Petrounias wins back-to-back golds at Worlds

“Lord of the Rings” Lefteris Petrounias won gold at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Montreal on Saturday to become only the ninth gymnast (and the second Greek) to win back-to-back Worlds golds in the rings.

Petrounias scored 15,433 points after an excellent performance of his routine, with his closest rival Russia’s Denis Abliazin coming second with 15,333 points.

This was Petrounias’s seventh consecutive victory in all major events, and he matched the feat of fellow Greek Vlassis Maras who had also won two straight golds in the rings at World Championships in 2001 and 2002.

The 27-year-old had also won the Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro last year.