Russia continue rhythmic gymnastics domination

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Russia won their fourth consecutive Olympic gold in the rhythmic gymnastics group all-around competition after two stunning performances in the final at Wembley arena.

The final piece of gymnastics action at London 2012 did not disappoint, with Russia scoring 28.700 in their five balls routine before 28.300 with the ribbons and hoops earned them a total of 57.000 to retain their title.
Belarus (55.500) won silver ahead of Italy (55.450) in bronze.
Uliana Donskova, part of the six-strong winning Russian team, admitted the group believed they would win gold in London.
She said: "It was a long time with hard work. We believed in our victory, but we didn't allow ourselves to relax. We didn't think about the medal.
"We had big support and there was no pressure on us.
"We are grateful to everyone. We are very proud to represent Russia and it's an unforgettable experience to hear the national anthem."
Karolina Sevastyanova echoed her team-mate and revealed Belarus' silver medal was her perfect top-two finish in the final.
She said: "We are not surprised with this result.
"We were supporting Belarus and we are very happy that they got the silver medal.
"We were supporting them (to win silver over Italy) because we have friendly connections with them."
The result continues Russia's dominance of rhythmic gymnastics after Evgeniya Kanaeva yesterday [Saturday] became the first woman to defend her Olympic individual title.
It means the country has won gold in every Games in both the individual and group rhythmic events since the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
The defending champions were the first to compete with five balls and set a huge marker, beating their score in qualification where they finished in first place.
Italy were next and they produced a dazzling performance full of intricate work to slip into second with 28.125.
Belarus, the third-place qualifiers, displayed a much more balletic and lyrical routine in contrast, and the reigning five balls world champions scored 27.825 to move fourth after one rotation.
Group silver medallist Kseniya Sankovich of Belarus was thrilled to take the second step on the podium.
"We would have been happy with any medal, but we're very happy we overtook such a strong team as Italy," Sankovich said.
"It feels amazing. We don't believe it actually happened. It's wonderful to get the silver and that Belarus got two medals (including the individual bronze yesterday).
"People didn't believe in us that we could win two."
Italy had moved into second place with 27.325 for their efforts with the ribbons and hoops before Belarus mounted their challenge with a strong performance, leapfrogging both Italy and Spain with a score of 27.675 and beating their qualification mark by more than a point, to claim silver.
Sankovich said: "Most of the girls didn't want to watch but I did. I know it's probably not appropriate but when I saw they made a mistake I thought, 'This is our chance'.
"It did motivate us to perform better, to gather our thoughts together and win (the silver medal)."
Ukraine then launched an inquiry following their 27.200 score, which was rejected, with Spain, Japan and Israel producing good routines as Bulgaria moved to third.
Spain were the first to compete with two hoops and three ribbons at the start of the second and final rotation and moved into top spot before Bulgaria saw their medal hopes slip away with a below-par performance.
Anna Baranova, coach of the Spanish team was frustrated with the result after her team had an inquiry into their second routine's score rejected by the judges.
She said: "I am disappointed. If you had told me at the beginning of the competition that we were to come fourth I would have been thrilled, but now that it is a reality I am unhappy because I feel that Italy made a bigger mistake than us."
Japan and Israel impressed but did not have enough difficulty to challenge for a medal as Spain launched an inquiry, subsequently rejected, in a bid to boost their score.
Russia then took to the floor for their second routine and produced a scintillating and innovative performance to fire to the top of the leaderboard.
Italy were next and moved into second place with 27.325 for their efforts before Belarus mounted their challenge with a strong performance.
They leapfrogged Italy and Spain with a score of 27.675, beating their qualification mark by more than a point, to claim silver.
It pushed Italy down into bronze medal position as Spain slipped out of the top three.