Chile’s González agonizingly misses out on Olympic medal

Gymnast Tomás González claims fourth place, no medal for triathlete Barbara Riveros.

Tomás González took Chile to within touching distance of its first medal at London 2012 on Sunday. The gymnast just missed out on a bronze after a respectable performance in the men’s floor exercise final.

González competes in the men’s final of his strongest event, the vault, on Monday. The final represents Chile’s last remaining hope for a medal as Barbara Riveros underperformed in the women’s triathlon on Saturday, finishing in a disappointing 16th place.

For González even to be in Sunday’s final was an achievement. The greatest Chilean gymnast of all time surprised himself with such a high finish, after an error in his routine.

Riveros was not so lucky. A terrible start in the swim saw her fall to 37th place, and the Chilean struggled again on the bike. Riveros, who won a world title last year, produced an incredible fightback in the run and tore past many competitors, though all that effort could only afford her an underwhelming 16th place finish.

González takes to the vault at 10:41 a.m. Monday.

By Angus McNeice (mcneice@santiagotimes.cl)
Copyright 2012- The Santiago Times