Ukrainian gymnast Igor Radivilov took 8th place at the Olympic games in Rio in the vault jump, after a bad landing. Radivilov and his trainer Gennadiy Sartinskiy hoped that the performance of the new element The Radivilov would help the athlete take gold. However, the lack of the medal didn’t prevent the gymnast from writing his name in the books of sports history – he performed his signature jump, a handspring triple front, and now the International Federation of Gymnastics will name the element after the Ukrainian, according to the Ukrainian Minister of Youth and Sport, Ihor Zhdanov.
The element had been submitted for consideration as a new element at the Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. It contains one more somersault than The Roche, which has been a mainstay in international competition for nearly 30 years, and was rated with a 7.0 element value – the highest. “If done successfully at any time during the Games, these elements will be officially named for the gymnast who performs them,” the rules say.
While Igor Radivilov successfully performed the element at the test event, at the competition itself he was unsuccessful in landing. Nevertheless, this was enough to get the vault named after him.First of all, it’s a spectacular sight. And secondly, this is a Ukrainian gymnast. And this element will be associated with Ukraine.
Igor comes from the Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine. It was in his native Mariupol that he started practicing artistic gymnastics. According to his mother Svitlana, he never regretted that he went by the path of sports.
Igor’s girlfriend Angelina Kyslaia, also an artistic gymnast, was said that Igor’s trainer proposed him to try the new vault. “Not everyone was sure that he will submit the vault at the Olympic games. Nobody even believed that Igor could make it. Everybody was shocked, because this is a most complicated vault,” she shared.
Commentators have labeled the element “insanely crazy.”
#76ers #Discussion #Forum Men's vault final: Igor Radivilov tries insanely crazy vault https://t.co/ZghlnKrDiy
— 76ers Fans (@76ersViews) August 16, 2016
"This is insane. I don't know why he's doing this"
So Radivilov is Palmer#Vault #Rio2016 #ArtisticGymnastics #Olympics— Ginny Lurcock (@GinnyLurcock) August 15, 2016
Radivilov is the Daredevil on Vault. He may not score as high but my god he is so entertaining to watch. pic.twitter.com/nKWYatXkPm
— Andrew Novialdi (@AndrewNovialdi) August 15, 2016
The Radivilov – "insanely crazy vault" – at #Rio2016https://t.co/UOVlErMv0G pic.twitter.com/lPpLnKtZUZ
— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) August 16, 2016
Commentators are divided whether this vault should be allowed as a new element.This is a great contribution to the popularization and beauty of artistic gymnastics
“That vault was incredible…..Igor is my Hero. He landed it about as well as Roche landed the first triple front in 1979 at the Fort Worth World Championships, he scored a 9.8….only a 2 tenth deduction. Igor at least received a score. some of the Russians around me thought he may get zero’d, His but did seem to hit first. I was in awe,” wrote one commentator under the International Gymnast Magazine post.
“Should be banned by coaches until proving excellence in training,” said another.
In artistic gymnastics, there already exist elements named after Ukrainian Olympic champions – Liudmila Turishcheva, Liliya Podkopayeva, and Oksana Omelianchyk. But, as the sports commentator Valentyn Sherbachev notes, Igor Radivilov is the first one that was born in independent Ukraine and will go into sports history on Ukraine’s 25th anniversary of independence.
“Igor Radivilov is a brave person and creative gymnast. It was creativity that inspired him to perform this jump. First of all, it’s a spectacular sight. And secondly, this is a Ukrainian gymnast. And this element will be associated with Ukraine. This is a great contribution to the popularization and beauty of artistic gymnastics,” Valentyn Sherbachev told.
