Lefteris Petrounias secured his fifth World Championships medal on Saturday, winning silver in the men’s rings final at Rotterdam Ahoy in the Netherlands. The Greek gymnast scored 14.333, finishing behind China’s Lan Xingyu after entering the final as the eighth and last qualifier.
Lan took gold with 14.766, while Armenia’s Artur Avetisyan completed the podium with 14.233—just one-tenth of a point behind Petrounias.
From the Last Qualifying Spot to Silver
Petrounias’s place in the final had been far from assured. A landing error left him with 14.033 in qualifying, and he had to wait until the remaining competitors finished on October 18 before his place in the eight-man field was confirmed. It was his eighth World Championships rings final.
On Saturday, he improved his score by three-tenths of a point, turning the last qualifying spot into a silver medal. Only Lan, who had also led qualifying, finished ahead of him.
Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka placed fourth with 14.133, followed by Ilia Zaika on 14.100. Turkey’s Mehmet Ayberk Kosak, Britain’s Courtney Tulloch and Belgium’s Glen Cuyle completed the final standings.
A Fifth World Medal for Petrounias
The Rotterdam silver adds to a World Championships medal collection that began with gold in Glasgow in 2015. Petrounias won further world titles in Montreal in 2017 and Doha in 2018, before taking silver in Antwerp in 2023. His record now stands at three golds and two silvers.
The result also marks a return to the world podium after his fifth-place finish in Jakarta in 2025. At 35, Petrounias has now won world medals across an 11-year span.
His international record includes medals at three Olympic Games: rings gold at Rio 2016, followed by bronze at Tokyo 2020, held in 2021, and Paris 2024.
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