Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 21
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Japanese gymnast Kenzo Shirai said organization of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Challenge Cup in Baku has exceeded his expectations.
Having won gold in the floor exercise, Shirai told Trend that the finals' result turned out to be just the way he planned.
"In the qualifications, my result was lower than now, since then I showed a new element, which was rather complicated, and I was nervous," Shirai said. "I decided not to perform this element in the finals, and that's why I was calmer and got such a high result."
"It's my first time in Azerbaijan," Shirai said. "There are very good people here, everything has been organized at a high level."
The FIG World Challenge Cup in Artistic Gymnastics kicked off in Baku Feb. 19 and is to end Feb. 21. As many as 45 male and 22 female gymnasts compete for medals in apparatus finals of the World Challenge Cup.