Three More Golds For Kudryavtseva At Rhythmic Gymnastics Worlds

2013 and 2014 World champion Yana Kudryavtseva (RUS) pocketed another three gold medals during the second night of individual apparatus finals at the 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart (GER).

Seventeen-year-old Kudryavtseva, who successfully defended her World title with the Ball Tuesday night, added World titles with the Clubs and Ribbon Thursday, as well as an additional gold in the team competition, in the company of her countrywomen Margarita Mamun and Aleksandra Soldatova.

Despite a slight leg injury that kept her out of the Hoop competition here in Stuttgart, the 17-year-old Muscovite has been nothing less than dominant since the Championships began. With the Clubs, she was flawless, scoring 19.066 points to take her third consecutive World title with the apparatus.

Soldatova, who outscored Mamun to qualify for the Clubs final, took a distant silver (18.583), her second of these Championships.

The last competitor to perform with the Ribbon, Kudryavtseva appeared to improvise slightly at the end of her routine after failing to catch the Ribbon’s wand following a throw. Her score, 18.866, was still enough to edge Mamun (18.850), the 2014 World champion with the Ribbon, due to a superior execution score.

Yana Kudryavtseva, Russia

Ukraine’s Ganna Rizatdinova won bronze with both Clubs (18.566) and Ribbon (18.383), just as she did Tuesday with the Hoop, giving the 22-year-old three individual bronze medals so far in Stuttgart.

The Russian trio of Kudryavtseva, Mamun and Soldatova also finished 1-2-3 in qualifications, giving the Russians the World team title, the total of the eight best scores obtained by a country’s gymnasts. With 149.990 points, Russia finished more than eight points ahead of Belarus and Ukraine.

The 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships continues with the individual All-around final Friday night. Kudryavtseva, the top qualifier, is a favorite to win her third consecutive World All-around title.

Yana Kudryavtseva and Margarita Mamun (RUS) Take First Two Titles At Rhythmic Gymnastics Worlds

Russia struck quickly as finals at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships began Tuesday night in Stuttgart (GER). Superstar Yana Kudryavtseva won the World title with the Ball for the second consecutive year, while teammate Margarita Mamun took gold with the Hoop.

Seventeen-year-old Kudryavtseva, the undisputed queen of Rhythmic Gymnastics for the past two years, continued the domination she showed at the 2013 and 2014 Worlds. In spite of a slight mishap on a catch with the Ball, the judges awarded the “Angel with Iron Wings” the highest note of the evening on either apparatus (19.025 points).

That score put her a hair over Mamun, 20, who had to settle for silver by a margin of only 0.025 (19.000). Veteran Melitina Staniouta (BLR) won bronze for the second year in a row (18.350).

Kudryavtseva, who has won the World All-around title at the past two World Championships, chose to sit out the Hoop competition this year to keep from aggravating a leg injury. That left the field open for her Russian teammates, Mamun and rising star Aleksandra Soldatova, 17.

With the highest scores in both difficulty and execution (18.950 points total), Mamun was the big winner in the Hoop final, pocketing her sixth World title and first with the Hoop.

Yana Kudryavtseva at Rhythmic Gymnastics Worlds

In her first-ever individual World final, Soldatova won the silver (18.650), a few tenths ahead of Ganna Rizatdinova (UKR), who won the World title with the Hoop in 2013 (18.583).
Russia ended the first day of finals with four medals, two gold and two silver.

The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships continue Wednesday with the first day of qualifications with the Clubs and Ribbon. Finals for both apparatus will be held Thursday evening.

For Rhythmic Gymnasts, Much At Stake At 2015 Stuttgart World Championships

More than World titles are on the line at this week’s Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, which begins Monday, September 7 in Stuttgart (GER).

The 2015 World Championships serve as the first of two qualifying competitions for the 2016 Olympic Games. The top 15 individuals (maximum two per country) and the top eight Groups will earn their countries berths for the competition in Rio. An additional two Groups may also earn their places based on the continental representation requirement, for a total of 10 Groups qualifying to the Games.

The following 23 eligible individuals and the top seven Groups that do not qualify directly to the Olympics will advance to the Rio Test Event April 22-24, where they will have a second chance to qualify for the Games.

Additionally, 20 places are up for grabs at the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw (POL). These places will be allocated based on the results of the All-around final.

More than 280 gymnasts hailing from 56 nations from Angola to Venezuela have gathered to compete in Stuttgart (GER). Competition will be divided into Individual and Group competition. Individuals compete with the Hoop, Ball, Clubs and Ribbon, while Groups of five gymnasts compete routines using 5 Ribbons as well as 2 Hoops and 3 Pairs of Clubs. World titles are up for grabs in individual event finals and the All-around (general) competition.

Although a judged sport, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) is dedicated to making sure routines are scored fairly, said FIG First Vice President Slava Corn (CAN) during an orientation meeting for delegations Friday morning in Stuttgart.

“We are a judgement sport and I will not give a lecture, but we expect good, honest judging and fairness and good behavior by everyone in order to make sure that we have an excellent, positive image of our sport,” Corn told representatives of the 56 countries. “Our gymnasts deserve nothing less.”

Yana Kudryavtseva, Russia,

“We understand our responsibility in organising fair and unbiased judging, and we are sure this World Championship will be successful,” added Nataliya Kuzmina (RUS), President of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee.

Russia, which celebrated its 80th anniversary of Rhythmic Gymnastics with a spectacular gala in St. Petersburg earlier this year, remains at the forefront of the sport. Seventeen-year-old Yana Kudryavtseva is the two-time reigning World All-around champion, and in Stuttgart she will be attempting to become the youngest-ever gymnast to win three consecutive World titles.

A number of international competitors, including Margarita Mamun (RUS) and 2012 Olympians Ganna Rizatdinova (UKR), Melitina Staniouta (BLR) and Son Yeon Jae (KOR) are expected to challenge for multiple medals at this World Championships.

After a disappointing performance at the 2014 World Championships, the Russian Group has appeared strong in competition this year, winning two of three events in the FIG World Cup series. Other Group competitors include reigning World All-around champions Bulgaria, as well as Italy, Belarus, Israel and Azerbaijan.

For more detailed information and a schedule of events at the 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, please visit the FIG website here. For more details on the 2016 Olympic qualification process for Rhythmic Gymnastics, please click here.