Vera earn the highest score of the entire men’s championships, a number that would have been in the top five in the Horizontal Bar final at the senior Worlds in Jakarta last month.
Already something of an Instagram star for videos featuring his extraordinary training sequences, Vera proved Monday that he has the substance to rise up and deliver when the occasion demands.
“In the qualification and All-Around final, I couldn’t do [the Cassina to Kolman]; I didn’t feel very comfortable, but I knew I had to do it in this final to win the gold medal,” said Vera, who dedicated his victories “to God, to my mom, to my whole family, to the people I love who support me, to my coach, and to the entire coaching staff at my gym.”
“I really knew that combination was going to make the difference, and I knew that those two tenths of difficulty plus the perfection of the combination was what was going to take me to the top,” he added.
“I was very focused. I’ve been working on it for many years now, and I really got into the energy and concentration that I was going to perform the routine with that combination.”
On Parallel Bars, Vera scored 13.833 for a routine that included an unusual full-twisting double back dismount done from the end of the bars. That was enough to tie him with Ojima, who displayed classic Japanese precision in his presentation.
Though happy to close out his Junior Worlds with gold, the Japanese team captain said he saw plenty of room for improvement in himself.
“We often ended up feeling disappointed, not winning gold medals in the individual All-Around and team competitions, but I’m very happy that we were able to achieve this on the final day,” said Ojima, who leaves with All-Around silvers and Pommel Horse bronze in addition to Parallel Bars gold.
“Winning a lot of medals was great, but the biggest thing I felt when I competed was that if we want to compete in future Olympics and win gold medals, we can’t continue like this, and that we’re losing to other countries,” Ojima added.
“I think that by properly sorting out the issues that came up in this competition and incorporating them into my practice, I can become a player who can perform well even at the senior level, so I’ll work hard again when I get back.”
Danila Leykin of the USA caught a Pegan and a Kolman and also stuck his double-twisting double layout for Horizontal Bar silver 0.3 behind Vera. The 18-year-old also tied Yang Lanbin of China CHN for Parallel Bars bronze on the strength of a silky pirouetting opening sequence and an eye-catching full-twisting double tuck dismount. It was the fourth medal for Floor Exercise champion Yang, who leaves Manila with two gold and two bronze. Leykin will return home with three medals.
Karl Eldrew Yulo of the Philippines showed great daring of his own on Horizontal Bar, catching a Cassina and a Kolman and sticking a gorgeous triple back tuck dismount to claim his second bronze of the championships.
“This was an intensively competitive high bar fight,” said Yulo.
“I got so shocked, because I was thinking about like sixth place, or fifth place, but damn. The Lord had another plan for me, and it’s third!”
Neutral athlete, the All-Around champion Arsenii Dukhno earned a second gold on Men’s Vault with an exceptional Yurchenko triple twist and Kasamatsu double twist.
His 14.033 average topped Sol Scott of Great Britain , who opened with an excellent triple-twisting Yurchenko of his own. His teammate Evan McPhillips, who displayed power and finesse with a Kasamatsu double twist and a Roche, took the bronze.
“I rate my performance very highly,” said Dukhno, who will move up to the senior level in 2026. “There were victories and successes and overall I’m very happy with it. Sure, I think I can improve; there’s always room for that. I’m going to try to add new elements everywhere and hopefully become even better than I am now.”
FInal women’s titles claimed by China and Japan
After team silver and All-Around bronze, Nishiyama Misa of Japan finally got her gold in the Women’s Floor Exercise final. Having already claimed two silvers and a bronze, 13.533 gave Nishiyama the much-wanted gold ahead of All-Around champion Elena Colas of France and her teammate Maiana Prat.
“I was disappointed with the individual all-around the day before yesterday, so I went into the individual competition with the determination to win, and I’m filled with joy that I was able to win at the very end,” Nishiyama said.
Of her overall performance, she had this to say: “I discovered many good and bad things at this competition, so I’ll practice more and do my best to win even bigger competitions.”
Xiang Yina gave a breakout performance on Balance Beam to win China’s only title of the day with 14.133.
Only the ninth-strongest in Beam qualification, Xiang performed like a gymnast transformed in the final. A roundoff to layout to two feet combination, an immaculate switch ring leap to immediate Kobrut and a stuck roundoff, double twist dismount were the highlights of her routine.
“I thought I could win a medal, but I wasn’t sure about the gold,” a peppy Xiang said. “Of course, winning the gold was my goal. I watched the first three athletes’ routines in the final, but then I took time to focus on myself and what I had to do.
“Balance Beam is my favourite apparatus,” she added, “especially now!”
All-Around champion Minamino Yume of Japan turned in another confident routine for silver. Caroline Moreau of the USA nailed her two layout stepout flight series for her third bronze of the championships.
After falling on her first acrobatic series on Balance Beam, Colas stepped up for silver on Floor, her only medal in four apparatus finals. Though she took a 0.3 penalty for her heels going just over the boundary of the carpet on her third tumbling pass, Colas’s difficult work was rewarded with her third medal after team and All-Around gold.
So was Prat’s originality: her routine included her own named element, a split ring leap with full turn, as well as three challenging tumbling passes, and it clinched her bronze to go with the gold she and her teammates won earlier in the week.
