31. October 2021  
Kitakyushu, JPN  
Rhythmic Gymnastics

38th WORLDS of RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS 2021

Arina & Dina AVERINA: Russian most successful twins

* f i g ---: Nine world titles are at stake at the 38th Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships 2021 in Kitakyushu (JPN) 27-31 October, the final movement in a symphony of surprise that has played out in the sport this year. Representing 47 nations, more than 170 of Rhythmic’s best arrived in Japan as the archipelago hosts the World Championships for the third time. Japan previously hosted the World Championships in Osaka in 1999 and Mie in 2009.
Kitakyushu, a city of just under a million on the southern island of Kyushu, hosted the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships earlier this month and is reveling in the unique opportunity to host back-to-back Gymnastics World Championship events.
* After the first two days, as expected, three titles went to Russia: Gold to Dina AERINA and three times silver to twin sister Arina AVERINA. Only in the ribbon finale the two Russian sisters had to admit defeat by Belarusian Alina HARNASKO ...
* On Saturday took place the individual All-around Final with fourth gold medal for Dina AVERINA, it means as the very first gymnast with fourth WCh All-around title in history. Alina HARNASKO from Belarus won silver and beats Arina AVERINA on bronze place ...!
* On Friday the Russian RGF group won its fifth WCh gold in a row in all-around.
* On Sunday the two last titles of these Worlds went to Russian RGF-Group (5 Balls) and to ITALY (combined exercise; - see below →) ...:

  ♦ P R E V I E W

* INDIVIDUAL Competitions --: Fresh off her Olympic silver medal-winning performance two months ago in Tokyo, three-time Russian World All-Around champion Dina Averina (RGF) returns seeking an unprecedented fourth World title. No individual Rhythmic gymnast has won more than three World All-Around titles. Averina, who dominated the sport between 2017 and 2019, is one of only five gymnasts to achieve the trifecta. Other competition headliners include Tokyo 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Alina Harnasko (BLR), and top six Olympic finishers Arina Averina (RGF), Boryana Kaleyn (BUL) and Milena Baldassarri (ITA). They will be battling for a share of the five sets of medals up for grabs in individual Rhythmic Gymnastics, in the All-Around, Hoop, Ball, Clubs, and Ribbon.

* For more information please look at the ► S c h e d u l e)

* GROUPS Competitions ---: An additional three titles - All-Around, 5 Balls and 3 Hoops/2 Pairs of Clubs - will be at stake in Group Rhythmic Gymnastics. Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions Bulgaria have withdrawn from the competition due to an injury to a team member. In their absence, Tokyo silver medallists RGF, whose groups have been dominant at the world level for the past six years, and Olympic bronze medallists Italy will attempt to upgrade to gold. Perennial favourites Belarus, Azerbaijan, and host Japan, the reigning World champions with the 5 Balls, are also expected to contend.

* A special NATION TEAM RANKING will be established based on scores from both the individual and group competitions..

♦♦  INDIVIDUAL ALL-AROUND

* Sarturday, October 30:

♦ ALL-AROUND FINAL   (> S t a r t l i s t)   ...

 ...  of the best 18 gymnasts in two subdivisions (rk. 10-18 +  rk. 1-9)
      >>  Final standing, AA after Qualification

The current qualification results suggested that the AVerina twins would also be the clear favorites for the medalsin the all-around final! With an all-around victory, Dina Averina could become the only rhythmic gymnast to date who has ever achieved four overall titles ...! In her last World Cup final in Baku in 2019, Dina displaced her sister Alina by only +0.3 points. Once again, Dina AWERINA presented her high-class program confidently and expressively: She even surpassed her Olympic result in Tokyo (107.650) and won her fourth World Championship title in Kitakyushu with 108.400 points, but also the fourth all-around title in history: No gymnast before her had achieved this!
But Belarusian Alina HARNASKO outgrew herself sensationally: Stimulated by her individual gold in the ribbon final, she exploited a weakness of her competitor Arina AVERINA with the tire, where she received almost 3 difficulty points less (!) than in the preliminary fight and thus with +3 more points passed the other favorite Russian twin: 105.300 to 103.200 at the end, that meant WCh silver for HARNASKO for thevery  first time, and this time "only" bronze for Arina AVERINA.
Borjana Kaleyn (BUL) was fourth (102.450) ahead of Viktoria Onopriejenko (UKR; 99.650) and Sofia Raffaeli (ITA; 99.525)

♦ AA FINAL R E S U L T S
1. AVERINA, Dina               (RGF) = 108,400
2. HARNASKO, Alina          (BLR) = 105,300
3. AVERINA, Arina             (RGF) = 103,200
      4. KALEYN, Boryana          (BUL) = 102,450
      5. ONOPRIIENKO, Viktoria  (UKR) =  99,650
      6. RAFFAELI, Sofia               (ITA) =  99,525
 ... 16. KOLOSOV, Margarita       (GER) = 88,050
           ► * Detailed Results
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* Tue/Wed October 27/28

♦  Qualifications &
    IND. EVENT FINALS
► H O O P;    ► B A L L;   ► C L U B S;   ► R I B B O N
     > H o o p;            > B a l l;            > C l u b s;            > R i b b o n
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♦♦ G R O U P  C O M P E T I T I O N

* Friday, October 29   ► Startlist
♦  Qualification GROUPS  (5 balls; Combined-Exercise)

Altogether 18 national groups started in two subdivisons:
- Group A .. with Ukraine, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, Germany ...
- Group B with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, USA ...:
... at the end: The fourth gold medal for Russian RGF Group ...:

... with Maria Tolkacheva, Anastasia Blisnjuk, Alisa Tischchenko, Angelina Shkatova und Polina Orlova.

* R E S U L T S:
1. RGF (Russia)          (46,250 + 42,100) = 88,350
2. ITALY                  (44,350 + 41,650) = 86,000
3. BELARUS  (44,900 + 40,500) = 85,400
      4. Japan
      5. China
      6. Azerbaiijan
►►  AA Groups
   > Qualification 5 balls;  > Qualification combined excerc
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* Sunday, October 31
♦  G R O U P  F I N A L S

** Only in the first group final with the 5 balls did RUSSIA's RGF group live up to its role as favorites and won gold with a top score of 46,000 points. The Italian girls (45,600) won silver, ahead of Japan on bronze.
** ITALY, on the other hand, won gold with the combined exercise (3 hoops / 2 pairs of clubs) through an increase compared to the qualification, which the Russians did not manage: silver for the RGF group. Japan rewarded itself with the second bronze medal, with +0.05 points just ahead of China:

* FINAL GROUP RESULTS:

 (1) GROUP - 5  B a l l s (2) GROUP -  3 Hoops /2 pair clubs
RGF (Russia)        - 46,000 ITALY              - 42,275
ITALY                   - 45,600 RGF (Russia)      - 40,950
JAPAN                 - 44,500 JAPAN               - 40,900
      4. Belarus            - 44,100
      5. China              - 42,450
      6. Azerbaijan       - 38,050
      7. Brazil              - 37.650
      8. France            - 35,900		       4. China              - 40,850
      5. Spain              - 38,850
      6. Azerbaijan       - 38,750
      7. Ukraine           - 38,550
      8. Belarus           - 37,150
 ► Detailed Results       ►  Detailed Results
   
 

 


 



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* gymmedia

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♦♦  T E A M   R A N K I N G

Adding the groups results and together with the eight individual performances of the individual qualification competition, the ranking of the so-called TEAM competition resulted, thus already the fourth gold for the undoubted leading nation of rhythmic gymnastics, for RUSSIA:
1. RGF (Russia)
2. ITALY
3. BELARUS
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