SPORTS
46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships starts in Glasgow
Baku, October 24, AZERTAC
The 46th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships have kicked off in Glasgow, Scotland.
Azerbaijan`s squad at the championships includes Oleg Stepko, Petr Pakhnukh, Yulia Inshina, Mariya Smirnova and Marina Nekrasova.
In the men’s competition, the name on everyone’s lips is London Olympic champion Kohei Uchimura, the Japanese superstar who will be attempting to rewrite the record books with an unprecedented sixth consecutive World All-around title.
Uchimura will also be striving to help lift his team past longstanding World champion China. Japan has finished second as a team at the past four World Championships, while the Chinese men have lost only one team title in the last 20 years.
For the women, Simone Biles (USA) and the American team have arrived in Glasgow as reigning World champions. Though yet to reach Uchimura-like levels of prestige, Biles is nevertheless chasing her own piece of history: if she defends her title from 2013 and 2014, she will become the first woman ever to win three consecutive World All-around titles.
The Glasgow Worlds are unique in that they are the first where the judges will evaluate exercises seated inconspicuously off the field of play.