During Sunday’s apparatus final, something didn’t look right when American gymnast Jade Carey hurdled toward the vault. As she began her roundoff onto the springboard, she stutter-stepped or shuffled a bit.
And we observed the effects of this minor slip-up in the vault’s post-flight phase: She moved directly backward and did a simple back tuck off instead of her intended technique, which involved a half-tuck onto the table and one-and-a-half twists off before landing.
Jade Carey Career
What Jade Carey achieved was essentially a “timer,” or an untwisted version of a vault used in competition. A gymnast would do this move during a one-touch warmup to familiarise themselves with the equipment.
On the other hand, in the finals of international and Olympic competitions on apparatus, a simple touch of the warmup mat is not allowed. As of 2001, it had been banned by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Just like it sounds, a one-touch warmup only requires one touch. Athletes often have 30 seconds prior to their event to warm up, whether that’s to practise specific abilities or simply get a feel for the apparatus they’ll be using.
This has been standard fare for high-level competition for quite some time, and it still is, at least for some stages. For all finals, including those for both teams and individuals, a single touch is allowed.
But that goes out the window in the finals for apparatus. Unfortunately, when the one-touch was first banned from team finals, the outcomes were catastrophic.
Many competitors fell at the 2003 world championships. Chinese team was docked points for a podium dive, which cost them bronze. The one-touch for teams was reinstated by the following Olympic cycle.
Jade Carey Fall Warm Up Bars
The gymnast will warm up in the rear gym, get dressed, and then compete in the main arena for the apparatus final.
Olympic vault silver medallist McKayla Maroney noted in her Instagram stories that gymnasts sometimes wait up to an hour for their turn to compete depending on where they are in the competition order and what happens in front of them, such as an injury to another gymnast or a judging delay.
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Maroney described how she had to run up and down the sidelines and massage her legs to keep warm in the over-air conditioned arena.
That’s why you could see Chinese gymnasts wearing long coats when they watch their events. Thanks for reading our article Jade Carey Fall Warm Up Bars.
