© Todd Bissonette

SAlZGITTER, Germany, Sept. 12, 2009 – For the first time in 10 years, the United States won a men’s tumbling gold medal at a World Cup event. Kalon Ludvigson of Pocatello, Idaho, won the gold medal in the fifth and final World Cup of the 2009 Trampoline and Tumbling World Cup Series today at the Amselstieg Sports Hall in Salzgitter, Germany.

Team Revolution’s Ludvigson, who sat in third place after the senior men’s tumbling prelims, won his first World Cup gold medal with a 76.80, the first U.S. tumbling gold medal since Rayshine Harris won in May 1999 in Aachen, Germany.

Viktor Kiforenko of Ukraine claimed the silver medal with 75.10 points, and Russia’s Mikhail Kostyanov took bronze with 74.50. Russia’s world champion Andrei Krylov dropped to fourth after a shaky finals, but earned the World Cup Series overall title by qualifying for finals.

The Salzgitter World Cup, the last leg of the World Cup Series, determined the winners of the 2009 World Cup Series, which is based on the four best World Cup results of each gymnast. Gymnasts collect World Cup points ranging from 50 points for the 1st place to 6 pts for the 16th place. The previous legs of these 2009 World Cup Series took place in Loule, Portugal, last September; in Sofia, Bulgaria, in April; in Ostend, Belgium, in August; and in Zielona Gora, Poland, last weekend.

This achievement for Ludvigson follows a string of great performances for U.S. gymnasts, including gold medals in Ostend for Logan Dooley of Lake Forest, Calif./ World Elite Gymnastics in individual trampoline and for Dooley and Steven Gluckstein of Atlantic Highlands, N.J./ Ultra Twisters in synchronized trampoline.

2009 Trampoline and Tumbling World Cup
Amselstieg Sports Hall
Salzgitter, Germany
Sept. 12, 2009

Tumbling Final Results
Senior Men

1. Kalon Ludvigson, Pocatello, Idaho/Team Revolution, 76.80
2. Viktor Kiforenko, Ukraine, 75.10
3. Mikhail Kostyanov Russia, 74.50