37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships’ results: triumph of Russia and Azerbaijan’s Olympic licenses

The 37th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, which started on September 16, ended in Baku. Over 300 athletes from 61 countries participated in the competitions.

The championship was the qualification competition for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Azerbaijani athlete Zohra Agamirova got the Olympic license as a result of the all-around competitions. The Azerbaijani team (Diana Ahmedbeyli, Aishan Bayramova, Alia Pashayeva, Zeynab Gummatova and Daria Sorokina) qualified for the Olympic Games as a result of the qualifications with 5 balls and three hoops and two pairs of clubs.

Russian gymnasts won 8 of 9 gold medals. Dina Averina won in the all-around event and became the fifth in history three-time world champion. She also won gold medals in the exercises with a ball, clubs, and ribbon. She ranked third in the exercise with a hoop.

Dina’s sister Arina Averina ranked second in the all-around competitions and the exercises with a ball. Another Russian athlete, Ekaterina Selezneva, won gold in the exercises with a hoop and bronze in the exercise with a ribbon.

Israeli Lina Ashram became the third in the individual all-around event, she also won medals in individual exercises, except for the bronze in the exercises with clubs won by Vlada Nikolchenko (Ukraine).

In the team standings, Russia also won first place, athletes from Israel ranked second, and athletes from Belarus - third.

In group exercises, Russian gymnasts Maria Tolkacheva, Anastasia Maksimova, Anastasia Shishmakova, Evgenia Levanova and Angelika Stubailo won two of three gold medals in all-around event and exercises with hoops and clubs. In the final with the balls, Russians performed not as well as in the qualification and became only the third.

The Japanese team won gold in the exercise with balls and silver medals in all-around and hoops/clubs. Bulgarian athletes ranked second in the exercise with balls and third in the all-around event. Athletes from Italy won bronze in the exercises with three hoops and two pairs of clubs.