Triple Medal Haul for Little at Baku World Cup

Emily Little’s fine start to the year has continued with a triple medal haul at the FIG World Cup event in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The 23 year-old has medalled at each event she has contested since missing selection for the 2016 Olympic Games, in a sequence that has seen her assume top international ranking on Vault, Floor and Beam apparatus through the FIG Individual World Cup standings.

In Baku, Little collected silver on Vault and Floor whilst adding bronze on beam, with the Australian team enjoying success across both men’s and women’s artistic disciplines.

In her favoured event, Little scored a combined 14.067 for second place in the Vault final following two cleanly performed attempts. Her total was bested only by Romanian gymnast Oksana Chusovitina (14.333) who entered competition with slightly higher difficulty scores and similarly completed both vaults without penalty reduction.

A stunning execution on Floor saw Little add to her tally, fetching 13.400 for silver behind another Romanian, this time in the form of Catalina Ponor. Ponor’s total of 13.433 narrowly edged Little – who accrued a higher execution score but was denied gold again through the champion’s higher degree of difficulty.

Ponor also claimed the Beam world cup title, scoring 13.833 to finish ahead of Greece’s Vasiliki Millousi (13.633) with Little in third. Her 13.433 was beautifully executed and was again completed with no score reductions.

Little now heads for the second leg of her overseas World Cup campaign where she will compete at the Doha World Cup from March 22-25.