Home Advantage may lift Rizzo

AUSTRALIA has never won a gold medal at a world artistic gymnastics championships, but the Australian media and also the whole nation has high hopes that Philippe RIZZO can break the drought in front of a home crowd in Melbourne next week.
The high bar specialist is the host nation's best hope for a medal at the 38th world championships at the Rod Laver Arena, where some 308 athletes representing 61 counties will compete for the all-around and individual apparatus titles.
Canberra-based Rizzo, 24, has been in stellar form leading up to the championships, with a win on the high bar at a world cup event in Glasgow last month. The home advantage could help Rizzo edge out Italian veteran Igor Cassina, who won gold in the event at the Olympic Games in Athens last year.
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