In French Montpellier, Lyubov Cherkashina claimed bronze in the finals for her exercise with the ball while the Belarusian national squad, comprising Lyubov Cherkashina, Melita Stanyuta, Anna Ryabtseva and Alexandra Narkevich, took the team silver. Cherkashina was the highest scoring Belarusian athlete in the all-round, finishing fourth, while Stanyuta came sixth. Both have now qualified for the London Olympics in 2012.
In total, nine sets of medals were awarded at the World Championships, with Russia claiming the largest number (13), followed by the Italians, Bulgarians and Belarusians.
Russian Yevgenia Kanayeva, a six-time world champion in individual exercises, topped the individual all-round, winning the exercises with the hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. Her country mate Darya Kondakova took silver for the individual all-round, as well as for her hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon exercises. Both girls claimed a gold medal in the team event.
