Bulgaria’s superb duo of Elvira Krasnobaeva and Eva Brezalieva dominated the Individual All-Around competition of the FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup held in Palaio Faliro, Greece.

Wonder kid Krasnobaeva amassed the highest total with 131.100 points and it was her performance with Ribbon, which awarded her 32.250 points, that secured the maiden individual gold medal in this first leg of the 2024 World Cup series for the 16-year-old Bulgarian.

Brezalieva may have finished second behind fellow compatriot Krasnobaeva in the Individual All-Around ranking, Yet eventually, after Apparatus qualifying was completed, she was the sole gymnast to advance in all Apparatus finals. Following qualification on Sunday’s Hoop and Ball finals after her heroics on Day 1, she got the best score in her routine with Clubs and the fifth-best with her Ribbon performance on the second day of the competition to make it four out of four.

Krasnobaeva was awarded the highest score in the Ribbon qualifying with 32.250, 1.000 points ahead of second-placed Olympic bronze medallist Alina Harnasko who, after a relatively slow start on Friday (March 22), enjoyed an excellent day with her routines with Clubs and Ribbon, that elevated her to the third place in the Individual All-Around final ranking. Experienced Ekaterina Vedeneeva of Slovenia also fought back on Day 2 to reach a place on the podium but fell short by a scant 0.250 points.

Two more youngsters, Pan-American champion Rin Keys (USA) and Vera Tugolukova (Cyprus), both born in 2008, reached the Individual All-Around top eight finishing right behind Daria Atamanov (Israel) and ahead of Italy’s Sofia Raffaeli. The latter missed out on a medal mainly due to the mediocre – for her potential – performance with Ribbon.

Individual All-Around final ranking:

Name Nat. Hoop Ball Clubs Ribbon Total
1. KRASNOBAEVA Elvira BUL 35.300 30.250 33.300 32.250 131.100
2. BREZALIEVA Eva BUL 34.000 32.900 33.350 30.100 130.350
3. HARNASKO Alina AIN 31.350 31.200 31.200 31.250 125.000
4. VEDENEEVA Ekaterina SLO 31.800 31.150 31.850 29.950 124.750
5. ATAMANOV Daria ISR 32.600 33.850 27.950 29.900 124.300
6. TUGOLUKOVA Vera CYP 31.550 31.350 30.800 30.100 123.800
7. KEYS Rin USA 29.800 31.700 32.450 29.800 123.750
8. RAFFAELI Sofia ITA 32.250 33.050 31.100 27.050 123.450

Clubs and Ribbon qualifiers:

Clubs
Name Nat. Score
1. BREZALIEVA Eva BUL 33.350
2. KRASNOBAEVA Elvira BUL 33.300
3. KEYS Rin USA 32.450
4. VEDENEEVA Ekaterina SLO 31.850
5. BALDASSARRI Milena ITA 31.800
6. WANG Zilu CHN 31.400
7. ALEXANDRE Maria Eduarda BRA 31.350
8. HORODNYCHA Polina UKR 31.300

Ribbon
Name Nat. Score
1. KRASNOBAEVA Elvira BUL 32.250
2. HARNASKO Alina AIN 31.250
3. TANIYEVA Elzhana KAZ 30.850
4. WIESNER Hanna Panna HUN 30.100
5. BREZALIEVA Eva BUL 30.100
6. TUGOLUKOVA Vera CYP 30.100
7. KARBANOV Helene FRA 30.100
8. KOLOSOV Margarita SLO 29.950

Israel’s Group consisting of Shani Bakanov, Adar Friedmann, Romi Paritzki, Ofir Shaham, and Diana Svertsov won a well-deserved gold medal in the All-Around earning the highest score in the 3 Ribbon + 2 Ball competition for a total of 68.100 along with their 5 Hoop score.

“We are so glad we got this gold medal. We worked really hard to achieve that, especially because of the situation in our country. We are really proud to raise our flag high and represent Israel. We are all looking forward to the next competitions”, said Romi Paritzki from the winning Group.

Martina Centofanti, Agnese Duranti, Daniela Mogurean, Laura Paris, Alessia Russo, and Giulia Segatori who represented Italy were awarded 31.500 points for their routine with 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls for a total of 65.850, still they couldn’t beat China’s superior total of 66.400.

Xinyi Ding, Qiqi Guo, Ting Hao, Zhangjiayang Huang, and Lanjing Wang appeared last to perform their programme and the 31.500 points they got by the judges helped them defend the difference they managed from the Italians with their routine with 5 Hoops on Friday.

Group All-Around final ranking:

Country 5 Hoops 3 Ribbons + Balls Total
1. Israel 35.550 32.550 68.100
2. China 34.900 31.500 66.400
3. Italy 34.300 31.550 65.850
4. Spain 33.000 29.700 62.700
5. Bulgaria 32.200 30.050 62.250
6. Germany 34.000 27.500 61.500
7. Brazil 30.250 29.950 60.200
8. Mexico 33.750 26.450 60.200