_Editor’s note: This is the sixth part of a series highlighting Illinois gymnast Paul Ruggeri’s road to potentially qualifying for the 2012 London Olympic Games._

The majority of “Paul Ruggeri’s”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2011/10/ruggeri_beginning_redemptive_journey_toward_olympic_games accolades come on “high bar”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2011/02/high_bar_gymnasticsrsquo_dynamic_lsquooneofakindrsquo_event. The senior Illinois gymnast is a two-time NCAA Champion, one-time U.S. National Champion (2009) and three-time international medalist on the event.

On March 20-26 at “The Cottbus (Germany) World Cup”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2012/03/road_to_london_makes_final_international_stop, Ruggeri competed for Team USA on the international stage against the world’s top gymnasts and came away with a silver medal on the high bar. It’s clearly his best event, but not the one he thinks could be what he does best with in Olympic qualifiers and the actual Olympics.

Rather, Ruggeri thinks it may be the “floor”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2011/03/gymnasts_combine_artistry_power_and_endurance_in_70second_routine, the one event in which he didn’t make the finals in Germany. Ruggeri took sixth on the vault.

“I was a little off on the floor from my first pass,” Ruggeri said. “I didn’t use the surface to my advantage.”

In Germany, the gymnastic equipment used is Spieth Anderson, a harder surface. Ruggeri typically trains on AAI-American Athletic Inc. equipment, with a soft-yet-firm surface. His favorite floor surface would be with the equipment in Asia, where he competed at the Japan Cup, on a springy

surface.

The inconsistency of the floor surfaces causes for it to be an inconsistent event in the Olympics because most of the gymnasts are competing on something they are unfamiliar with.

“You never know who is going to hit floor,” Ruggeri said. “People say floor is your best chance because you never know who is going to hit. As long as you’re clean, it’s pretty easy to get it done.”

Looking back, Ruggeri realizes he can now think about his technique more and what he can change for different surfaces.

“We had taken the surfaces into account but probably could have made some changes,” said Illinois assistant coach Ivan Ivankov, who traveled with Ruggeri.

In London this summer, the brand Gymnova will be used, which is harder than an American floor but not quite as hard as in Germany.

The high bar is typically consistent across the board, something Ruggeri finds comfort in. He finished .200 of a point behind Epke Zonderland from the Netherlands at the Cottbus Cup after placing ahead of Zonderland in prelims.

“Zonderland is arguably one of the best high-bar guys in the world,” Illinois head coach Justin Spring said. “He’s always in every final he ever goes to in world championships, these world cup meets and Paul beat him out in the first day and was nipping on his heels in finals, got second by only a couple tenths. That says a lot.”

The format of competition in Germany was something also similar to the Olympics. There were four days of competition with preliminaries and finals, something Ruggeri has never experienced before and he thought was long and grueling.

“I learned how to handle my anxiety over a long time,” Ruggeri said. “I had to revamp every single day and I had to bring new energy to the competition every single day.”

In London, the competition spans 11 days, though it is highly uncommon for a gymnast to ever compete on all 11 days.

Now Ruggeri must put the international worries aside and “focus on the Big Ten and NCAA Championships”:https://www.dailyillini.com/index.php/article/2012/03/illini_use_bye_week_to_prepare_for_postseason, where he competes on his consistent AAI equipment and won’t compete for more than three days in a row.

“This meet was right in line with our season,” Spring said. “It was good for him to go out and do those routines in a much higher level of stress environment to go and compete on podium on the international stage. Now he’ll come back and turn it on in practice.”