Moscow Hosts Gymnastics Tournament

An international gymnastics tournament named Stars of the World 2001 was held in the Russian capital city Sunday, featuring various events. Women participated in four events. Russia's Yelena Zamolodchikova, who has won Olympic championship twice, won three out of the four events. The only event that Zamolodchikova lost was won by another Russian, Lyudmila Yezhova. Unfortunately, Sydney Olympics champion Svetlana Khorkina had been knocked out at the qualifier. In the men's competition, Russians were less lucky, winning 3 events out of 6. The winners were Alexei Bondarenko, Yevgeny Podgorny, and Rashid Kasumov. Gymnasts from Greece, Belarus, and Poland won the other events. President of the Athletic Gymnastics Federation, Leonid Arkayev, told a news briefing following the closure of the tournament that gymnastics events will hopefully become more interesting in the future, as competition is growing in the sport exponentially. Commenting on Khorkina's failure, Arkayev ascribed it to her self-confidence and lack of proper practice before the tournament.