© Ricardo Bufolin

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 12, 2022 – U.S. acrobats claimed gold in the men’s pair dynamic and women’s group balance finals and added a silver in the women’s pair balance final Saturday, as the 2022 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships continued at the Milli Gimnastika Arenasi in Baku, Azerbaijan.

After securing the gold medal in the men’s pair combined exercise Friday, Angel Felix of Moreno Valley, Calif., and Braiden McDougall of Riverside, Calif., (Realis Gymnastics Academy) are World champions two times over. The duo (28.180) added a men’s pair dynamic exercise title on the penultimate day of the competition, outpacing runners up Daniyel Dil and Vadim Shulyar of Kazakhstan (28.030) and bronze medalists Daniel Abbasov and Murad Rafiyev of Azerbaijan (27.500). They will look to complete a clean sweep Sunday in the men’s pair balance final.

The California-based trio of Victoria Blante, Eily Corbett and Cassidy Cu (WestCoast Training Center) were also golden Saturday. The World bronze medalists in women’s group combined delivered a 28.100 in the women’s group balance final to claim the top spot. Belgium’s Kim Bergmans, Lise de Meyst and Bo Hollebosch (27.710) and Austria’s Larissa Hoefler, Hanna Paic and Paula Sophie Pfurtscheller (26.910) were second and third, respectively. Blante, Corbett and Cu could add a third medal Sunday in the women’s group dynamic final.

In the women’s pair balance final, U.S. acrobats Katie Borcherding of Pacific, Mo., and Cierra McKown of Riverside, Calif., (Realis Gymnastics Academy) took silver with a 27.350. Portugal’s Rita Ferreira and Ana Teixeira led the way with a 28.850. Kazakhstan’s Alexandra Rudakova and Damira Talgat finished in the third spot. Borcherding and McKown will close out their first World Championships Sunday with the women’s pair dynamic final.

The quartet of Ethan Chang, Sam Lacy and Cade Shields of Columbia, Md., and Dorian White of Castro Valley, Calif., (Emilia’s Acro Gymnastics and Cheer) finished just off the podium in the men’s group balance final, posting a 27.380.

Belgium’s Simon de Wever, Jonas Raus, Viktor Vermeire and Wannes Vlaeminck notched the title with a 29.290. Groups from Great Britain (29.080) and Israel (28.060) rounded out the top three. Chang, Lacy, Shields and White will be back in action Sunday in the men’s group dynamic final.