Summary
The Handspring Triple Vault is a skill only performed in competition once by Ukranian athlete Igor Radivilov at the 2016 Rio Olympics. The FIG evaluated the vault at a 7.0 difficulty, the highest difficulty vault to date, but subsequently banned by the FIG for well justified safety reasons. Radivilov’s performance of the handspring triple front at the Rio Olympics is one of the most impressive displays of human power and acrobatics in the history of modern sport.
Gymnastics is a sport of crazy, difficult, and dangerous skills. But one skill rises above them all in sheer absurdity: Ukrainian athlete Igor Radivilov’s Handspring Triple Front Vault. Radivilov only ever competed the vault once, at the Rio Olympic Vault finals, and the FIG subsequently banned the skill. Although called a triple front, the Radivilov vault actually involves four total flips counting from the springboard to the landing. In my opinion, this vault takes the crown for most dangerous gymnastics skill ever performed.
Leading up to the Rio Olympics
Prior to the Olympic games video of Igor Radivilov training the front handspring triple front surfaced online. Never before seen, just performing the vault in training was unprecedented. He did not land the vault in the video online. Still, people began wondering whether he planned on competing the vault.
Prior to the Olympics, five skills were submitted to the FIG’s Technical Committee to be considered for named elements. One of the submitted skills was Radivilov’s potential vault.[1]
Radivilov did not compete this vault in qualifications or team final, but people believed he may be saving it for the vault final.
2016 Olympic Vault Finals – First and Only Handspring Triple Front
The 2016 Rio Olympic Vault Finals contained some of the most impressive vaults in gymnastics history. Qualifiers to the vault final included legendary vaulters Ri Se–gwang, Kenzō Shirai, Marian Drăgulescu, Denis Ablyazin, and of course Igor Radivilov.[2]
During the competition, Kenzo Shirai created his second vault, a 3.5 twisting Yurchenko, name the Shirai 2.
Radivilov’s Performance
Igor Radivilov followed up that performance with the first Handspring Triple Front ever competed. Unfortunately, Radivilov fell on the vault. Yet, because his feet hit the floor first, judges had to evaluate the skill, and the FIG had to name the skill after him.
If Radivilov hadn’t landed his feet to the floor before he sat down, judges would have given him a 0.0 score and the FIG would not have named the skill. The judges awarded the vault a 7.0 D-Score but, because of the fall, only a 15.033 final score.[2]
Unfortunately, Radivilov did not come away with a medal at the Rio Olympics. Instead, Ri Se-gwang took the gold with Denis Ablyazin and Kenzō Shirai earning silver and bronze, respectively.[2]
Why did the FIG ban the Triple Front Vault?
After the Olympics, the FIG banned the handspring triple front vault. The FIG cites safety as the reason for this decision. This is in line with similar skills they have banned in both Men’s and Women’s Gymnastics. Understandably, the FIG deems competing and training the Radivilov vault dangerously risky.
Did Judges Value the Triple Front Too Low at the 2016 Olympics
Some think judges valued Igor Radivilov’s handspring triple front too low. A 7.0 follows a linear trend in the value vaults based off of number of rotations. However, adding a third flip on to a double front is much more difficult than adding a second flip to a handspring single front tuck. So, a linear trend does not fit in terms of real difficulty.
Radivilov stated in a 2017 interview that he believes judges evaluated the vault too low and that one of the reasons may be that they did not want someone to win the gold medal with a fall.[3]
Another reason judges may have given the triple front only a 7.0 is that they wanted to discourage the vault by making the difficulty bump not worth the effort, just in case the FIG didn’t ban the skill. However, if the FIG hadn’t banned the skill they could have adjusted the difficulty if they believed it was too high or low anyway.
Our article about scoring in Men’s Gymnastics provides more information about how judges calculate scores.
Who is Igor Radivilov?
With all this talk of the skill he invented, who actually is Igor Radivilov. Igor started gymnastics at the age of five when his mother’s friend brought him to a gym.[4] Best known for his vault and rings performances, Igor qualified to each of the 2012, 2016, 2020, & 2024 Olympic Games for Ukraine.[5] In addition, at the 2012 London Olympics, he earned the bronze medal on vault.[5] His wife Angelina Kysla also competed on the Ukrainian Women’s Gymnastics team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.[4]
Citations
- International Gymnastics Federation. (2018, November 20). FIG to Implement Fujitsu’s Judging Support System. https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/news/displaynews.php?idNews=1613
- Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men’s vault. (2023, August 7). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnastics_at_the_2016_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_vault
- Gymnovosti. (n.d.). Radivilov: If I were American I would’ve gotten a medal in Rio. https://eng.gymnovosti.com/radivilov-if-i-were-american-i-wouldve-gotten-a-medal-in-rio/
- International Gymnastics Federation. (n.d.). Athlete Biography. Retrieved September 25, 2024, from https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/athletes/bio_detail.php?id=26020
- Wikipedia. (2024, September 25). Igor Radivilov. Retrieved September 25, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Radivilov