2009 London World Championships

2009 London World Championships
NBC broadcast logo
City	London, England
Venue	O2 Arena (now known as the North Greenwich Arena)
All-Around Gold Medalist	Bridget Sloan (USA)
Vault Gold Medalist	Kayla Williams (USA)
Uneven Bars Gold Medalist	He Kexin (CHN)
Balance Beam Gold Medalist	Deng Linlin (CHN)
Floor Exercise Gold Medalist	Beth Tweddle (GBR)
Preceded by	2007 Stuttgart World Championships
Succeeded by	2010 Rotterdam World Championships

The 41st World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at The O2 arena in London, United Kingdom, on 12 October to 18 October 2009. Similar to the World Championships in 2005, there were no team competitions. Individual All Around and Event Finals were contested.

Format of Competition

Each country was allowed to bring only four gymnasts. All participating gymnasts competed in a qualification round. The results of this competition determined which teams and individuals participated in the remaining competitions, which included:

• The all-around competition, in which only the twenty-four highest scoring individuals in the all-around competed. Each country was limited to only two gymnasts in the all-around final. The all-around was contested two days after qualifications.
• The event finals, in which the eight highest scoring individuals on each apparatus competed. Each country was limited to two gymnasts in each apparatus final. The event finals were contested a few days after the all-around.

Competition Schedule

October 14	Qualifications
October 16	All-Around
October 17	Vault Event Final
	Uneven Bars Event Final
October 18	Balance Beam Event Final
	Floor Exercise Event Final

Results

Event	Gold	Silver	Bronze
All-Around	Bridget Sloan United States of America (USA)	Rebecca Bross United States of America (USA)	Tsurumi Koko Japan (JPN)
Vault	Kayla Williams United States of America (USA)	Ariella Kaeslin Switzerland (SUI)	Youna Dufournet France (FRA)
Uneven Bars	He Kexin China (CHN)	Tsurumi Koko Japan (JPN)	Rebecca Bross United States of America (USA) Ana Porgras Romania (ROU)
Balance Beam	Deng Linlin China (CHN)	Lauren Mitchell Australia (AUS)	Ivana Hong United States of America (USA)
Floor Exercise	Beth Tweddle Great Britain (GBR)	Lauren Mitchell Australia (AUS)	Sui Lu China (CHN)

Notable Moments

The O2 Arena during the competition

• USA's Bridget Sloan became the fifth American gymnast to win the World All-Around title, after Kim Zmeskal, Shannon Miller, Chellsie Memmel, and Shawn Johnson.
• Japan's Koko Tsurumi placed third in the all-around, the highest all-around finish for a female Japanese gymnast.
• Prior to the World Championships, USA's Kayla Williams had competed at the Junior Olympic Nationals as she was still only a Level 10 gymnast. She was then asked to join a training camp and became an elite level gymnast just to medal on vault at the World Championships. Williams became the first American to win the World title on vault.
• Switzerland's Ariella Kaeslin became the first Swiss gymnast to medal at a World Championships.
• France's Youna Dufournet was the first French gymnast to medal on vault at the World Championships. Dufournet also placed fifth in the all-around, the highest all-around placing for a French gymnast.
• Great Britain's Beth Tweddle, normally known for her work on the uneven bars, did not qualify to the event final. Instead she won the World title on floor exercise.
• During the floor exercise final, Colombia's Jessica Gil Ortiz landed on her head on her second tumbling pass. She was unable to finish her routine, and was carried out of the arena on a stretcher.
• The Longines Prize for Elegance was awarded to Mexico's Elsa García.

Medal Count

Rank	Country				Total
1	USA	2	1	2	5
2	China	2	0	1	3
3	Australia	0	2	0	2
4	Japan	0	1	1	2
5	Great Britain	1	0	0	1
6	Switzerland	0	1	0	1
7	France	0	0	1	1
8	Romania	0	0	1	1