Russian gymnast Melnikova wins gold at the international start in Paris

The 2020 Olympic champion in the team competition, the undisputed world champion in the individual all-around in 2021, Russian gymnast Angelina Melnikova, took first place in the balance beam final on September 14 at the first international start of the FIG World Challenge Cup tournament in Paris since 2021.

She earned 13,500 points, which equates to 5.6 points. Lena Bickel from Switzerland won silver (13.466 points), and Morgan Osiessek—Reimer, who received 12,800 points, took bronze.

In addition, Melnikova received 13,400 points (5.3) in the floor exercise final and took second place. The first went to Romanian athlete Sabrina Maneke-Voina, who scored 13,800 (5,9) points. The bronze medal went to Finnish gymnast Kaia Tanskanen, who scored 13.366 (5.4) points.

The athlete, who is the only representative of Russia at these competitions, competed under a neutral flag.

Ukrainian gymnasts voluntarily withdrew from the FIG World Challenge Cup tournament on September 13. Irina Deryugina, President of the Gymnastics Federation of Ukraine, warned about this earlier, explaining that gymnasts ignore these competitions because of Melnikova's participation in them.

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