Nina Derwael and Maellyse Brassart will take part in the third Gymnastics World Cup round in the Azerbaijani capital Baku later this week (March 7-10). Derwael will take action on the beam, Brassart will take part in the uneven bars exercise. Erika Pinxten abandons the round in Baku due to back problems.
Derwael, Brassart and Pinxten previously played in the World Cups in Cairo, Egypt and Cottbus, Germany. Derwael is currently in the lead with the maximum number of points in the World Cup rankings on beam after gold in Cairo and a fifth place in Cottbus (behind four gymnasts who are already assured of an Olympic ticket). Brassart won bronze on the bars in Cottbus, she is seventh in the World Cup classification with one result taken into account. Erika Pinxten came second in the beam final in Cairo, behind Derwael, and fifth in the floor final. In Cottbus Pinxten finished in seventh place in the beam final. In the WB ranking on the beam she is second behind Derwael, for the floor exercise she is in third place.
Derwael has not yet qualified for the Paris Games, where she hopes to defend her Tokyo title (2021) on the parallel bars. To redeem an Olympic ticket, the Limburg native still has two options. Through the World Cups, the two best gymnasts from the unseeded countries on one specific apparatus secure an individual all-round ticket for Paris, with the three best results counting. There is also the European Championship in Rimini (2-5 May). The highest-placed gymnast in the all-round competition of the unseeded countries gets an Olympic ticket there.
At the bridge, Derwael decided not to take action yet. This comes too early in her rehabilitation process, after she had to miss the World Cup in Antwerp last year due to a shoulder injury.
In Baku, the women’s parallel bars qualifications are scheduled for Thursday, the final on Saturday. The beam qualifications are scheduled for Friday, the finals on Sunday. After Baku, another World Cup round is scheduled for April 17 to 20 in Doha, Qatar. Then Pinxten hopes to be present again.
