Chile’s Tomás González had to settle for fourth place in the vault finals Monday after being edged out of a medal place by world number one, Yang Hak Seon.
González, competing in his strongest discipline, was sitting in third position with one competitor to go, on course for Chile’s first medal of the games.However, his hopes were scuppered by the South Korean, whose stunning three double pikes saw him take the gold medal, knocking González into fourth.
González’s final score of 16.183 was just 0.133 points short of the bronze medalist, Ukraine’s Igor Radvilov, and compounds the double heartbreak of Sunday’s fourth place on the floor.
“I gave my all,” a visibly emotional González told reporters. “I achieved my goals.”
“I think that was one of the best executions of my life,” the 26-year-old added. “For me, it feels like a third place.”
González executed a near perfect first jump before a packed crowd at London’s O2 Arena, before coming unstuck on the landing of his second jump, a marginal error that saw Chile’s strongest medal hope return empty handed.
However, González’s double fourth place is the highest Olympic achievement by a Chilean olympic gymnast.
“Tomás González has taken his place as one of the greatest athletes in the history of Chile,” wrote sports journalist José María del Pino on his Twitter page.
Also competing in a final Monday was Natalia Ducó, in the women’s shot put. The 23-year-old was a surprise addition to the final, just scraping in with the lowest qualifying distance of 18.45 meters.
“Nobody really considered me a contender,” she told reporters ahead of Monday’s final. “But here I am."
“However I do later, I will be happy," she added.
Chile has so far had a disappointing 2012 Games and is likely not to take home any medals following González’s performance. On Monday morning, Chile bowed out of four other events, with Andrés Ayub (Greco-Roman wrestling), Jorge Garcia (weightlifting), Luis Mansilla (cycling) and the pairing of Benjamín Grez and Diego González (sailing) all finishing their events without medals.
By Miles Coleman (coleman@santiagotimes.cl)
Copyright 2012-The Santiago Times
About the writer
Miles Coleman
Miles was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and, despite moving to London at a young age, still supports the Springboks over England. He is currently in his third year of undergraduate studies at Bristol University, doing Spanish and Portuguese. As well as writing for the Santiago Times he also writes for Erudition Online in the UK, as well as occasionally contributing to The Guardian Online. He is currently on his year abroad in Chile, practicing being a journalist. He once scored a 30 yard volley in a practice football game for the Badock B Team. Manchester United are said to be interested in his services.
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