China's Cheng Fei came won top gold in three out of five events
to become the triple world gymnastics champion in Sunday's
gymnastics world championship at Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The 19-year-old Cheng, who came in first in vaulting the
previous day, also earned top spot for the balance beam and floor
exercise. Two other Chinese competitors, Li Ya and Han Bing were
second in balance beam and third in the women's floor exercise
respectively.
Cheng and Li finished first and second in the women's balance
beam, continuing China's tradition of dominating gymnastics. Cheng
had an excellent start on the balance beam, with near perfect back
and forward flips, leading to a first place score of 15.675. A
French gymnast took third place with 14.200.
Cheng also dominated the floor exercise, earning a total of
13.475 to take her third individual gold medal and securing her
title as the triple world champion. Teammate Han Bing, who was
previously ranked fourth in the preliminary, jumped forward into
the third place at the finals with 13.475.
"I am happy for Cheng Fei and Li Ya's performance since it has
proved our winter training worked well. But we can't relax too long
because our rivals didn't show up," said Lu Shenzhen, China's
gymnastics women team's head coach.
The Chinese gymnastics squad earned a total of four gold, one
silver, and four bronze.
(China Daily April 17, 2007)