The Bulgarian Rhythmic Gymnastics Ensemble won the gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which is the third award for the country after the titles of Ivet Goranova in karate and Stoyka Krasteva in boxing. Simona Dyankova, Stefani Kiryakova, Madlen Radukanova, Laura Traets and Erika Zafirova won the Olympic gold with a total of 92.100 points (47.750 + 44.550).
Second are the Russians with 90.700 (46.200 + 44.500), who filed a contest and it was respected, but the additional points were again not enough for the first place. The Italians finished third with 87.700 (44.850 + 42.850).
This is a historic first title for Bulgaria in rhythmic gymnastics.
The Bulgarian women broke the hegemony of Russia in the rhythmic gymnastics of the Olympic Games. Yesterday, the same happened in the individual race, where the gold was won by the Israeli Linoy Ashram, and Dina Averina won a silver medal. Thus, the Russian athletes were left without a title in the Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympic Tournament for the first time since Atlanta in 1996.
The Bulgarian gymnasts started their participation in the final excellently. They received a score of 47.550 points (38.800 + 8.750) for their performance on balls to the sounds of the song of Elitsa and Stoyan Yankoulov – “Water”. So they led the standings after the first combination in the finals of the all-around. In the qualifiers yesterday, they were evaluated with 47.500 points for the same combination.
The second place after playing the combinations with balls was the team of the Russian Olympic Committee – 46.200 points and the third place was taken by the ensemble of Belarus with 45.750.
In the mixed combination with hoops and bats, the Bulgarians again showed strong nerves and played excellently. For it, they were evaluated with 44.550 (36.200 + 8.350). The ranking was repeated in the mixed competitions, in which the girls from the Russian Olympic Committee were again second with 44.500 points, and the Italians third with 42.850.
At the previous Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the Bulgarian ensemble won a bronze medal.
Thus, the Bulgarian athletes finished their participation in the Olympic Games in Tokyo with a total of six medals – three gold, one silver and two bronze.
