Angelina Melnikova is a two-time European medalist on vault and made the final on this event at the Tokyo Olympics. However, coming to Kitakyushu, she had no plans of doing two vaults in the qualification and didn’t even train her second vault since Tokyo. After seeing that the vault field was quite thin, she made the last-moment decision to do two vaults and ended up winning bronze on the event. The reigning Olympic champion on the event Rebeca Andrade won gold and Asia D’Amato won silver.
After the vault final, Melnikova said she was happily surprised:
“I felt good today. I’m very happy that I won a medal on vault despite the fact that I really didn’t train it and had no intention of doing it here, of trying to make the vault final. This medal is quite unexpected for me.”
Melnikova was the fourth qualifier on uneven bars and had the potential for a medal but wasn’t able to do her full difficulty in the final and finished fourth, behind Wei Ziaoyuan, Rebeca Andrade, and Luo Rui. Melnikova said:
“I’m a bit sad about the bars but I didn’t do my full difficulty, so the score is as expected.”
Rodionenko commented on Melnikova’s results:
“Regarding Melnikova’s performance at these World Championships, she did a very good job. Gelya didn’t get completely back in shape because of all the constant post-Olympic celebrations and events. But she did well, she got herself together and did what she was supposed to do. A vault bronze at the World Championships with a competition level can also be considered a big success.”
Vladislava Urazova was another medal contender in the bars final but made a number of mistakes and finished 7th. Rodionenko said about her:
“If we’re talking about Urazova, don’t forget that she’s only 17 years old. And for now, she doesn’t yet manage to get herself together in the right moment, she gets very nervous. This break after the Olympics affected her the most. While Melnikova has a lot of experience, this is a very young gymnast who we all need to support now.”
