From failure to qualify for the Olympics to the first world final of his career. Japan is always the backdrop to the pains and now the joys of Nicola Bartolini, who was promoted to the free body final in the world championship of artistic gymnastics in Kitakyushu.
The Quartese gymnast, under the Pro Patria Bustese, warmed up the muscles on the horse with handles (pt. 13,800), then ventured into vaulting (14,433). Upon examination of the platform, which had already given him the bronze medal at the last edition of the European championship, came the second place behind the reigning world champion, Carlos Yulo, with the final score of 14,966 against 15,166 of the Filipino.
The race . A practically perfect race, that of Bartolini who performed the diagonals with the usual determination and precision in the closures, a distinctive trait of his style and which the judges appreciated, rewarding him with an 8,766 in the execution, the highest score among the hundred of athletes competing. Added to the difficulty presented (6,200) it yielded a total of 14,966, slightly lower than Yulo's score, less brilliant in the execution (8,566) but favored by the higher difficulty of the exercise presented (6,600).
The final . Saturday morning, at 9.10 Italian time (live on Rai Sport web), Bartolini will look for a medal, against Yulo and the best eight specialists: the Japanese Kazuki and Hashimoto, the Kazakh Karimi, the Korean Sunghyun, the British Skinner and the Finnish Emil Soravuo.
