At 17, Germany’s Daria Varfolomeeva led Paris 2024 in rhythmic gymnastics, claiming the overall individual title, while China won its first Olympic title in the team event on Saturday.
Born in Russia but living in Germany with her grandparents, Varfolomeeva rose to the top of the sport at the age of 12, winning five gold medals at the 2023 World Championships in Valencia, Spain, and confirming her status as the sport’s biggest star in Paris.
The German beat Bulgaria’s Boryana Kalein and Italy’s Sofia Raffaeli, who finished second and third respectively, on a podium that was bound to be different from Tokyo 2020, as the Japanese capital’s three medalists did not compete in Paris.
Varfolomeev replaced Linoy Ashram, the first Israeli to win gold in rhythmic gymnastics, in the gallery of Olympic champions, who was present in France as the coach of Daria Atamanova, who failed to emulate her compatriot and finished fifth.
In the overall team standings, the regularity of the Chinese gymnasts was rewarded with the highest place on the podium, ahead of Israel, who came in second and also holds the Olympic title, and Italy, third and still seeking their first gold medal in the modality.
China replaced Bulgaria in fourth place, while Russia, despite being banned from the 33rd Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because of the war in Ukraine, still leads the world medal table.
Table of medals in rhythmic gymnastics:
– Rhythmic gymnastics, individual full championship (women):
GOLD: Daria Varfolomeeva (ALE).
SILVER: Boryana Kalein (BUL).
BRONZE: Sofia Rafaeli (Italy).
– Rhythmic gymnastics, team championship (women):
GOLD: China.
SILVER: Israel.
BRONZE: Italy.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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