DAKAR, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Daniil Smirnov and Polina Dmitrieva won the men's and women's artistic gymnastics individual all-around titles, respectively, at the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games on Tuesday.
Smirnov, 17, recovered from a sixth-place finish in qualification to claim the men's gold, ahead of Britain's Uzair Chowdhury and Japan's Nishihara Ikki.
Chowdhury had topped qualification by more than four points over Smirnov but saw his title hopes suffer a setback on the pommel horse when his leg caught the apparatus, forcing him to stop and restart his routine. He scored just 11.733 points.
The Briton recovered with 14.200 on the parallel bars, the highest score on any apparatus in the final, but Smirnov responded with 14.000 to take a 1.732-point lead into the final rotation.
Smirnov then scored 13.200 on the horizontal bar, a marked improvement on his qualification score of 10.366, to secure the title.
China's Yang Lanbin briefly moved into third with 13.133 on the horizontal bar, but Chowdhury, the last gymnast to compete, scored 12.766 to finish second with 79.132 points.
Chowdhury edged Nishihara by just 0.067 points, with the Japanese taking bronze on 79.065. Yang finished fourth with 78.465.
In the women's competition, 14-year-old Dmitrieva overcame China's top two qualifiers, Xie Guying and Zhong Qi, to take gold with 54.665 points.
France's Louane Plisson led after the opening rotation with 13.666 on the uneven bars, while Dmitrieva stood sixth after scoring 13.066 on vault.
Dmitrieva surged into the lead in the second rotation with 14.500 on the uneven bars, despite Zhong posting the highest score of 14.533.
The Russian maintained her advantage on the balance beam, scoring 14.133 to Zhong's 14.200, and entered the final rotation with a narrow 0.133-point lead.
Dmitrieva sealed victory with 12.966 on floor exercise, while Zhong faltered after putting a hand down on her double tuck and losing balance following a 720-degree turn.
Zhong's coaches successfully challenged her difficulty score, which was raised by 0.2 points, lifting her from fourth to third with a total of 53.199.
Plisson secured silver with 53.665 after scoring 13.333 on her final vault.
"There was a lot of pressure on the vault because it was the last apparatus, and it went well," Plisson said.
Xie, who had topped qualification, fell from the balance beam and stepped out of bounds twice on floor exercise, finishing seventh with 51.299.
Russian gymnasts did not compete in the team events in Dakar, having qualified individually. Both Smirnov and Dmitrieva are scheduled to compete in Wednesday's mixed team final. ■
