IMPERIAL RUSSIA!

With less than a year to go before the Olympic Games, Russia completed a near clean sweep of the gold medals at the World Championships September 7-13 in Stuttgart (GER). More than ever, Yana Kudryavtseva reigned over the individual competition, winning every event she entered. Only Italy managed to break the Russian domination that continued into the Group finals.

INDIVIDUAL ALL-AROUND FINAL

KUDRYAVTSEVA TAKES THIRD TITLE,
WITH CHARM

The result was expected. The way it happened was not.

After golden performances with the Ball, Clubs and Ribbon already in Stuttgart, going into the fourth rotation of the All-around final, Yana Kudryavtseva found herself in an unusual position: trailing teammate Margarita Mamun by two tenths of a point. But with gold in her grasp, Mamun dropped her Ribbon during her last routine, once again opening the door for Kudryavtseva.

The iron wings came out. Kudryavtseva, who made minor mistakes earlier in the All-around final with the Ribbon, came back and delivered one of the performances of her life with the Ball for 19.116 points, the highest score of the All-around competition. The status quo was re-established: Kudryavtseva took her fifth gold of the World Championships, Mamun her third silver.

Veteran Melitina Staniouta (BLR), already a bronze medallist with the Ball, allowed the apparatus to slip from her hands early but recovered well enough to finish with All-around bronze, edging rising star Salome Pazhava (GEO).

At the end of the competition, Russia and Belarus had each obtained two places for the 2016 Olympic Games, while Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Israel, the United States, Spain, Bulgaria, South Korea, France, Greece and Japan had earned one space apiece.

For Kudryavtseva, however, the win cements her status as favorite for Olympic gold next summer in Rio.

HOOP AND BALL

GOLDEN BEGINNINGS FOR MAMUN, KUDRYAVTSEVA

Russia asserted its dominance from the beginning with Margarita Mamun (RUS) and Yana Kudryavtseva (RUS) claiming gold with the Hoop and Ball, respectively.

Kudryavtseva, the undisputed queen of Rhythmic Gymnastics for the past two years, sat out the Hoop competition in order to protect a sore leg, leaving the field open for Mamun, her biggest rival and greatest friend.

After surprising errors in qualification, Mamun erased any doubts about her ability to handle the pressure. Faced with the challenge of 17-year-old teammate Aleksandra Soldatova, Mamun delivered an exceptional Hoop routine in the finals to pocket her sixth World gold and her first with the Hoop.

Soldatova, in her first-ever individual World final, took silver with the Hoop, officially establishing herself as a force on the world scene.

But with the Ball, Kudryavtseva left no doubt who was best. In spite of a small bobble on one catch in the finals, the judges gave the “Angel with Iron Wings” the highest score of the night, allowing her to edge Mamun by 0.025.

Behind the Russians, Ganna Rizatdinova (UKR), the 2013 World Hoop champion, won bronze with the event, while Melitina Staniouta (BLR) took bronze with the Ball, as she did in 2014.

CLUBS AND RIBBON

ANOTHER GOLDEN EVENING FOR KUDRYAVTSEVA

Two days after defending her world title with the Ball, Yana Kudryavtseva dominated the last two apparatus finals.

Two days after defending her world title with the Ball, Yana Kudryavtseva came back to dominate the last two apparatus finals. Her flawless exercise with the Clubs convinced the judges, who awarded her more than enough to give Kudryavtseva her third consecutive World title with the apparatus. Russia’s second gymnast with the Clubs this time was Aleksandra Soldatova, who managed to best Margarita Mamun in the qualification round.

Until now, the Kudryavtseva-Mamun duo has not left much opportunity for other Russian gymnasts in two-per-country finals. Soldatova, however, took full advantage of her opportunities, winning a second silver with the Clubs and showing that she would be a solid contender for the World All-around title should the chance to compete for it arise.

The last competitor to perform with the Ribbon, Kudryavtseva appeared to improvise slightly after failing to catch the Ribbon’s wand after a throw at the end of her routine. The error might have cost her the title, but a high execution score helped give her the gold, edging Mamun, the defending World champion with the apparatus.

Just as she did with the Hoop, Ukraine’s Ganna Rizatdinova completed both podiums.

TEAM COMPETITION

THE RUSSIANS, WHO ELSE?

Two days after defending her world title with the Ball, Yana Kudryavtseva dominated the last two apparatus finals.

How could the team competition possibly have eluded Russia? It’s three competitors, Kudryavtseva, Mamun and Soldatova ranked 1-2-3 in All-around qualification, giving a good idea of the battle between the three for two-per-country places in the individual event finals. With such a magnificent trio, the others could not truly challenge, giving the country yet another gold. The question was not whether they would win, but by how much. With a total of 149.990 points, the Russians finished more than eight points ahead of the silver medallist Belarus, while Ukraine took the bronze.

GROUP ALL AROUND

REVENGE OF THE RUSSIAN GROUP

A year after a disappointing performance left the Russian Group off the All-around podium for the first time in a generation, the new-look Russian ensemble came to Germany to exact revenge.

Mission accomplished. The Russians performed excellent routines with the Ribbons and Hoops/Clubs, recapturing the World All-around title they last won in 2007. Russia finished with a total of 36.266 points, more than half a point ahead of defending World champions Bulgaria.

Spain, among the most dynamic Groups with the Clubs and Hoops, won the bronze, also avenging a poor performance that kept them from challenging for the podium a year ago.

Italy, the All-around silver medallists from 2013 and 2014, had a chance to challenge for a medal, but a dropped Ribbon late in their second routine cost them dearly.

Following the competition, 10 countries were named as having qualified for the Rhythmic Group competition at next summer’s Olympic Games in Rio: Russia, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Japan, Israel, Belarus, China, the United States and Ukraine. Seven other nations - Uzbekistan, Germany, Azerbaijan, Greece, Finland, Brazil and France - will battle for the final qualification spots at the Olympic Test Event next April.

GROUP EVENT FINALS

ITALY AND RUSSIA COVER THEMSELVES IN GOLD

The Russian victory parade in Stuttgart was brought to an abrupt halt on the final day of competition by the Italians, who won gold with the Five Ribbons, preventing a Russian sweep of the gold medals in Stuttgart.

The Italian Group, disappointed by their fourth place finish in the All-around but delighted to have qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games, came into the finals in high spirits and took full advantage of their last-up position with the Ribbons. Their clean, exceptionally dramatic performance with the Ribbons earned them a standing ovation from the crowd and gold from the judges, just ahead of the Russians.

Russia, however, had the last word. The Group, already gold medallists from the All-around final, avenged themselves almost immediately by winning the Clubs and Hoops with a solid, entertaining routine. The energized Italians, thrilled with their Ribbon victory, just missed a second gold with the event.

Japan surprised to take bronze with the 5 Ribbons, the country’s first medal at a Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships since 1975. Bulgaria won bronze with the Clubs and Hoops, their second Group medal in as many days.

CONCLUSION

RUSSIA’S REIGN CONTINUES - FOR NOW

As expected, the 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were a Russian affair. Individually, Yana Kudryavtseva confirmed that she is unquestionably the world’s best Rhythmic gymnast.

In the Group competition, the Russians asserted that they too are the best, winning two of the three Group titles after several years of successful challenges from Italy and Bulgaria. Nevertheless, there are signs of challenge to the Russian reign, from the traditional Eastern European strongholds of Rhythmic Gymnastics to a new world, confirmed by a young generation of competitors from Japan and the United States.

In Rhythmic Gymnastics, the sun still rises in the east, but it shines throughout the world.