Gators Gymnast Leanne Wong Secures Bronze at World Championships

Gators freshman Leanne Wong took home the bronze medal in the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Sunday to close out the competition. Her difficulty score, ranked generally between five and six points in elite gymnastics, overcame silver medalist’s Angelina Melnikova 5.600 by a tenth of a point, coming in at 5.700. Each skill set to be performed by the gymnast in his/her routine receives a set number of points ahead of the performance.

Leanne Wong on the Floor

The advantage wasn’t enough to bring home the silver or gold medal, however.

The execution score is ranked out of ten points, with a ten being a perfect routine. Many elite gymnasts score between seven and nine points in a competition. Wong notched an 8.133, .267 points behind Melnikova, who scored an 8.4. Wong’s difficulty score notched her third place as fourth place Vladislava Urazova performed an 8.400 routine. Wong put up a final score of 13.833.

Wong pocketed a silver medal in the all-around with a score of 56.340 out of a possible 64 points. Wong’s score suffered in the beginning. She failed to stick the landing in her first two passes, having a bit of a wobble in the first and a bob in the second.

The classical music of her routine carried on, and she didn’t give up. Wong almost nailed her third pass and stuck the landing on her final double pike pass to finish out the routine.

“Competing is really fun, but there’s lots of surprises everywhere,” Wong told GymCastic. “You just gotta handle anything.”

She served as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics along with three other gymnasts: Kayla DiCello, Emma Malabuyo and Kara Eaker.

Wong ranked fifth in the 2021 U.S. Championships in the all-around and third the floor exercise. The Gators gymnastics team opens up the season Jan. 7 in a meet against Northern Illinois.