Ke Qinqin, representing China, narrowly missed capturing the gold medal during the all-around final at the World Championships in Rotterdam on Friday. An over-rotated dismount from the balance beam resulted in a significant loss of points. Nevertheless, the bronze medal she secured serves as both a reward and a source of motivation for her future pursuits.
The 16-year-old gymnast incurred a full point penalty due to her error in the third rotation, finishing just 0.701 points behind gold medalist Skye Blakely from the United States. Her podium finish in this world championship debut was encouraging, which she articulated in her post-competition remarks.
On her vault
Ke Qinqin reflected on her performance on the vault, acknowledging some errors throughout the year but expressing a sense of improvement with each competition. She emphasized her focus on the technical points highlighted by her coaches and the enjoyment she found in the competitive process.
“Although I had some errors on the vault throughout the year, I feel that I improved with each competition. In later events, I managed to execute my vaults without being overly careless. I focused on the technical points my coaches emphasized and simply enjoyed the process of competing.”
On her performance on uneven bars
Discussing her uneven bars routine, Ke noted that she felt tense and unable to fully showcase her capabilities. However, she recognized that her execution was decent compared to previous competitions, and she expressed a desire to build her confidence in future training sessions.
“As for the uneven bars today, I felt a bit too tense. I didn’t fully showcase my capabilities, as I wasn’t quite able to let go and perform freely. My execution on the apparatus today was decent overall. Compared to the previous two competitions, my movements felt more grounded, more “settled”
On her floor exercise after balance beam dismount
Ke shared her thoughts on her floor exercise, noting the nerves she felt but also the pleasant surprise of executing a wolf triple turn for the first time in competition. She expressed satisfaction with her overall performance and clean landings during the routine.
“Yes, I suppose that’s true. I thought it was still possible but I’d probably be a bit nervous. Since it was the final event, I really want to present my absolute best self. It was actually a pleasant surprise. It was the first time I’ve ever performed a wolf triple turn in a competition. I hadn’t managed to complete it during my routines back home, though I had practiced it before. It felt like I had a really solid axis of rotation. I realized I had already completed two turns and still had the momentum to keep going, so I just held it and managed to complete the third rotation. It felt a bit like I performed beyond my usual level. Also, all my landings today were quite clean, so overall, I think my floor exercise went really well.”
On competing against top gymnasts
In discussing her experience competing against top gymnasts, Ke admitted she didn’t focus on the competition aspect but rather on doing her best. She found motivation in being on the same stage as elite athletes and recognized the importance of learning from their performances.
“Honestly, I didn’t really think about it. I felt that if I had failed, I wouldn’t have much of a competitive edge anyway. So, I just told myself to focus on doing my best and completing my entire program. Being on the same stage as them was a pleasant surprise, and it also serves as a great motivation for the future. “It’s a bit of both. I’ve gained more confidence in myself, but because there are still some lingering regrets, I’m hoping to deliver an even better performance at the next world championships. Competing alongside such top-tier athletes also helped me realize which aspects of their performance are worth learning from. Seeing them from such close range, I was really struck by their overall command of the competition, their mastery of their own movements and how they manage to fully execute everything they’ve prepared.”
On her feelings about the final scores
Ke expressed that the final scores motivated her to strive for better results. Despite her past failures leading her to keep expectations low, she was pleasantly surprised by her score and the bronze medal’s role in motivating her for future competitions.
“It gives me the motivation to keep striving for even better results. I feel like I have both. Because of my past failures, I didn’t set my expectations too high regarding winning a medal. But then, when the all-around scores came out, I realized my score actually wasn’t that low. This bronze medal serves as extra motivation for me to perform even better in the next competition.”
