American Donnell Whittenburg finally claims gold in 6th appearance at world gymnastics championships

Whittenburg has been a fixture in the U.S. men's elite program for well over a decade, sticking with the sport at an age when most of his contemporaries have moved on. The trip to Jakarta marked Whittenburg's sixth appearance at worlds, and the gold he earned joined the bronze he helped the American men capture in Japan in 2014 and the bronze he claimed on vault in 2015.

This one may be the sweetest of them all. Whittenburg's training has taken him all over the country over the last decade-plus, including stops at the U.S. National Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and a stint in Wisconsin before moving to EVO Gymnastics in Florida earlier this year.

Whittenburg has long been among the most powerful gymnasts in the world and a regular on the U.S. men's national team. That power translates particularly well on rings, where he has a triple-backward somersault in pike position dismount named after him in the sport's code of points.

He topped qualifying earlier this week and was just as steady during the finals, connecting one skill to the next with precision. He also drilled his dismount, hardly a given considering he came close to severely injuring himself while attempting it during the U.S. championships in August, when his right arm got stuck on one of the rings, leading to an ugly fall that he was able to walk away from.

The gold was the first by an American at worlds on rings. Whittenburg will have a chance to add to his medal haul when he competes in the parallel bar finals later in the championships.

Also Friday, women's all-around champion Angelina Melnikova of Russia, competing as a neutral athlete, added gold on vault and a silver on uneven bars in event finals. The 25-year-old's combined average of 14.466 of her two vaults bested Lia-Monica Fontaine of Canada at 14.033. American Joscelyn Roberson, who is dealing with injuries, earned bronze.

Melnikova's silver on uneven bars behind Olympic and world champion Kaylia Nemour of Algeria boosted Melnikova's career medal count at worlds to eight. This year's worlds marked Melnikova's first appearance at a major international competition since 2021. The International Gymnastics Federation barred Russian gymnasts from competing in 2022 because of Russia's war with Ukraine.

Nemour bounced back from a disappointing fourth-place finish in the all-around to put on a show on bars, her signature event. The 18-year-old's routine, technically demanding but also remarkably graceful, is arguably the best being done by any active gymnast on any apparatus on the planet. Her score of 15.566 in the finals was even better than the 15.533 she put up during qualifying.

Jake Jarman of Britain earned gold in the men's floor exercise final, followed by teammate Luke Whitehouse and Olympic floor champion Carlos Yulo of the Philippines. Kameron Nelson finished fourth in his first appearance at worlds.

Hong Yangmin of China edged Mamikon Khachatryan of Armenia for gold on pommel horse. The two athletes finished with the same 14.600 score, with Yangmin getting the victory thanks to a higher execution score (9.0) than Khachatryan (8.8) despite completing a slightly easier routine. American Patrick Hoopes won the bronze.

The competition concludes on Saturday when the event finals will be held in men's vault, parallel bars and high bar while the women compete on balance beam and floor exercise.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games