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Russian Kudryavtseva wins 3rd straight rhythmic world all-around title

Xinhua, September 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

Reigning world rhythmic gymnastics champion Yana Kudryavtseva of Russia came from behind to win her third straight all-round title here on Friday.

Trailing her best friend and teammate Margarita Mamun by two tenths of a point heading into the fourth and final routine, the ball, of the night, Kudryavtseva showed some of the grit that has earned her the nickname "Angel with Iron Wings".

In the end, the 17-year-old collected an overall total of 75.632 points and her fifth gold medal of this Championships.

Kudryavtseva was crowned in the ball, the club, the ribbon and the team events in the first two days of the competition. She opted not to compete in the hoop final to nurse a slight leg injury and the event was won by Mamun.

Mamun, as she typically has for the past two years in international competition, settled for silver (74.766). Veteran Melitina Stanioiuta from Belarus, already a bronze medalist with the ball here, allowed the apparatus to slip out of her hands early Friday night but recovered well enough to finish with a second bronze in the all-around (72.132)

On a night where Olympic qualification berths were at stake, few among the 24 finalists managed four clean routines. Reigning world bronze medalist Ganna Rizatdinova of Ukraine saw her chances of a fifth medal at this Championships vanish after she failed to catch her clubs and went diving out of bounds at the end of her first routine. She hit her next three exercises, but was never again in medal contention and finished fifth. Son Yeon Jae of South Korea, another pre-competition medal favorite, made several errors during her ribbon routine and ended 11th overall.

The top 15 individuals in the all-round final will obtain an Olympic berth for their countries and region.

The top 23 finishers behind the 15 who initially advance to the Olympic Games will qualify for the 2016 Olympic Test Event and have a second chance to secure an Olympic berth in individual rhythmic gymnastics at the competition, to be held April 22-24 in Rio. Endi