Current European Champion, Jacques Ferrari gave a masterclass in vaulting to claim his place as the new World Champion. His performance left the crowds reeling with a standing ovation to be awarded the highest score of the competition so far, 9.166, giving him a final championship total of 8.629. “This is the crowning of a long process of many years, not just for myself but my family, friends and my teammates, and the culmination of the development of a style I have tried to design” Jacques said. He was ambiguous about his future however, “this is a sign that I have reached the limit and the pinnacle of my career so I don’t know what will follow after this.”
Nicolas Andreani, previous World Champion, claimed the silver medal this afternoon behind his French compatriot with his ingenious Einstein themed freestyle, giving him a freestyle score of 8.723 for a final score of 8.498. “I feel a great sense of satisfaction with a silver medal, especially as the last two seasons have been difficult for me so I am very happy,” Nicolas said, “if I could have signed a document six months ago that said I would have won the silver I would have signed it in a wink.”
Germany’s Erik Oese held onto his overnight third place to clinch his bronze medal with a score of 8.835, which was higher than Nicolas’ freestyle score but not quite enough to give him the overall championship total he needed for silver, he lay just a fraction of a penalty behind Nicolas with a total of 8.483. “I am absolutely delighted with my result, every medal is a medal,” Erik said, “this is my first WEG and I found it harder than the two other championships I have attended but it has been fun.”
