Interesting Facts from Rhythmic Gymnastics at the Paris Olympics:

• Gymnasts carried their countries’ flags during the closing ceremony: Einab Khammutova (Azerbaijan), Vera Tugolukova (Cyprus), Boryana Kalein (Bulgaria), Misato Praeva (Laos), Elzhana Taneeva (Kazakhstan).
• Daria Varfolomeev dispelled the myth that a World Champion can’t become an Olympic Champion.
• Daria Varfolomeev proved that even after losing the hoop in qualifications, one can still win gold.
• Sofia Raffaeli confirmed that being the top qualifier doesn’t guarantee becoming the champion.
• Zilu Wang received the highest artistry score of 8.7 in the hoop routine.
• Daria Varfolomeev received the highest execution score of 8.55.
• The highest score for apparatus difficulty (DA) was 13.3 by Daria Varfolomeev in the clubs routine.
• The highest body difficulty score (DB) of 7.4 was achieved by Daria Varfolomeev with the ball and Sofia Raffaeli with the hoop.
• The highest combined difficulty score (D total) of 19.7 was recorded by Boryana Kalein in the ball routine.

Qualification Highlights:

• For the first time in history, the favorite didn’t reach the final (Stiliana Nikolova from Bulgaria).
• Ekaterina Vedeneeva became the first gymnast from Slovenia to reach the Olympic final.
• Barbara Domingos was the first gymnast from Brazil to make it to the finals.
• Zilu Wang became the first Chinese gymnast to reach the individual final.
• German gymnasts hadn’t reached the Olympic finals since 1996, but in 2024, two made it: Daria Varfolomeev and Margarita Kolosov.
• It was also the first time two Italian gymnasts, Sofia Raffaeli and Milena Baldassarri, made it to the finals simultaneously.

Stepan Lendyel