Quote:LONDON -- Keep this up, and Kohei Uchimura will have a world title to go with his Olympic silver medal.
Uchimura lived up to his favored status Tuesday, cruising to the top spot after the first two sessions of qualifying at the world gymnastics championships. His score of 90.925 points was more than 1½ points better than anyone else, with one session left.
"I think I could win the gold medal if I hit every routine," Uchimura said through a translator. "But who knows? It depends on the performances and the routines that day."
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Japan has a long history of elegant gymnasts, but few knew much about Uchimura before last year's Beijing Olympics. Just 20, he'd never been to the world championships and Hiroyuki Tomita was considered the Japanese gymnast with the best chance to challenge Yang Wei of China.
Instead, it was the mop-topped Uchimura. And with Yang, Tomita and 2004 Olympic champion Paul Hamm gone, he is clearly the one everyone is now chasing, especially with European champion Fabian Hambuechen out with a bum foot and Horton unable to master the pommel horse.
"The Beijing Olympics, it's a past thing," Uchimura said. "We're all starting from scratch."
Uchimura appears to have no flaws, doing each of his routines with smooth control. On still rings, he moved from one strength position to another so easily he almost seemed to have a motor attached to him.
His high bar routine had the crowd oohing and aahing, getting so much air on his release moves he could have thrown in another somersault. Yet he does each skill with such precision it's almost as if they're in slow motion.
Uchimura isn't perfect, though. He under-rotated his vault and stumbled backward several steps to keep himself from falling on his backside.