Wei Xiaoyuan greets the audience during the women's uneven bars final at the 50th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, Oct. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
17-year-old Wei Xiaoyuan recovered from her fall in the all-around final to claim the uneven bars gold at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
KITAKYUSHU, Japan, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Wei Xiaoyuan bounced back from a fall in the women's individual all-around final to win the uneven bars as China added two gold medals at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships here on Saturday.
The 17-year-old Wei, competing in her first major international event, was the first to perform, scoring 14.733 points in a routine with a difficulty reaching 6.5.
Wei Xiaoyuan competes in the women's uneven bars final at the 50th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, Oct. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
It was China's second title following Zhang Boheng's stunning victory over Olympic champion Hashimoto Daiki in the men's individual all-around final on Friday.
As the newly-crowned Chinese National Games all-around champion, Wei fell off the bar two days ago and had to settle for the sixth.
"I am very excited," she said. "In the all-around final, I was a little nervous. But today I just felt like a training session."
"Paris is my target now," she said.
Luo Rui competes in the women's uneven bars final at the 50th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, Oct. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
Her teammate Luo Rui took the bronze after scoring an identical 14.633 points with Brazil's Rebecca Andrade, who finished second thanks to lower degrees of difficulty.
Andrade earlier has added the vault gold to her Olympic title in her favorite discipline.
China's Lan Xingyu dominated the rings final with 15.200 points. Italy's Marco Lodadio took the silver and his compatriot Salvatore Maresca shared the bronze with Grigorii Klimentev of Russian Gymnastics Federation.
Lan Xingyu competes in the men's rings final at the 50th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, Oct. 23, 2021. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
"It is a new start of my career," said Lan, who attended the Doha worlds three years ago as a reserve member of the winning Chinese team. He won a gold medal without performing.
"I will work harder for the Paris Olympic Games," he said. "Hopefully I can win honor for my country."
China was also expected to bring home the pommel horse gold but Weng Hao, who topped the qualification with 15.600 points, made two costly errors. He finished second behind Stephen Nedoroscik of the United States. ■
