Dragulescu reminds the world of Romania glory

Marian Dragulescu defended Romania glory in gymnastics by winning the outdated superpower the only gold in floor exercise at the Aarhus gymnastics world championships on Friday.

Dragulescu took a sweet revenge to beat Canada's Kyle Shewfelt, who beat the Romanian for the top at the 2004 Athens Olympics, to win the floor by 16.250 points.

The Romania veteran put on a series of twists and somersaults to overtake the defending champion Diego Hypolito, the silver medallist with 16.150 and Shewfelt, the bronze taker with 15.700. China's teenager Zou Kai was sixth with 15.550 points after being penalized for stepping out of the marked area.

"The competition is very tense and I am very happy to beat some specialists to win. I'm so glad that I can win my country a gold on the floor," said the 25-year-old. "I look forward to the vault final tomorrow and I hope I can repeat the result."

Hypolito, who became the first Brazilian man to win a world title in 2005, finished his routine with powerful tumbles and nailed all of his landings but the final one, which cost his chance of winning for a small leap forward.

Zou Kai admitted he got a long way to go and he was not strong enough mentally and technically on the floor when competing against the best ones.

"I learned how powerful these top floor specialists are and I need to overcome my nervousness in the big event. I just can not control my movements when I face so many top gymnasts and I think I will learn how to be growing up after the championships," said the 18-year-old debutant.

Source: Xinhua