Reinforcing their dominance of the team and all-around finals earlier in the week, Japanese gymnasts garnered four of the 10 available golds in the apparatus finals on the last day of gymnastics competition at the World University Game in Essen, Germany, on Saturday. China took three golds, with Great Britain, Armenia and Canada notching one win apiece.
All-around champion Miyata Shoko of Japan claimed her third and fourth gold medals of the competition by placing first on vault and floor exercise, despite her admitted weariness.
“My main goal was to win the gold on vault,” said Miyata of first victory of the day. “I wanted to do some more difficulty, but I couldn’t. That’s my only regret. I competed for three days in a row now, so I feel the fatigue. But I’m still happy with my performance and the fact I won.”
Miyata, who added a bronze on uneven bars, said her subsequent win on floor exercise capped a triumphant return.
“This was a perfect performance and a perfect finish to this event,” she said. “This was the perfect international comeback for me, the best way of showing what I can do.”
China’s Yang Fanyuwei scored a massive 15.000 to reign on uneven bars, adding her eponymous full-twisting Jaeger that she did not perform in qualifications. With a 6.7 difficulty score, her skills and combinations were more than ample for victory, although it was not exactly the routine she planned.
“I felt pretty nervous before the final,” Yang said. “But after all the practice and some competition simulations, I learned a lot and felt more mature. I did a pretty good job today with my (bigger) routine. There was one connection in my routine that I didn’t do. But still, I’m satisfied with how I did.”
Ashikawa Urara of Japan finished first on balance beam, crediting the early part of her performance for setting a confident pace for the remainder of her routine.
“When I get those first few elements done and have performed them successfully, I know I’m in the right rhythm,” she said. “I’ve achieved both of my goals here, winning gold in the team competition and gold on balance beam. I’m very happy.”
In the men’s competition, Luke Whitehouse became Great Britain’s first gold medalist in any sport at the 2025 Games through his winning performance on floor exercise. He said his status as European floor exercise champion from 2023-25 did not stress him as he prepared to tumble for the title.
“The pressure was probably the pressure I put on myself, not from any external factors,” Whitehouse said. “It was mine to lose. I qualified in top spot, six tenths in front of everyone else. If I went through the routine the same as in qualification, then I would be top spot again.”
Armenia’s Hamlet Manukyan said he was proud to see his country’s flag raised in honor of his victory on pommel horse, which was moreover a significant personal achievement.
“I came to this final with the aim of winning the gold,” he said. “This is a very important medal to me with the world championships coming up later this year. I already won the gold at Europeans (in May) and to win gold again is great. This medal means a lot.”
As the first gymnast to perform in the still rings final – also his first international apparatus final – Liu Hengyu of China competed with veteran poise and notched an ultimately winning score of 14.666 .
“I’m super happy,” said Liu Hengyu, a 21-year-old native of Shanxi. “Especially because I was the first one up. I was a little bit nervous, but I feel very satisfied that I did my routine successfully. It was probably one of my best routines. I’m quite happy with that.”
Liu Yang of China, who placed second to Liu Hengyu on still rings, joked about confusion over him and his two-time Olympic still rings champion namesake Liu Yang.
“The other Liu Yang is from another province, so in local competitions when that Liu Yang got a medal, they would sometimes mistakenly write it down as me,” the 25-year-old Liu Yang said. “It’s funny. I’m OK with it. It also brings a little bit of pressure, because of the name and (because) people think I’m the one.”
Vault gold medalist Chen Zhilong of China said he “took it easy” as he took his first international title, performing a Ri Se Gwang as his first of two vaults. He was the only gymnast to perform two vaults with difficulty scores of 5.2 or higher, and the only one to earn execution scores above 9.0 on both vaults.
“I did watch the others a little bit, and I knew I performed the best I could,” said Chen, who competed third among the eight finalists. “It just depended on how the others did. I fulfilled one of my milestones in gymnastics. This is also my first ever (international) gold medal, so it means a lot to me.”
Tsunogai Tomoharu of Japan kept his plan simple as he placed first on parallel bars, noting that his greater goal lies ahead.
“My strategy was to just to do it as I always practice it,” he said. “All the Japanese gymnasts are very competitive and very good, so I want to be a leader in this team.”
An ankle injury prevented Canada’s Felix Dolci from competing in the all-around, and compelled him to withdraw from the floor exercise final. He delivered a gold medal-winning effort on horizontal bar, however, in a test of his grit and wise self-preservation.
“I really made a statement to myself that I wanted to come here, do the high bar final and go home with the gold, and that is exactly what I did,” Dolci said. “The goal was to get gold, and the goal was achieved.”
2025 World University Games
Essen, Germany
Apparatus Finals (July 26)
Women:
Vault:
Miyata Shoko JPN 13.699Ushioku Kohane JPN 13.549Selina Kickinger AUT 13.366
Uneven Bars:
Yang Fanyuwei CHN 15.000Zoja Szekely HUN 13.800Miyata Shoko JPN 13.666
Balance Beam:
Ashikawa Urara JPN 14.166Tonya Paulsson TPE 13.266Emma Malewski GER 13.166
Floor Exercise:
Miyata Shoko JPN 13.700Ushioku Kohane JPN 13.366Jade Vansteenkiste BEL 13.266
Men:
Floor Exercise:
Luke Whitehouse GBR 14.566Oka Shinnosuke JPN 14.366Moon Geonyoung KOR 13.933
Pommel Horse:
Hamlet Manukyan ARM 14.933Hashimoto Daiki JPN 14.533Patrick Hoopes USA 14.466
Still Rings:
Liu Hengyu CHN 14.666Liu Yang CHN 14.300William Emard CAN 14.233
Vault:
Chen Zhilong CHN 14.549Luca Murabito SUI 14.033Kim Jaeho KOR 13.983
Parallel Bars:
Tsunogai Tomoharu JPN 14.700Shinnosuke Oka JPN 14.533Moon Geonyoung KOR 14.433
Horizontal Bar:
Felix Dolci CAN 14.633Hashimoto Daiki JPN 14.100He Xiang CHN 14.066
International Gymnast Online’s features on 2025 World University Games competitors include:
AloJapan.com