22. April 2016  
Rio de Janeiro / BRA  
Rhythmic Gymnastics

Pre-Olympic Testevent: Rhythmic Gymnastics

In the Pre-Olympic Test Events in 2016 in the future Olympic Arena to Rio de Janeiro to the competitions in ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS (women & men) and in TRAMPOLINE GYMNASTICS now follow the qualifications of RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS. Competition days are Thursday / Friday (April 21 - 22). Twenty three individual gymnasts and seven Groups are part of the final race for Olympic berths. One thing is sure: no matter what the results, Brazil is guaranteed a place in both individual and Group competition. Also, as there rests in theory only nine places in Individual Rhythmic Gymnastics and four for Groups, the safest place to finish is in front of the Brazilians in order to be sure to be able to come back in August for the Games.
* Among the individuals, Armenia, Austria, Germany, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Romania, Slovenia and Uzbekistan all have a chance to qualify.
* In Group competition, the battle will be between Uzbekistan, Germany, Azerbaijan, Greece, Finland and South Korea, the latter having benefitted from the withdrawal of the French team late last year.

* GYMmedia coverages of Rhythmic gymnastics are supported by ►► C h a c o t t, partner of GYMmedia INTERNATIONAL

♦♦ How Rhythmic gymnasts qualify for Rio 2016:

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♦♦  SCHEDULE:   (local time; + 4 hrs. = UT)
After the podium training on Wednesday
will follow the two competition days in Rio ...:

* Thursday, April 21:
-  1.00 - 7.00 pm:         ►  Individual, qualification

* Friday, April 22:
- 11.00 am - 12.30 pm  ► GROUP Competition
-   4.00 pm - 6.20 pm:  >> INDIVIDUAL, All-around Final

>> Drawing of lots  >> Participation, Indiv.;  >> Participation, Groups

♦♦ COMPETITION REPORT +++
The battle for the final places in Gymnastics at the 2016 Olympic Games continued Thursday as Rhythmic took centre stage at the Rio Olympic Arena, following competitions in Artistic and Trampoline earlier in the week. With 15 of the 26 slots for the individual competition already attributed at the 2015 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, in September, the last tickets were snapped up at this second and final Olympic qualification.
 
* Melitina Staniouta puts on a show
Already qualified for her second Olympic Games at the 2015 World Championships, Belarus's Melitina Staniouta took advantage an invitation to compete as the reigning World All-around bronze medallist. In the absence of Yana Kudryavtseva and Margarita Mamun, the two Russian stars of the discipline, Staniouta took profited from her opportunity to get a feel for the future Olympic floor. It seemed to agree with her: Excelling on all apparatus, the Belarusian finished with a total of 72.215 points, a score in league with her Russian counterparts.
 
* Sabrina Ashirbayeva wins the AA match of the Olympic seekers
With her 16th place finish at the World Championships in September, Uzbekistan's Elizaveta Nazarenkova just missed out on qualifying her country directly to the Games. But Nazarenkova let the errors pile up in the Olympic Arena, successively dropping the Ball, a Club and the Ribbon to dash her Olympic hopes.
For her part, Kazakhstan's Sabrina Ashirbayeva, one of the favorites going into the Test Event, did not let her second chance go to waste. Showing great elegance, Ashirbayeva won the competition among gymnasts hoping to qualify for the Games, totalling 69.500 points.
Behind her, Austria's Nicol Ruprecht, Italy's Veronica Bertolini, Finland's Ekaterina Volkova, Uzbekistan's Anastasiya Serdyukova, Romania's Ana Luiza Filioranu, Chinese newcomer Shang Rong and Germany's Jana Berezko-Marggrander all earned the right to return to Rio this summer.
 
* Brazil, Oceania and Africa take advantage of priority places
As host country of the Games, Brazil was assured a place in August no matter what the results of the Test Event. While Natalia Gaudio finished lower down on the scoreboard, she is nonetheless guaranteed a place at the big Olympic rendez-vous. Each continent must be represented at the Games, meaning Australia's Danielle Prince has also obtained a berth, while the gymnast who will represent Africa has yet to be determined.
►► Complete results   ►► List of Olympic Qualifiers
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* RG Groups:
The Olympic Test Event concludes Friday with the Olympic qualification round of Rhythmic Groups competition,:

►► GROUP Competition ;    ►► List of Olympic Qualifiers

* Individuals: Melitina Staniouta solid in All-around final victory
After having dominated the qualification round the day before, Belarus's Melitina Staniouta (70,749) followed up with the all-around on Friday (70.729 points), though not without a shaky beginning with the Hoop. Nevertheless, the bronze medallist from the last World Championships, who came to Rio to get a feel for the Olympic arena, got a taste of what it feels like to win gold in the green hall of the Games. It was not surprising either that Kazakhstan’s Sabina Ashirbayeva (68,966), who finished just behind Staniouta Friday, put her hands on silver after an excellent start with the Hoop. The battle for the bronze was much tighter, with Austria’s Nicol Ruprecht (67,883) earning bronze by a mere two tenths of a point.

... here are the results of the all-around final of the best 10 gymnasts at the end of theses Pre-Olympic Test-Events of all gymnastics disciplines:
AA-winner was the Byelorussian star Melitina STANIOUTA (70,749) in front of Sabina ASHIRBAYEVA (KAZ; 68,966) and Nicol RUPRECHT (AUT; 67,883):
►► Complete AA Final results

+++ * source: fig press release