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Former champion Angelina Melnikova stars in her return to the world gymnastics championships

Angelina Melnikova is back.

22 October 2025

By JAKARTA

22 October 2025

Angelina Melnikova is back.

The Russian star began her return to major international competition after a lengthy hiatus by putting up the top qualifying scores in the all-around and on vault at the world gymnastics championships.

Melnikova, the 2021 world all-around champion and a four-time Olympic medalist, posted an all-around total of 54.566. Sugihara Aiko of Japan qualified second at 54.099 with Olympic uneven bars champion Kaylia Nemour of Algeria third at 53.865.

The 25-year-old Melnikova hadn’t competed at a major event since the 2021 worlds after the International Gymnastics Federation banned Russian and Belarussian athletes from competing as part of the fallout of Russia’s war with Ukraine. Melnikova was granted Authorized Neutral Athlete status by the FIG this year.