Standing Ovations for Bulgaria's Legendary Yovchev Swansong Performance
Bulgaria's legendary Yordan Yovchev, 39, the first male gymnast to compete in his sixth Olympic Games, received loud and wholehearted acclaim as he ranked seventh at the rings final on Monday.
The silver-haired Bulgarian with the chiselled physique staged an impressive performance, but there were a few slight flaws, including his final landing.
The result came up on the giant electronic screen hanging high above the arena floor – a score of 15.108 and he was seventh overall, ardently applauded both by the audience and his rivals.
Arthur Zanetti of Brazil upstaged defending Olympic champion Chen Yibing to win the still rings title Monday, handing Chen only his second loss since 2006.
Yovchev has been battling serious shoulder injuries and recently admitted he has been trying different types of treatment to ease the pain.
The greying gymnastics veteran won in January a quota for the London Summer Olympics despite a shoulder painful injury. This was his sixth participation in Olympic Games for the 39-year-old, a world record in itself.
Yovchev, who is the President of the Bulgarian Gymnastics Federation, has repeatedly said his qualification for London is crucial for both the Federation and the "survival of gymnastics" as a sport in Bulgaria.
After the world championship in November, the gymnasts announced he would focus on the Rings exercise if he qualifies for the Olympics.
He received a score of 15.308 points and ranked eighth in the qualifier, which is the last spot allowing competitors to advance. He beat Ukraine's Igor Radivilov, who is ninth, by just 0.08 points.
Despite his four world titles, he never managed to win Olympic gold.
Yovchev's greatest moment of fame still angers Bulgarians and the story is one of the very few things that can make him look sad.
In the rings competition of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Dimosthenis Tampakos of Greece received a generous score of 9.862. Then Yovchev, with a perfect performance, superior in every way, received a 9.850.
Yovchev said he has been robbed, while Bulgarian media slammed the decision of the judges as the "theft of the century".
He won silver in the men's rings at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. In the same Olympic Games, Yovchev won bronze in the men's floor exercise.
In the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, he won the bronze on both floor exercise and still rings. He also won two World Championship Bronze medals in the all-around (1999, 2001).
Yovchev made his fifth Olympic team for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and qualified again for the Rings exercise. He qualified second with a score of 16.275 under the new scoring system, but missed a handstand and finished the final in last place with a score of 15.525.
The phenomenal gymnast was chosen to bear the national flag during the Parade of the Athletes, part of the Games' opening ceremony on July 27 2012.
Text: novinite.com
(07.08.2012)