Oksana defends Doha crown
Doha, March 24, 2018- At 42, she is as robust, brisk and energetic as any top young athlete. Oksana Chusovitana is a wonder of gymnastics world and in Doha she has made a habit of winning gold medals.
As the two-day finals of the FIG Artistic Individual World Cup begun yesterday, the Uzbek veteran stole the limelight in front of a packed crowd at Aspire Dome by defending her vault title, after an improved show than the last year.
In the 2017 edition, Oksana bagged 14.166 points to win the final and yesterday, the oldest among the Olympians in the sport, upped the ante to collect 14.433 to take gold medal.
She showed no signs that she is in the business for more than a quarter century, displaying flawless performance to outshine 17-year-old Pyon Rye Yong (PRK) who claimed the silver medal with 14.383 points. Coline Devillard of France took bronze medals after a tally of 13.949 points.
“It feels great to win in Doha. I love to be crowned here in front of these fans who like gymnastics," Oksana told reporters after the final, adding that she was looking forward to come back to Qatar, which will host the World Gymnastics Championships later this year.
“I am enjoying gymnastics and I am fit. Definitely, I will like to return to win more gold medals at my favourite venue. The organisation here is great," she added.
In other final featuring women gymnasts, Belgium's Derwael Nina put up a dominating performance for a gold medal in uneven bars. She looked in top form grabbing 15.300 showing top class skills.
Russia's Uliana Perebinosova came second for a silver while French gymnast De Jesus dos Santos, who topped the qualifying round, had to content with a bronze medal.
Chinese gymnast Zou Jingyuan won the men's pommel horse title, finishing the competition with 15.100 points, ahead of Lee Chih Kai (Chinese Taipei) and Alec Yoder (USA) who took silver and bronze medals respectively.
Russia's Lankin Dmitrii reigned supreme in men's floor exercise final to win his maiden gold medal in the competition with 14.733 points. There were cheers for Filipino spectators too with Yulo Carlos Edriel displaying an impressive show to take silver medal. Japan's Kato Ryohei ended up with a bronze medal after accumulating 14.200 points.
In the last men's final of the day, Ukraine's Olympic medallist Igor Radivilov excelled to top the men's rings final, compiling 15.266 points. Promising Turkish gymnast Colak Ibrahim was close to the Ukrainian finishing his attempts collecting 15.000 points to win the silver medal. Jingyuan secured his second medal of the day by finishing third with 14.966 points.
Today, the last of four-day annual event, the finals of men's vault, parallel bars and horizontal bars will be held while women gymnasts will compete for gold medals in balance beam and floor exercise.
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