Flash Quotes: Men’s Parallel Bars Final
Zou Jingyuan (CHN) – gold
On his performance:
“This is the first time I did this 6.9 difficulty routine. At first, I just wanted to stick with the original plan, use the 6.5 difficulty and perform it perfectly.
“But I decided to perform the harder routine to challenge myself. You could see that I was a little bit rushed and shaky, and there was a little pressure. But I am satisfied with my performance.”
On whether he can add more difficulty:
“Yes, this is not all I have in my pocket. I have some other skills that could raise my difficulty if I add them. But it is good that I know I can perform well in this 6.9 routine and later I will be confident to add to it.”
On his future after winning Olympic gold and three world titles on parallel bars:
“Team gold, obviously. I hope our team can be more united and link our hearts in competition. In Paris 2024 (at the Olympic Games), we will fight again.
“I hope to start training for pommel again because I have had an injury in my wrist. So the first priority is to recover from my injury.”
Lukas Dauser (GER) – silver
On his taking silver after suffering disappointment at the 2019 world championships in Stuttgart:
“I feel crazy. I can't describe it. It was a really big goal for me to win a medal at a world championships after 2019. Also, I fell at the European championships in Munich this year, so it is an amazing comeback from me. I can't describe my feelings now.”
On his goals for the final:
“It is always my goal to do my best routine. I did it, so I am very happy.”
On the quality of the final:
“The quality of the final was very high. The three Olympic medallists from Tokyo and other good guys like (Carlos) Yulo (PHI) and Joe Fraser (GBR), the world and European champion.
“Parallel bars is always crazy and I think for me it is really unreal now.”
Carlos Yulo (PHI) – bronze
On his day overall:
“I can’t believe I’ve been with the best gymnasts in the world. I’m very proud, but at the same time I’m not satisfied with what I did.”
On Zou Jingyuan (CHN) scoring 16.166 to win the parallel bars:
“My coach and I couldn’t say anything, we were speechless. He’s not human. How he does p-bars is not equal to anyone. He’s the only one doing that. To me, he’s like a god. 16.1 – like, what?
On whether his two medals today make up for missing out in the floor final on Saturday:
“It’s not that easy to get a gold medal. There are a lot of good gymnasts, I know that and I appreciate their craft. I want to win, but it is what it is.
“I cried a lot, I really cried a lot. I felt sad. But I have to move on and accept it.
“I was really thankful, I still had two more apparatus to go. I had a good chance to prove myself. So I can forget what happened yesterday, accept it and moved on.”
Ferhat Arican (TUR) - 4th
On his performance:
“It was not good. I made some big mistakes. I know I had the potential to get a medal here. I am an Olympic medallist and the European champion but I made a mistake.
“Sometimes it happens, it’s gymnastics. But I am really angry because I had big potential, and 15.066 is not a good score for me.
“I had only one chance but this is gymnastics, you only get one chance. If you have potential you must fulfil it. You should do.”
On the future for him:
“I will keep fighting. I will be in Paris (for the for Olympic Games), I hope. That’s my big goal. I will never give up, I will work hard and at next year’s world championships I will take a medal.”
On the future of Turkish gymnastics:
“Our team is really strong and we will go to the Olympic Games with a great chance to make history.”
Giarnni Regini-Moran (GBR) – 7th
On the parallel bars final:
“I said I wanted to go out there and have some fun and I did. The home crowd was incredible. And it was a great p-bars final, the best of the best were in there.
“It was a privilege just to be in that final. I had no expectation today, other than to go and enjoy myself, and I did that.”
On gold medallist Zou Jingyuan (CHN):
“We look up to him. He’s an incredible p-bar worker, and to be able to go and get less than one whole mark off your p-bar routine is just incredible.”
On how he celebrated his floor gold medal on Saturday:
“I didn’t really, to be honest. Went back to my hotel, everyone wants to see me, say hello, have pictures. I had some food, had a shower and got into bed. Even though I was in bed I couldn’t go to sleep.
“This morning it started to hit me that I’m world champion.
“I was still trying to focus on today and not let that get to me because I still had a job to do. It was just good that I went out there and had some fun.”
Joe Fraser (GBR) – 8th
On finishing eighth:
“It’s difficult. P-bar finals are always very close. You’re among the best of the best. One small error can make a huge difference. My dismount wasn’t the best, I had a few steps with my hands today.
“I did every skill in my routine – regardless of how I did them, I did them, and I can be proud of that.”
On the year as a whole:
“It’s hard to put it into words. There’s been so many ups and downs. Even the last week, emotions-wise I’ve never had a week where I’ve felt so many different emotions – feeling I’d ruined it for the team (in the team final), then we actually qualifying for the Olympics; then Giarnni, my teammate since I was nine years old became world champion; Courtney (Tulloch) goes and gets a world medal (bronze on rings).
“All these different things, I just don’t know how to deal with it, it’s been absolutely manic. Regardless of my personal performance, or how I feel I’ve done, I’m proud of myself and my whole team.”
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