Prepare For the Lord Of The Rings Battle (15th November, 2005)

Sheer strength and control are two of the skills needed to master the rings. Greece’s Dimosthenis Tampakos will need both as he faces rival Jordan Jovtchev from Bulgaria.

Tampakos and Jovtchev are the joint reigning World Champions on the event, tying for the gold medal at the 2003 World Championships. Tampakos took the Olympic gold in front of his home crowd in Athens and Jovtchev is hungry for gold in Melbourne.

While there was some controversy over Tampakos’ victory, with observers feeling that Jovtchev had a cleaner and more complex routine, Tampakos had proven himself in Olympic competition before Athens, winning a silver medal on the apparatus at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Tampakos, who goes by the name of ‘Dimos’, made his international debut for Greece in 1990 and has won medals for Greece at a number of international competitions. He earned the bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships in Tianjin, China while he tied for first with Russian Alexander Safoshkin at the 2004 European Championships.

Tampakos and two time World High Bar Champion Vlasios Maras, are Greece’s strongest hopes for an individual gold medal in Melbourne. Yuri Van Gelder (NED) joins Jovtchev as competition for Tampakos, with the two gymnasts currently ranked one and two respectively in the World while Tampakos is ranked third.

At 32, many predict that Jovtchev is nearing the end of his career and so he will be keen to avenge his Athens Olympic defeat in Melbourne.

Look for complete coverage of the 2005 World Championships in issue one of Backflip Gymnastics Magazine. Subscribe today!