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Chinese Gymnast Feng Jing Crowns Men's All-Around Title
Chinese Gymnast Feng Jing Crowns Men's All-Around Title
Chinese young gymnast Feng Jing enjoyed a magical ride at the World Gymnastics Championships by winning the men's individual all-around title Thursday in Ghent,
The 16-year-old Feng, who competed his first big international event, performed calmly on each apparatus and earned 56.211 points, beating Belarus Olympian Ivan Ivankov into second 56.124 and Bulgaria's Jordan Jovtchev third with 56.085.
Feng said:"I didn't expect to win a medal when I came to Ghent and after I qualified for the all-around final. I only had a thought that I might win a medal at the moment when I was placed second overall before my last apparatus."
"It is a surprise for me. I was shocked when I learned that I won the title," he said.
It is the second time that a Chinese gymnast claimed victory on men's all-around after Li Xiaoshuang, who won the title in 1995.
Two-time all-around world champion Ivankov, whose poor pommel horse routine with 8.825 points snapped his dream of winning his second gold at the worlds after Belarus stormed the team title yesterday.
Though Ivankov surged back strongly and received the loudest cheers and chants from the sell-out crowd for his last apparatus on high bar, he had to concede a silver medal.
"I am happy with a silver. It's still a medal. The Chinese young boy is really good tonight while I make a mistake by myself," said Ivankov, entering the final with the top spot.
Romania's Dan Potra finished fourth with 55.899 while Cuba's Eric Lopez, former Pan American champion, came to fifth with 55.722.
Americans Paul Hamm and Sean Towsend, who scored high in the qualifying round, both suffered a crash among their six apparatus and placed the seventh and eighth, respectively.
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