41st WORLDS of Women's Artistic Gymnastics 2021

♦♦ 41^st WORLDS of WOMEN's ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS 2021
     *  P R E V I E W

When the men held their 10th World Championships in Budapest in 1934, women's competitions were also on the program for the very first time.
Now the 41^st WOMEN's ARTISTIC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS in 2021 take place in the Olympic year from October 18 to 24 in Kitakyushu and thus for the third time in Japan again, after 1995 (Sabae) and 2011 (Tokyo). (A fourth time is planned for 2025 in Osaka.).
At the same time as the 50^th anniversary of MEN's Artistic WORLDS, which can look back on 118 years of WCh history since 1903. As last twice in history (Paris 1992; San Juan 1996), now in the year of the corona-related postponement of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, there will be a second major global top-event in artistic gymnastics, which is advertised as an individual World Cup (all-around & apparatus event finals).

* A total of 114 gymnasts from 42 nations take part in the women's competitions at this individual Artistic Worlds.
The majority (15 countries) use the maximum number of four participants; only 7 nations appear with only one athlete, including Romania, Brazil and Germany.
►► WCh Female participants

* In the women's all-around competition, there will always be a new world champion, as the previous champions, such as the 5-time champion Simone Biles and all the other golden US all-rounders, are no longer there. But whether after the 10 uninterrupted USA successes - including the three Olympic successes in the last decade, now another US girl will be on the top podium - that's still open this time: One of the reported debutante quartet would have to be the experienced Olympic third, the Russian Angelina Melnikova or their compatriot, who beat the Olympic champion Vladislava Urasova. The second from Tokyo 2021, Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, will compete, but due to injury only on 2 apparatus, as well as the all-around fifth, Japan's Mai Murakami (only beams and floor). In general, it will be exciting to get to know all the women who are debutants at the World Cup in the new Olympic cycle. It's a shame that none of the younger German Olympic hopes got a start from their national federation: So it is the very first time in history that the largest national gymnastics federation (with about 5 million members!) competes in an WCh all-around competition without a female gymnast at all ...!
♦ GYM History: ►► AA World Champions All
..
* On the individual apparatus, you should really only consider the final or even medal chances after the first two days of qualification!
Brazil's Rebeca ANDRADE is the only current Olympic champion (vault) to compete. The top gymnastics nation USA - without Simone Biles and without the all-around Olympic champion Sunisa Lee - gives four young WCh debutants a starting chance that one can be curious about on all equipment ...:
 ♦ V A U L T - completely new names appear here, because none of the last WCh or Olympic finalists have traveled to Kitakyushu. The form of the competition day and the sum of both applications on vault decides whether you will participate in the finals - the quality of the technical mastery of the difficulties then via the medals ... as it is, in artistic gymnastics!
 ♦ U N E V E N  B A R S - Belgium completely skips this Worlds, so Olympic and defending World champion Nina Derwael is also missing. That should be a chance for Rebecca DOWNIE, who has to deal primarily with Angelina MELNIKOVA if there are no ambitious newcomers, such for example the 3-time Chinese junior world champion from 2019 (Györ), WEI, Xiaoyuan or the almost equally strong Chinese compatriot LUO Rui ...
♦ B A L A N C E  B E A M - Japan's Urara ASHIKAWA  is the only Olympic finalist here. China's Olympic gold and silver winners are missing, but the Chinese beam sovereignty can certainly also be demonstrated by its debutantes, such as LUO Rui ... otherwise new final faces can also be expected here.
♦ F L O O R  E X E R C I S E S - ... surely that the third place in the WCh from Stuttgart (20219), Angelina MELNIKOVA, will be able to impress the judges again with her skill and charm. However, one should not underestimate the equal qualities + home advantage of the former world champion from 2017 (Montreal) and Olympic third from Tokyo, Mai MIRAKAMI, but one should not underestimate the acrobatic performance potential of the new faces from the USA, such as Leanne WONG or junior world champion (2019, vault), Kayla DI CELLO ...
After the 2nd day of qualification (Tuesday, October 19) you will know more (- see below)...:

♦ GYM History : ►► Apparatus World Champions (VT / UB / BB / FX)
.

♦ R E S U L T S  &  COMMENTS

♦♦  WOMEN's ALL-AROUND FINAL
  ► Startlist AA-Final;  >> AA-Final-Qualifiers

Angelina MELNIKOVA (RUS), ahead of Leanne WONG and Kayla di CELLO (both USA) - that was the final after the preliminary fight, but also after the All-around Final today!
After the three-time Russian all-around world champion Setlana Khorkina (1997, 2001, 2003) and most recently by Aliya Mustafina, there was now the 5^th Russian accession to the throne after the political change and after the many successes of former Soviet gymnasts before.

* The WCh-Medal trio: Leanne WONG (2); Angelina MELNIKOVA (1);  Kayla di CELLO (3)
^© f  i g
With fourth place, Vladislava Urazova (53,598) also underscored the claim to leadership of the Russian gymnastics school, which with Olympic gold in Tokyo and the USA (Olympic silver) represent the current undisputed peaks in women's gymnastics.
Other nations could not prove this with this problematic change to the new Olympic cycle, with two top events in the corona year and various national team upheavals in some countries.
The best Chinese WEI, Xiaoyuan was 6th (52.699), Romania's best and only starter Maria Ceplinshi in 16th (50.898), between the two Britons Ruby Stacy and Georgia-Mae Fenton.
Surprisingly, in 7th place, a Portuguese woman placed in the top ten for the first time: Filipa Martins (52.199), ahead of the Italian and French hopefuls Alica D'Amato and Carolann Heduit
It remains doubtful whether young female athletes should be denied the undoubted gain of experience by not participating in the Worlds. For the first time in the entire history of the Championships, Germany was without any all-around starters! In the absence of some top gymnasts, this time they even got an amazing 20th place in the final with less than 50 points! That means you weren't even among the 55 best gymnasts in the qualification for the last Worlds in 2019 in Stuttgart two years ago ... !!
At the end of the 24 finalists, only 2 gymnasts from the German-speaking area made it into the final: The Swiss debutante Stefanie Siegenthaler finished 24th and Austria's Marlies Maennersdorfer improved from 24th to 22nd place.

* WOMEN's AA FINAL Results

MELNIKOVA, Angelina (RGF)  - 56,632
WONG, Leanne           (USA)   - 56,340
di CELLO, Kayla         (USA)    - 54,566
      4. URAZOVA, Vladislava (RGF)  - 53,598
      5. VISSER, Naomi         (NED)   - 52,832
      6. WEI, Xiaoyuan            (CHN)  - 52,699
           ►► Detailed Results
...................................................................................

 ♦ WOMEN*s apparatus FINALS (Oct. 23 / 24)

   * Titelholder: Simone BILES (USA)

  V A U L T : > Startlist Day 1

  ANDRADE, Rebeca     (BRA)  - 14,966
  D'Amato, Asia              (ITA)  - 14,083
  MELNIKOVA, Angelina (RGF)  - 13,966
        ► Detailed Results

* Report : ---With the most difficult program of both vaults (6.0 / 5.4), Brazil's Olympic champion Rebeca ANDRADE could not be beaten and became the first Brazilian woman world champion on vault in her, winning the second medal for Brazil after Jade Barbosa (Bronze 2010) in Rotterdam). The medal table is particularly colorful in this "corona-damaged year": an Italian has never been in a WCh vault final final - now Italy's new hope Asia D'Amato won the vice world title, which AA gold medallist  Angelina MELNIKOVA  had a too "weak" second jump, which at least brought her bronze. And an fourth placed African gymnast from Egypt (Nancy TAMANN) - that had also never happened before !!
..

   B A L A N C E  B E A M

  ASHIKAWA, Urara               (JPN)  (5.9) = 14,100
  SCHAEFER-BETZ, Pauline  (GER)  (5.4) = 13,800
  MURAKAMI, Mai                 (JPN)  (5.8) = 13,733
    4. WONG, Leanne                               (USA)  (5.5) = 13,333
     5. LUO,Rui                                           (CHN)  (5.8) = 13,300
     6. ANDRADE, Rebeca                        (BRA)  (5.4) = 12,500
     7. MELNIKOVA, Angelina                   (RGF)  (5.4) = 12,400
     8. di CELLO, Kayla                               (USA)  (4.9) = 11,866
     9. VORONA, Iana                                 (RGF)  (5.2) = 11,833
                   ► Detaillierte Resultate

** REPORT ---: The current Japanese national beam champion Urara ASHIKAWA, who has in 2019  winner of the Cottbus tournament and ranked 6^th in the Tokyo 2021 Olympic final, surprisingly won beam gold now in Kitakyushu, and thus the first Japanese WCh medal ever on this apparatus. Germany's Pauline SCHAEFER-BETZ, third placeed in the 2015 Worlds and world champion in 2017, completed her set of medals with silver now.
Double the joy in the Japanese camp: Mai MURAKAMI won a second medal with bronze for the hosts, who only achieved two finals on this device in the last decade ... Finalplatzierungen erreichten ...
♦ GYMNASTICS HISTORY:
►► WCh BEAM Champions ALL

+ + +

.
* Monday/Tuesday, October 18/19:

♦  Women's Qualification (Subdivision 1-10)
* All around - Russia's Angelina MELNIKOWA, the AA-bronze medallist (WCh 2019 and Olympic Games Tokio)  from the Russian gold team of Tokyo 2021, lived up to her role as favorites with an impressive 57.065 points and a clear lead in the preliminary fight. She was just as impressively followed by two WCh debutants from the gymnastics top nation USA: Leanne WONG (55,749) and Kayla di CELLO (55,700). Japan's Hitomi Hatakeda (53.798) in fourth ahead of the Olympic champion Vladislava Urasova (53.065) is the next order ... Brazil's Olympic silver medalist, Rebeca Andrade, did not participate in the entire all-round event after being injured, but she marked the highest scores on vaults and parallel bars and also qualified for the beam finals.

►► AA Qualification Results  (Monday & Tuesday)
* App. Qualifications:
► Vault;  ► Uneven bars;  ► Balance beam;  ► Floor exercises
*********************************************************************
  ►► 50^th MEN's WCh
.