Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships 2022 in Sofia: Bulgaria win Ribbon and Ball apparatus final as Italy claim Hoop title

Italy rounded off their sterling performance by clinching the gold in the Group 5 Hoops and silver in the Group 3 Ribbons and 2 Balls finals on Sunday (18 September) at the 2022 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships inside Armeets Arena in the Bulgarian capital.

Hosts Bulgaria won the Group Ribbons and Balls final that brought the curtain down on the five-day event.

The last day was all about the group apparatus finals, and Italy's Farfalle took an early lead with their "They Don't Care About Us!" routine, that had them topping the Hoops at the start.

Israel won silver, as Spain took bronze.

Hoops win for Italy

Two days earlier they had made some mistakes in the mixed exercise finished fourth in the all-around final (the only event also present at the Olympics).

On Sunday, Team Italy showed great competitiveness at the Armec Arena in Sòfia (Bulgaria) and "Le Farfalle" celebrated their gold in the first apparatus group final.

The "butterflies" flew to the highest step of the 5 Hoops podium, with an impressive score of 34.950 followed by Israel's silver - another great performance with a score of 34.050 - and the bronze went to one of the tournament's most impressive teams, Spain, with a routine of 33.800 points.

"The most important difference from two days ago was our reaction on the carpet because we made two good routines today and it was our goal," said the Italians after their gold and silver.

Ribbons and Balls title won by hosts

It was an even more electric final in the 3 Ribbons + 2 Balls event, where Bulgaria made up for their disappointing 8th place in the hoops, showing great resilience and living up to their ranking: they are the 2022 world champions in this speciality, thanks to a 33.300-point exercise, and were the clear front runners for the gold.

"Olympic is our biggest goal now," said the thrilled Bulgarians who booked a group rhythmic gymnastics ticket to Paris 2024 on Friday.

"When we stepped on the first place and sang the national them on the friday and today, it was very good. We didn't think of the Olympics, we just tried to play our compositions in the best way and they came.

That pushed Italy to second on the podium with 31.450 for silver, and the Azerbaijan team finished on the podium with 30.750 for bronze. It was Azerbaijan's first Group Rhythmic world medal.

The two final day medals boosted Italy's medal tally to five gold from the event, adding to the four titles won by the teenage star Sofia Raffaeli.

They finished top of the medal standings ahead of Bulgaria with two gold medals, and Germany.