LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Brody Malone won the first world championship on high bar by an American male gymnast in 43 years on Sunday, while Canada’s Ellie Black won silver on women’s beam.
LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Brody Malone won the first world championship on high bar by an American male gymnast in 43 years on Sunday, while Canada’s Ellie Black won silver on women’s beam.
Malone edged out world and Olympic all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan in a close final. Black, of Halifax, finished behind Japan’s Hazuki Watanabe.
The silver medal was the first on beam at a world championship for the 27-year-old Black, a three-time Olympian and all-around silver medalist at the 2017 world championships in Montreal.
“To come out and hit a good beam routine and finish on the podium, I’m so proud of the performance and showing what the Canadian women can do,” said Black, who helped the Canadians win a surprising bronze medal in the team. competition.
Watanabe’s score of 13.600 was just ahead of Black (13.566) and Japan’s Shoko Miyata (13.533).
Malone, 22, a two-time United States champion, led the final eight and scored 14.800. Hashimoto’s bid for a third gold medal to go along with the team and all-around titles he won earlier in the competition narrowly failed when he scored 14.700. Arthur Mariano of Brazil won the bronze medal with a 14.466.
Malone’s triumph was the first by a member of the USA men’s team on high bar since Kurt Thomas in 1979.
“It’s pretty amazing, especially to come up against a field like that,” said Malone, a native of northwest Georgia who competes at Stanford.
Jessica Gadirova gave the British host a gold medal in a floor exercise against a final field that included her twin sister Jennifer, reigning world champion Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and 2020 Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey of the United States Jessica Gadirova scored a 14.200, well ahead of American Jordan Chiles was second at 13.833 and Carey and Andrade, who tied for bronze at 13.7333.
“When I focus on dancing, it takes my mind off the crowds, the falls and the jumps, and it makes me feel alive,” said Jessica Gadirova. “That’s who I am. I love playing and the floor is one of my favorite pieces to do. It feels so amazing.”
Medals for Carey and Chiles gave them three each for the competition. They both won team gold last week, with Carey winning gold in vault on Saturday and Chiles winning silver in the same event.
“I just did what I know I can do, whether I got a medal or not,” Chiles said. “Getting the money makes me really proud. I could cry again.
Zou Jingyuan of China had the competition’s highest score in all finals with 16.166 on parallel bars. Lukas Dauser of Germany won the silver medal with 15.500 while Carlos Yulo of the Philippines won the bronze medal with 15.366.
Yulo also won silver in the men’s vault after finishing second to Artur Davtyan of Armenia. Davtyan’s two jump average of 15.050 edged Yulo’s average of 14.950. Igor Radivilov of Ukraine took the bronze in 14.733.
Radivilov said the Kyiv-based Ukrainian team was forced to train during the day due to what he called “difficulties” over the availability of electricity in the evening due to the ongoing dispute between Russia and her country.
“Ukrainian gymnastics will always thrive,” Radivilov said. “We are doing everything we can to raise the Ukrainian flag as high as possible on the international stage. … Everyone in the world knows what is going on and what kind of difficulties we have.”
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With files from The Canadian Press.
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