Zhang, Zou strike gold on final day, China ends gymnastics worlds with 7 medals

JAKARTA -- China wrapped up the 53rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday with three gold, one silver and three bronze medals, as Zhang Qingying and Zou Jingyuan claimed gold on the final day of competition.

Zhang delivered a dominant performance to win the women's balance beam final with a score of 15.166, well ahead of Algeria's Kaylia Nemour, who took silver with 14.300, and Japan's Aiko Sugihara, who earned bronze with 14.166. It was Zhang's first world championship title.

Entering the final as the top qualifier, Zhang was the last to perform. Nemour, the uneven bars champion, had temporarily led the standings, but Zhang's routine, marked by a high 6.9 difficulty and excellent execution, sealed the victory.

"I'm really grateful to my coach and everyone who supported me," Zhang said. "Before my routine, I was nervous and overthinking, but my coach helped me calm down. Because of the mistakes I made last year, I used to think about them a lot, but this time, I overcame it."

Zou Jingyuan reaffirmed his dominance on the men's parallel bars, capturing his fourth world title in the event with a total of 15.300. Japan's Tomoharu Tsunogai finished second with 14.500, followed by Daniel Marinov, competing as an individual neutral athlete, who took bronze with 14.466.

Zou, who has also battled injuries since the Paris 2024 Olympics, said his victory carried special meaning. "There are many strong opponents in the arena, but my biggest opponent is always myself," he said.

In the men's vault final, Olympic champion Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines won gold with 14.866 points, ahead of Armenia's Artur Davtyan (14.833) and Ukraine's Nazar Chepurnyi (14.483). China's Huang Mingqi finished fifth with 14.416.

China's Shi Cong appeared in both the parallel bars and horizontal bar finals, placing eighth and seventh respectively. In the horizontal bar event, American Brody Malone took gold with 14.933, followed by Japan's Daiki Hashimoto (14.733) and Britain's Joe Fraser (14.700).