RIO 2006 - RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS

RHYTHMIC INDIVIDUAL
+ FIG - REPORT. --- After four years as the perennial silver medallist in international competition, Margarita MAMUN finally got her golden moment. On the Olympic stage in Rio, Mamun surpassed teammate Yana Kudryavtseva, who had gone undefeated at the World Championships since her senior debut in 2013

The 20-year-old succeeds Yulia Barsukova (2000), Alina Kabayeva (2004) and Evgenia Kanaeva (2008 and 2012) as the fourth consecutive Russian gymnast to wear the Olympic crown. Concentrated from her fingernails to the tips of her toes, Mamun turned in four scores over 19 points -- the golden benchmark in Rhythmic Gymnastics -- in the final to finish ahead of the three-time World champion, who has been her greatest friend and rival.

Kudryavtseva, nicknamed “the Angel with Iron Wings” for her balletic style and steadfastness, came to Rio as the favorite for the title. As expected, the 18-year-old led at the halfway point of the competition but made a fatal mistake at the end of her Clubs routine when she missed a catch. It was her only error of the night, but it was serious enough to take her out of contention for the gold.

Mamun didn’t miss her chance.
She saved her best for last, delivering her highest score of the competition with the Ribbon to seal the gold. The first to greet her as she came off the floor was her personal coach Amina Zaripova, who 20 years ago finished fourth in this competition at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

An Olympic medal at last for Rizatdinova
The Russian duel left just one podium spot up for grabs, and the three expected contenders -- Ukraine’s Ganna Rizatdinova, Korea’s Son Yeon Jae and Belarus’s Melitina Staniouta -- went after it with all they had. After a slightly shaky start with the Hoop, it was Rizatdinova who grew stronger as the night went on. In taking bronze four years after her disappointing 10th place finish in London, the two-time World medallist made good on her bid to win an Olympic medal. Son, fifth in London, moved up a place in the ranking, a new best-ever finish for a Korean gymnast at the Olympic Games. As the 2015 World bronze medallist, Staniouta began the afternoon as a potential podium contender, but after two mistakes with the Clubs could only shake her head at her fifth place finish.
►►  RG Indiv. all-around Final
►►   RG Inividua. aa-qualification

RHYTHMIC GROUPS
* Fig-report ---:
RUSSIA won its fifth consecutive Olympic title in Rhythmic Group Gymnastics Sunday, continuing a golden tradition established 16 years ago in Sydney. The victory, coming 24 hours after Margarita Mamun's individual title, gives Russia a complete sweep of the gold medals in Rhythmic Gymnastics since 2000.

But the Russians did not dominate the competition from start to finish. The team (Anastasia Maksimova, Anastasia Tatareva, Maria Tolkacheva, Anastasia Bliznyuk and Vera Biriukova) finished behind Spain in Saturday’s qualification round, and trailed the Spanish by 0.2 after the first routine in Sunday’s new life final.

A bobble with a Ribbon even left the Russian Group third at the halfway point, though within striking distance of the leaders. The 2015 World champions closed the gap with an inspired performance with the 2 Hoops/3 Pairs of Clubs to Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” earning the highest score in Group competition in Rio and rendering them impossible to catch.

The gold makes a double Olympic champion of Bliznyuk, the sole holdout from the London 2012 team. Bliznyuk is only the third Rhythmic Group gymnast to win two gold medals in Olympic competition.

20 years after gold, SPAIN shines in silver
After their fourth place finish four years ago, Sandra Aguilar, Elena Lopez, Lourdes Mohedano, Alejandra Quereda and newcomer Artemi Gavezou came to Rio determined not to leave empty-handed this time. Their silver medal marks their first podium finish since 1996, when the country won the inaugural Olympic title in Rhythmic Group.

BULGARIA bronzed 12 years after Athens
Like Spain, Bulgaria returned four of its five team members from 2012. With bronze, Reneta Kamberova, Lyubomira Kazanova, Mihaela Maevska, Tsvetelina Naydenova and Hristiana Todorova capped off a successful quadrennium that included the World title in 2014. They brought the country its third Olympic medal, following bronze in 2004 and silver in 1996.
It was Italy’s fate to taste the bitterness of a chocolate medal. The Italians shut out Spain by a mere half a point four years ago, but the “Butterflies,” as they are known at home, found themselves the odd team out this time, 0.217 behind Bulgaria. Belarus, Israel, Ukraine and Japan rounded out the eight-team field.
►►  RG GROUPS all-around Final
►►  RG Groups aa-qualification
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* RG - OLYMPIC SCHEDULE  (- local time )