Berlin, Moskwa, gymnastics, wind, Zaitz - Day 1

I left Rotterdam with very low expectations about the following days. Maybe it was the fact that I was deprived of sleep most of the previous week, maybe Tuesday's qualifications had embittered me... So I was not very optimistic about the outcome of the following days. But, I was blown away.

I traveled to Berlin by train on the worst possible route (or so I've heard), via Utrecht and Duisburg. On the bright side, the ICE had very comfortable seats, and I had to change trains enough times to fill up on caffeine. We arrived in Berlin Central at 2 pm; two hours later, after I left the bags in the apartment located in Prentzlauer Berg, I was drinking my Moskwa beer and eating a nice Odessa salad in a place called Parsnip (somewhere between the place we stayed in and the Max-Schmeling Halle). Like this:

But, this is a gymnastics blog...

Then the story becomes foggy. Went to the Max Schameling... saw Aliya Mustafina knocked out of the competition... learned how to pronounce Seitz... And then there was Demy's weird little smile attacking the last floor pass. But yes, I was shocked. So was everybody else in the arena. And, of course her coaches... They stayed there, next to her, for 10-15 minutes trying to recover from the shock and then they realised it was impossible but the only thing to do was to focus on Demy. And she did not let them down, she had a great copmpetition, with solid uneven bars, she stayed on the beam, she was great on floor (I think that that was the time the public realized that Seitz was not going to win LOL)...And a FTY. So far the Russians were accused that they were winning a tad too many points with crooked Amanars. It was as if Alexandrov tried to prove they can win in any way.

Then there was Amelia's vault. I was preparing to leave (I had people to meet, stuff to do, I was in Berlin, no time for the Russian anthem :D). On my way out, as it happens, I stopped next to Bellu when Amelia was waiting for the green light. If you imagine that coaches that have decades of years of experience are very relaxed when their gymnasts compete, think again :). Bellu is a good example. He knows what Ama is capable of in terms of vaulting. She is good. But right then and there she needed a mark of around 14.6 (by my onsite calculations) for silver. A score accessible for her. But see, Bellu knows Amelia Racea. So he was anxious. 

"Ama, dreapta la ronda!" ("Ama, stay straight on the round-off!") he shouts. Amelia nods. And just as the green light appears, Bellu vanishes. Amelia doesn't do her best vault. She settles for bronze. But now, I could not leave, I was curious where Bellu was. But I couldn't find him... I decided to give up, and as I was walking by the same spot I where had lost him, I saw Bellu walking out of the restroom.

 He had filled his water bottle.

"