Kanaeva Wins All-Around and All Four Events at Worlds
Olympic all-around champion Evgeniya Kanaeva (Russia) took the all-around title and every event title at the 2009 Rhythmic World Championships in Mie, Japan. Russia also won the team gold, putting Kanaeva's gold medal count at six.
According to International Gymnast this is the most gold medals ever won by a single gymnast at rhythmic worlds. In 1963, Soviet Lyudmila Szavinkova swept the golds, but only the all-around and two individual events were contested, and in 1992, Russia's Oksana Kostina won or tied for all titles, but there was no team competition.
The awesome UniversalSports.com has archived several competitions already and is adding the other competitions as well. Videos can be found here. I've heard that some of the competitions will also air on Universal Sports on TV, but the dates and times are still TBD.
Group competition -- the most exciting event of rhythmic gymnastics in my opinion -- will be aired lived on UniversalSports.com at 12:00am-2:00am ET on 9/12 (or late tonight, if you think like I do!).
(Pictured above: Evgeniya Kanaeva; © Harry How / Getty Images)
Comments
Kanaeva’s most controversial gold was on ribbon. She and Bessonova had the same D and E scores, but Kanaeva was just .1 ahead in the artistic score. I think Bessonova should have won that final.