Phoenix gymnast Jade Carey again finished first in qualifying, this time on floor exercise, Friday at the International Gymnastics Federation individual apparatus World Cup in Melbourne.

Carey, 19, debuted a new floor routine and 14.366, well ahead of the Italian duo of Vanessa Ferrari (13.733) and Lara Mori (13.541). Eight advanced to Sunday’s final.

Carey also was the qualifying leader on vault Thursday, going into a Saturday final where she could clinch no worse than a tie for first on that event in the individual World Cup series.

Individual event champions in the series qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, July 24-Aug. 9, where they are allowed to compete in all four events.

Carey is No. 1 in individual apparatus world ranking on vault and floor. Mori and Ferrari are tied for second on floor, six points behind Carey.

Carey trains at Arizona Sunrays. She was a team gold and vault silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships as well as vault/floor silver medalist at 2017 Worlds.

Jade Carey leads vault qualifying at World Cup in Melbourne

Phoenix gymnast Jade Carey led qualifying in vault Thursday at the International Gymnastics Federation individual apparatus World Cup in Melbourne, Australia.

Carey had a 15.049 average for two vaults at Melbourne Arena, well ahead of Japan’s Shoko Miyata (14.166) and France’s Coline Devillard (14.050). 

The 19-year-old, who trains at Arizona Sunrays, is seeking to clinch an individual berth at the Tokyo Olympics by winning vault for the third time in four World Cup appearances. She is a two-time World vault silver medalist.

Carey is ranked No. 1 in individual apparatus world ranking on vault and floor exercise. Russia’s Maria Paseka, ranked No. 4 in the world on vault, tied for fifth in Melbourne qualifying at 13.883.

Chinese athletes are not competing in Melbourne due to Australian travel restrictions on foreign nationals travelling from mainland China because of coronavirus. China’s Yu Linmin is fifth in world vault rankings still could compete at upcoming World Cups in Baku and Doha, Qatar, needing two wins to tie Carey (higher combined score is the tiebreaker).

If necessary, Carey could compete in Baku, Azerbaijen, on March 12-15 looking for a win to block Yu from a possible tiebreaker. The Doha World Cup is March18-21. Carey won vault and floor at Baku and Doha last year. 

Floor qualifying in Melbourne is Friday followed by eight-woman finals Saturday (vault) and Sunday (floor).

By winning one individual apparatus World Cup overall title, Carey is eligible to compete in Tokyo in all four events.

More: Carey seeking to clinch Olympics gymnastics berth, McCusker joins her at Arizona Sunrays

More: Building Team Arizona for Tokyo Olympics: Local connections in 2020 Games

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8053. Follow him on Twitter @jeffmetcalfe.

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