Flash Quotes: Men’s Vault Final
Artur Davtyan (ARM) – gold
On his gold medal:
“Since the fall of the Soviet Union this is the first gold for Armenia in a world championships. We got third on pommel (on Saturday) and now we have gold.”
On the secret of his success:
“It is thanks to our coaches and to our unity. We have been through a lot of difficulties and we’ve been working hard to try and improve continuously. Thankfully, we were able to achieve this gold medal.
“The most important thing is to avoid injuries, to try to stay healthy and compete uninjured. Unfortunately, in Armenia there are not very good conditions – we have no training centres or facilities.
“If it wasn’t so hard maybe we could have achieved this earlier.”
On how he competes with injuries:
“I have several injuries – both knees and my back – which I feel all the time when I am training.
“We have good doctors in Armenia, but we don’t have any physios or medics with the team, so we have to self-medicate and look after ourselves”
Carlos Yulo (PHI) – silver
On taking silver:
“My first vault is not ready yet. It was a great challenge for me, and great preparation for next year. I’m really happy that I made it, even though it’s not gold in the end, it’s silver.
“It’s really different when you get gold, but it is what it is, and I accepted that.”
On how his vaults went:
“The first one – it’s my first time trying it in a competition. I gave my best there. But my second vault was not good. I really focused on my first vault. It’s really stressful.”
On landing in the red zone on his first vault:
“The goal was to land it, not to stick it this time. I think I did that on the first vault, but the second was quite a bit lower.”
Igor Radivilov (UKR) – bronze
On what the bronze medal means to him and Ukrainian gymnastics:
“First, that we’re doing everything possible, and Ukrainian gymnastics is always going to flourish.
“We’re doing everything we can to bring the Ukrainian flag as high as we can on the international stage.”
On the difficulties his team has faced in recent weeks:
“Everybody in the world knows what is happening, and what kind of difficulties we have.
“When it comes to gymnastics training, because of the difficulties with electricity we try to train in the morning hours, so we are able to get the daylight, because electricity has been an issue.”
On his immediate plans now:
“Tomorrow we will return to Kyiv, and then in a few days I will be going to Germany to compete in the Bundesliga.”
On his long-term plans:
“I would like to continue training as long as I can remain healthy. I want to get to the Olympics and to fulfil my dream, to get another medal at an Olympic Games – maybe a better colour.”
On how he feels after the final:
“Very tired, but happy about the result. This world championship medal is very important for Ukraine, because of the war and the problems we have had training.”
On the future:
“This medal will help push me towards the next world championships and the Olympic Games, and maybe there will be one more medal for me.”
Caio Souza (BRA) – 5th
On his performance:
“I did my work and that's what matters for me. Of course, everyone in the final wants to win the gold medal, but there are just three places on the podium.
“I’m really happy with what I did. My second vault was better, the landing was better and it was also good in the air so it was a good vault.”
On being the first competitor to perform in the final:
“It doesn’t matter to me if I’m first. I will compete anywhere. If I’m the first one or the last, I have to do my work.”
On the future:
“I have to go back home and rest, because this was a full year of competitions. And then I will start thinking about next year.
“We have the Pan American Games in May, and also the Worlds and the nationals, so I have to think about those.”
WGC22 News cl/sb/jh/mb