© John Cheng

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 2, 2022 – Reigning U.S. still rings champion Alex Diab (Glen Ellyn, Ill./U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center) notched a top-five finish to close out the 2022 FIG Apparatus World Cup series Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan. The University of Illinois alum posted a 14.333 in the rings final, almost a full two-tenths improvement on his qualifications score from Thursday, to claim fifth – his highest international finish to date.

Italy’s Salvatore Maresca led the way with a 14.800. Turkey’s Ibrahim Colak (14.766) and Azerbaijan’s Nikita Simonov (14.500) rounded out the podium.