Gymnast Diego Hypolito continues to show signs of his good form in 2009. In the qualifying rounds this Friday, for the World Cup stage in Moscow, Russia, the red-and-black guaranteed a place in the floor and vault finals, which will take place in the early hours of this Saturday, starting at 4 am (Brasília time).

On the floor exercise, where he is a two-time world champion, Diego placed first with a score of 15,450 (start score of 16,50). Israel's Alexander Shatilov came in second with 15,300. Felip Ude of Croatia finished third with 15,050 points. In the vault qualifying round, Diego finished fifth with 15,587 points.

"Before traveling to this competition, I had a very exhausting week in Brazil due to the lack of encouragement and support for my sport. Here in Moscow, my legs felt heavy and I barely slept well due to all the stress, not to mention the seven-hour time difference. Even so, I managed to qualify for the final in first place on the floor exercise, performing the "Hypolito 2" on my first pass. To compete for a medal this Saturday, I plan to perform the "Hypolito 1," which usually impresses the judges and will increase my starting score by 0,1 (16,60)," commented Diego.

"In the heats, I made a mistake on my second vault, which I never make. Now, in the final, I intend to repeat the same vaults I performed in the last round in Glasgow and try to reach the podium again," said the gymnast, who has already won two medals on this apparatus this year, one gold and one silver.