Greece's leading gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias has won gold in the men’s rings at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships for the third consecutive time.
The 27-year-old, who initially withdrew from the competition due to injury, was the clear favorite for the gold medal. After finishing first in last week’s qualifying round, his chances to defend his title grew even bigger.
The Greek would also finish first in the final with an overall score of 15.366. Brazil’s Arthur Zanetti got the silver with 15.100, and Italy’s Marco Lodadio got the bronze with 14.900. It should be noted that Petrounias was also the gold medal winner at the last two World Championships in 2015 and 2017. In 2016, he won gold at the Olympics, as the World Championships are not held during Olympic years. He has also won four straight European Championships gold medals from 2015 to 2018.
Petrounias is now scheduled to receive shoulder surgery on Monday. He will then have plenty of time to recover before next April’s European Championships in Szczecin, Poland. There, he will seek to win a fifth consecutive European title.
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