Russian Men's Quals: LIVE Commentary

This concludes my commentary. If you're just coming to the page, please go to the end and scroll upwards if you'd like to experience quals in the chronological order it occurred. Have a great day.

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We've qualified into 6 individual finals, with good medal prospects in four of them: David on PB,

Nikita and Denis on vault, and Denis on rings. Oh, I didn't include AA in that. Nik and David

made AA but I'm not a betting man on either of them making podium, although I understand

they are capable of it. It's just...so are the other top 6 gymnasts in their rotation. The difference

between the second and seventh ranked gymnast is little over a point, so plenty of these guys

have it in them to hit 90+ if they have a great day. 

Russia moves up to 3rd thanks to strong PB performances to close. USA and CNH will follow the most desired Olympic order as they qualified 1-2. China leads USA by exactly one tenth with both countries counting big errors, so things will get very interesting in TF. Japan will be back for vengeance. Brazil will be eager to show they are worthy. Countries ranked 1-6 are separated by 2.4 points so NO FALLS in the finals, Team Russia, please!

Kohei misses out on PB finals because of an execution tie break. Yikes, he's only in one EF.

Oleg Verniaiev goes clean in AA and qualifies first with 91.946!

Ivan scored a 15.200 btw

Ivan hit his PB routine but they didn't show him. Kuksenkov was not very polished on his holding elements, really struggled to maintain handstands on a few of them and the pirouettes had leg seps. Hits the dismount with a low landing and step to the side. 15.366. Overscored imo. I swear, another Russian better not get 2per'd because of this BS. 

USA still leads China despite having to count two 13's on PH. I originally thought they weren't podium material but they're much stronger than the team they had at World's, and with room to grow on two events, they could very well challenge for gold in TF's if they're up to it. Russia is obviously capable of doing better than they have been, but even Brazil is surprising me now! Btw, on the pic below, NBC is wrong, these are the standings after 5 rotations.

After a tentative start, Team Russia is picking up the pace thanks to vaulting prowess. Denis averages a 15.466 with two fantastic vaults. My only concern is his low chest landings but when has that ever affected MAG execution ;) They're in 6th as a team after 5 rotations. 

Nagorny is stressed the f@ck out! He's in the nasty adolescent period so acne's always been a part of his life but it's gotten worse since the lead up to Rio. (I notice Aliya is going through the same thing).

Nagorny showed us a great dragulescu. Great height, you can see how he's spotting for the ground before he even gets in the last half twist. Just phenomenal. 15.266 for first vault. The second vault was solid as well, just a step back but well in control of his own power. 15.3 for his second vault. He finally makes a final. There you go, baby! 

Russia still in 6th after 4th rotation. The real shock is to see USA well in front of China by three points!

For still rings- Denis; 15.633, Belyavskiy; 14.533 

We interrupt Russian commentary to bring you Igor Radivilov not dying on vault. 

Nagorny had bent elbows and struggled to maintain handstands on SR. 14.9...he could've done much better. It's up to Denis to save us now. 

Serious Question: Has a Russian MAG leo ever been this basic? 

It feels like this subdivision is moving faster than the other two. Probably because there've been so many falls, so the scores are coming quite quickly. 

David showed really good form throughout his travelling across the pommels (I detected only one minor form break). He didn't rise up to proper handstand at the beginning but his scissors were beautiful. 15.3! We move up to 6th in team standings. 

Thanks for only showing China in this rotation  

14.541 for Nagorny, 15.383 for Kuksenkov (!!!) Finally some good news. 

Kuksenkov and Nagorny managed not to fall on pommels, but they aren't showing Russia. (I'm not too upset, probably better for my nerves this way). 

Btw, David scored a 14.6 on FX, I forgot to mention that. He went OOB once I think (they didn't show it). 

Alright kids, Russia's on pommels. I hope those of you who pray for this team are in good standing with the lord.

Switzerland is making it easy for Germany to qualify. Shame, they did so well at Euros...

After two rotations (pic below), you can see how deflated they are. This is a team whose results are built on momentum. I hope they can pick up the fight as some of their best events are still to come. 

Denis' hair

Oh my, Russia what are you doing? You need to hit in quals for EF's!

Ablyazin: everything was difficult. And everything was messy in the landings. Only one OOB #Bless. Commentators are dissing his hair (it's pretty horrible). Honestly Denis is not impressing me, his leg form looks loose, and I'm most upset that he's not fighting for the landings. Starkin (his coach) is walking around the podium as Denis does his routine. Starkin is not amused. 14.7. 

Kuksenkov got things started with a solid routine but they didn't show it. Scores 14.666. Nagorny doesn't set his piked double arabian and falls. He's devastated. No FX final for him. He was breathing very hard throughout, like he didn't have stamina which is something I've never witnessed from him before. Low chest landing on triple twist dismount. 14.066 with a 6.8 d-score :/

Russia up on FX

These Brits are so boring lol.

Oh no I don't like these British commentators, the American trio (Jonathan Horton, Courtney Kupets, and a third man I don't know because I don't follow NCAA but whose name is Jim lol) were really lively and knowledgeable. This British team is the same ignorant one from YOG. 

Team standings after rotation 1 (including earlier subdivisions):

Just tuned in to the third subdivision. So far Russia is having a mini nightmare in rotation 1 on high bar. We started off well with Stretovich scoring a 14.633, but then Nagorny fell on the kolman for a 12.733, Kuksenkov got a 14.1, and Belyavskiy anchored with what spectators thought was a great routine, but was punished by the judges with a 14.533. No HB final.