Diego Hypolito is three-time champion of the Olympic Gymnastics Superfinal

Diego Hypolito is the three-time Olympic Gymnastics Superfinal champion

'I got back up!' Brazilian adopts the 'Hypolito' vault, and, with a near-perfect display, takes gold

By - in 13/12/2008 às 17:35

GLOBOESPORTE.COM Madrid

Diego receives the medal after the Superfinal

Diego Hypolito won his third World Cup Superfinal in artistic gymnastics, which features the top eight athletes in each discipline, in Madrid. With a perfect routine on the floor, the gymnast achieved a score of 16.125 and took gold. Hypolito benefited from the withdrawal of one of his biggest rivals, Russian Anton Golotsutskov, bronze medalist in Beijing, who withdrew from the competition before the event.

"I really needed this result. I entered the floor exercise "bitten," hungry for victory. I end the year on a high note and with one certainty: I've bounced back! I had to hold back tears at the end of my performance. I'm very happy to be the first gymnast in the world to win a third championship in a grand final," says Diego.

For the competition, Diego changed the routine he'd been using in the events and returned to the "Hypolito." And it worked. With the vault, a double pike twist with a pirouette, the gymnast performed excellently, landing just one step ahead. The Brazilian made very few mistakes and achieved the highest score of the competition.

"It was one of the best sets of my life, due to the level of difficulty. I thought I did the "Hypolito" very well on the first run. The second and third runs were good, and on the fourth, I had a very slight error on an acrobatic trick. The last run (the same one where I fell at the Olympics), I nailed it," Diego concludes.

Diego thus wins his third Superfinal title – he had already won in 2004 and 2006. This is the gymnast's first overseas victory in 2008, following his failure in Beijing, when he was the favorite for gold on the floor exercise. The silver medal went to Japan's Kohei Uchimura, who scored 15.900, while Israel's Alexander Shatilov took bronze with 15.500. The Brazilian competes again this Sunday on vault. His sister, Daniele, will compete in the parallel bars final this Saturday, as well as the balance beam and floor events on Sunday. Brazil will also have Mosiah Rodrigues on the bar, also on Sunday.