Angelina Melnikova caps return by edging Leanne Wong for gold at the world gymnastics championships

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Angelina Melnikova’s return to international gymnastics after a three-year hiatus ended with the Russian in a familiar spot: atop the podium.

The 25-year-old star edged American Leanne Wong for the all-around title at the world championships on Thursday, capping a long climb back to the top after Melnikova and other Russian athletes were barred from competing because of Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Melnikova recovered from a fall off the balance beam in the second rotation to post a total of 55.066, just ahead of Wong at 54.966. Zhang Qingying of China used a brilliant beam routine to earn bronze at 54.633. Kaylia Nemour of Algeria was fourth.

The result – Melnikova in first and Wong in second – was a repeat of the 2021 world championships, where Melnikova topped Wong for the crown just two months after leading Russia to gold and earning a bronze in the all-around at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Plenty has happened since then. Melnikova, who briefly dabbled in politics before removing herself from consideration in an effort to maintain the “neutral athlete” designation under International Gymnastics Federation guidelines, didn’t compete outside of Russia for more than three years.

Wong, a 22-year-old from Kansas, has spent the last four years as a fixture on the U.S. national team while also competing collegiately at Florida, juggling myriad business interests and studying to become a doctor.

Melnikova easily topped qualifying earlier in the week. The finals, however, were a taut if error-riddled affair in which her second world title wasn’t assured until her floor exercise score of 13.433 flashed at the end of the final rotation.

The only contender who avoided a major mistake was Wong, who qualified in 10th but found herself in a position to become the latest in a line of American world champions that includes Simone Biles, Jordyn Wieber and Morgan Hurd.

Wong gambled on vault in her final rotation, opting for the more difficult of the two vaults she does in competition. Her Cheng was excellent, and her score of 14.466 was the best of the day on the event.

Melnikova, who struggled on floor exercise during qualifying, appeared to have both of her heels land out of bounds during her first tumbling pass, a major deduction. She recovered to put together a clean and dynamic routine and her score included just a one-tenth deduction for stepping out, indicating judges believed only one foot landed out of bounds.

Had the judges ruled that both of her feet stepped onto the colored carpet that serves as the border, she would have been docked three-tenths of a point, which would have put Wong in first.

Instead, Melnikova gasped when her score was revealed before embracing her coaches to cap off an emotional return for Russian gymnastics on the world stage, in spirit if technically not in name.

Zhang was a surprise bronze medalist, the first by China in the all-around at worlds since Tang Xijing was runner-up to Biles in 2019. Zhang’s 14.833 on beam was more than 1.2 points better than any other competitor on the apparatus, which serves as a test of nerves as much as it is a test of skills, a staggering gap.

That performance helped her slip past Nemour and into third.

Nemour, just 18, remains a marvel on uneven bars, where her intricate and technically demanding routine is the best being done on any apparatus by any active female gymnast.

Yet Nemour also stepped out of bounds on her vault, earning a three-tenths deduction that proved to be the difference.

American Dulcy Caylor, 17, qualified in fifth but saw her chances of earning a medal disappear after a fall near the end of her uneven bars routine. Caylor finished 13th.

Asia D’Amato of Italy was fifth, an impressive return after she missed the 2024 Paris Olympics because of a knee injury and had to watch from afar as her teammates earned a stunning silver without her.