Raffaeli wins third gold of Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Sofia

Sofia Raffaeli of Italy's victory in the ribbon final earned her third gold medal of the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Sofia ©Getty Images

Italy's Sofia Raffaeli added a third individual title at the International Gymnastics Federation Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Sofia with a ribbon gold medal, while Germany's Darja Varfolomeev triumphed with the clubs.

Raffaeli claimed ball and hoop victories yesterday at the Armeets Arena, and edged out Bulgarian home favourite Stiliana Nikolova by 0.800 points to prevail in the ribbon event.

The 18-year-old posted a score of 32.650, while Nikolova notched 31.850.

Ekaterina Vedeneeva became Slovenia's first ever medallist at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships as her score of 29.900 merited ribbon bronze and pipped Adi Asya Katz of Israel to the final podium position.

In the first final of the day in Sofia, Varfolomeev won unified Germany's first gold medal at the Championships with an impressive 33.550 performance with the clubs.

Yet Darja Varfolomeev ?? may just have outdueled them all. She earns 33.550 for a stellar routine with the Clubs as filled with difficulty as it is with character. The audience shrieks as the score is announced. Varfolomeev cries happy tears. #RHYWorlds2022 pic.twitter.com/7WbLyIOf3q
— FIG (@gymnastics) September 15, 2022

Nikolova placed second with 32.600, meaning she has now won three silver medals at her home World Championships.

Raffaeli added another medal to her collection as a 31.850 score earned her third place, recovering from a qualification performance which ranked her seventh.

Competition in Sofia is due to continue tomorrow with the group all-around event.

The individual all-around final is then scheduled for Saturday (September 17), followed by the group five hoops final and the group three ribbons and two balls final on Sunday (September 18).