Before Jake Jarman’s glorious five days at the Commonwealth Games the England gymnast had never landed his hardest vault in any competition. It is one of the most difficult vaults in the world, the Yonekura, a whirlwind of three and a half twists. Few can even dream of mastering it.
Yet it is the skill that has most defined his breakthrough. It immediately spotlit his talents when he easily executed it in the team final, then it was the decisive apparatus in the men’s all around final, separating him from the field. Finally it won him a gold medal outright in the vault final as Jarman concluded his breakout Games by becoming the first men’s gymnast to win four gold medals. He is now the all around, team, floor and vault Commonwealth champion.
“It’s always very challenging no matter how well you might do. You are under just as much pressure at big and small competitions. To be able to come and enjoy everything and produce an amazing result I’m absolutely delighted,” said Jarman.
Moments later Joe Fraser won his third gold medal, concluding his own remarkable competition so soon after rupturing his appendix and fracturing a foot. Although he also won the pommel horse title, the parallel bars are Fraser’s signature event, where he became world champion in 2019. He pulled away from the competition with a smooth, clean routine, scoring 15.000. On his 24th birthday, England’s Giarnni Regini-Moran finished with silver medals on both the vault and parallel bars.
Jarman’s vault final began with the iconic Dragulescu move, a double front somersault with a half turn and a value of 5.6, which he landed with just a small step back. The Dragulescu is normally a gymnast’s most difficult vault, but Jarman returned for the Yonekura, valued as the joint hardest vault in the code of points at 6.0. He took just a slight sideways step out of bounds.
It was gymnastics of the highest standard. In the men’s Olympic vault final only two gymnasts produced vaults with equal difficulty. Shin Jea-hwan, the eventual champion, barely managed to complete the 3.5 twists yet it was enough for him to win with an average score of 14.783. On Tuesday, Jarman scored 14.916.
Later Alice Kinsella earned some redemption after a turbulent meet, winning gold on the floor exercise with a score of 13.366. After leading England to gold in the team final she crumbled in the all around final, leaving the arena in tears after falling on the balance beam and floor. She made two unhelpful errors in the balance beam final but she seized her last opportunity with an excellent floor routine. Ondine Achampong finished with silver, her fourth medal.
As the gymnastics competitions concluded there was the promise that this is only the beginning. A new star has been born in Jarman while Fraser has positioned himself well to chase after more global success and Achampong carries a great deal of promise. They will immediately head off to the European championships in Munich next week, with world championships in Liverpool on the horizon.
