During the team finals, Russian team member Ekaterina Kramarenko balked on her vault attempt as a result of being off-step. To avoid injury, she did not perform her vault and slowed down before she hit the apparatus, stepping onto the springboard and touching the vault table. Thinking she would be able to perform another vault, Kramarenko walked back down the runway but was escorted off the floor. The judges immediately gave her a score of "0", which was counted as one of three scores for the team's vaulting apparatus. This score was assigned in observation of section 8.1 of the WAG Code of Points, which states that a gymnast is not allowed a second attempt if she has touched the springboard or vault itself in any way on her first attempt, and with which coaches and gymnasts are expected to be familiar.[1]
The Russian team petitioned that Kramarenko's qualification score of 13.725 be able to carry over as a mock-compulsory score, but were refused. In another petition to have Russian team members Yulia Lozhechko and Elena Zamolodchikova's vaulting scores averaged and then counted, Russia was again refused. When asked to comment on the incident, Russian coach Andrei Rodionenko explained, "Nobody knows what happened, it was a shock for everyone."
Any team that scratched on vault would have immediately finished last in the competition, whether it be in first or last rotation.[2][3][4]
