Sport | Other Sports
Russia's Evgeniya Kanaeva takes Olympic gold in rhythmic gymnastics
Star wins over silver medallist Zhukova of Belarus while Ukrainian Bessonova gets bronze in gymnastics event.
- AP
- Published: 23:47 August 23, 2008
Beijing: Russia's Evgeniya Kanaeva won gold in the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around competition yesterday, posting the highest score in all four rotations of the event.
Kanaeva got identical scores of 18.850 on her rope and hoop routines before wowing the judges with a club routine that earned her a finals-high 18.950. The routine included a nifty move that involved balancing a club on her ankle while rotating her body around on the mat.
Clad in bright pink with a matching ribbon, she finished the competition with a routine that gave her a total of 75.500 and the convincing win.
Inna Zhukova of Belarus scored 71.925 points for the silver and Anna Bessonova of Ukraine had 71.875 for her second straight bronze.
Beyond expectation
"It's a pity for me not to get the gold medal, but I'm not too sad to get the silver," Zhukova said. "In recent years I have attended a lot of competitions and the best result for me has been fourth place. It's beyond my expectation to get the silver meal."
Russian Olga Kapranova looked headed for silver after finishing second in the opening two rounds. Instead she lost her balance and later dropped a club in the third portion of the event for a score of 16.950 and eventually a fourth-place finish.
A shot of Kapranova on the gym's big screen showed her looking dejected after a strong ribbon routine by Bessonova took her out of medal contention.
Bessonova said she fed off the encouragement of the crowd.
"They could really appreciate my performance," she said. "For me, the spectators are the real judges. Because of them, I performed better with the ribbon."
However, Russia's women drew a blank in the artistic gymnastics at the Olympics for the first time, leaving it up to their rhythmic cousins to make amends.
Rhythmic gymnastics swaps daredevil swings for balletic twirling, as girls armed with hoops, balls, ribbons, clubs and ropes mesmerise fans with their dexterity, grace and rhythm in performances.
Qualifying for the all-around was on Thursday and Friday, with the top 10 advancing to yesterday's final.
Each gymnast performed with four apparatus - rope, hoop, ribbon and clubs.
The top eight teams will perform in today's final.
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