MOSCOW, Sep 16 Slovenian gymnast Ekaterina Vedeneeva, who previously competed for Russia, earned a bronze medal in ribbon exercises at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships, which takes place in Sofia (Bulgaria). Italy's Sofia Raffaeli won the competition with 32.650 points. The second was the representative of Bulgaria Stilyana Nikolova, who has 31.850 points, the third — Vedeneeva (29.900). Vedeneeva has been competing for Slovenia since 2018, for the country this is the first ever medal of the world championships in rhythmic gymnastics. In exercises with clubs, the German Daria Varfolomeev won (33.550), the second place was taken by Stiliana Nikolova (32.600), the third — Sofia Raffaeli (31.850) .The International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the end of February recommended that international sports federations not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions because of the situation in Ukraine. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) followed the recommendation and banned Russian and Belarusian athletes, as well as officials, including judges, from participating in competitions under the auspices of the organization.
