Angelina Melnikova (File Photo by TwoWings)
What a difference a tenth makes.
Angelina Melnikova (AIN) reclaimed the World All-Around title she won four years ago in a suspenseful women’s final that was decided on the final routine in Jakarta.
The 25-year-old had a late fall on the Balance Beam but did just enough on Floor Exercise to surpass a surging Leanne Wong of the USA for a second World Championship gold. The second-highest scores on Vault (14.100), Uneven Bars (14.700) and Floor Exercise (13.466) of the 24 women’s finalists helped Melnikova build a 55.066-point total, edging Wong’s four apparatus score by just 0.1.
“I feel nervous after the qualifications and also tonight, but apart from the nerves I was happy,” said Melnikova, who dedicated her win to the coaches and doctors that she said helped her achieve her result.
A mammoth 6.7 D-score and the “energetic colours” of the Indonesia Arena helped Zhang Qingying of China attain the highest mark on Balance Beam (14.833), boosting her to All-Around bronze. Kaylia Nemour of Algeria, Asia D’Amato of Italy, Kishi Rina and Sugihara Aiko, both of Japan, and Briton Abigail Martin rounded out the top eight.
Nervous energy permeated the arena as Melnikova awaited her Floor Exercise score after putting a heel out of bounds landing her first tumbling pass and watering down a dance skill.
Needing more than 13.366 to surpass Wong, Melnikova frankly did not think she had done enough.
“No [I did not think I had won],” she said. “I had some mistakes on my turns, and that’s why I wondered what the score would be. Honestly, I thought I would be second.”
While Melnikova established herself as the favourite via her first two routines, Wong came on strongest in the second half of the competition. Ninth in qualification earlier this week, the 22-year-old started well on Uneven Bars and Balance Beam but only broke away from the chasing pack when she went to Vault in the final rotation.
By then several other medal candidates had faded. Sugihara, second in qualification, dropped off the Uneven Bars early. Nemour was her usual brilliant self on Uneven Bars for a competition-high 15.166 but came unglued on a wolf turn on Balance Beam. Even the fall didn’t take her completely out of the running for a medal, but 12.866 on Floor Exercise allowed Zhang to slip past her for bronze. Kishi had problems in her final routine on Floor Exercise.
Having struggled on her double-twisting Yurchenko in qualification, Wong made the decision to deploy the difficult Cheng vault. The risk paid off handsomely, and the 14.466 points she gained from it put her into the lead with only Melnikova still to perform on Floor Exercise.
Melnikova bounced backward on her opening tumbling pass and put one foot out of bounds but managed to keep her second inside the Floor area, avoiding a 0.3 penalty. It turned out to be the difference between gold and silver.
“Of course it’s disappointing to see your name go to second place but overall I’m happy with the competition,” said Wong, who also finished second to Melnikova in 2021. “I just take it a competition at a time, and I was happy to make it to the Worlds and to be winning a medal,” she added. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing what’s next.”
As for Melnikova, did she feel the pressure of being the first-place qualifier heading into the final? “I think I have enough experience not to think about it,” she laughed.
The new World champion plans to keep the celebrations simple.
“Just eat a lot. Sleep. I will try to sleep because I have not been sleeping so well here,” she said. “And tomorrow I have two finals: Vault, which is very difficult for me, and Uneven Bars. I would like to do them very well.”
