YOKOHAMA, Japan – The USA’s Natasha Kelley of Katy, Texas, and Bianca Flohr of Creston, Ohio, went one-two, respectively, in the women’s all-around competition at the International Junior Gymnastics Competition in Yokohama, Japan. The junior women’s duo earned a total of three gold, five silver and two bronze medals between them. Combined with the silver medal on still rings by Seung Tai Lee of Sorrento, Fla., the USA brought home a total of 11 medals.

In the women’s competition, the USA dominated the event, with Romania earning the remaining gold medals. In almost every event, the point difference between the two Americans was one-tenth of a point. Kelley edged past teammate Flohr in the all-around, 37.250 to 37.150, with Romania’s Sandra Izbasa taking the bronze. In the individual event finals, the twosome went one-two in both the uneven bars and balance beam. On the uneven bars, Flohr won the gold medal with a 9.475 and Kelly was second with 9.35. On the beam, Kelley took top honors with a 9.55 and Flohr was the runner-up with a 9.45. On both vault and the floor exercise, Romania’s Izbasa won the gold medals, with Kelley finishing second and Flohr placing third.
In addition to his silver medal in the still rings, Lee finished sixth in the all-around and tied for fourth in the vault. His teammate Kyson Bunthuwong of El Cerrito, Calif., was ninth in the all-around and competed in three event finals, finishing fifth in the parallel bars and sixth in both the floor exercise and horizontal bar. China’s Mingshen Liang won the men’s all-around.
The 17th edition of the International Junior Gymnastics Competition, held at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium, featured athletes from Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Spain, Ukraine and the United States.
The coaches were: women – Ashly and Dan Baker of Brown’s Gymnastics in Houston and Terry Gray of Flytz USA in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; and men – Aaron Floyd of Golden Bear Gymnastics in Berkeley, Calif., and Casimiro Suarez of Orlando (Fla.) Metro Gymnastics.
For results and photos, see: | International Junior Gymnastics Competition |