Lefteris Petrounias wins gold in Melbourne, ahead of Tokyo Olympics

Greek gymnast Lefteris Petrounias won gold in rings at the 2020 World Cup Gymnastics in Melbourne on Saturday, bringing him a step closer to the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer.

The celebrated athlete came first with 15,066 points in the final. He was followed by silver winner Mahdi Ahmad Kohani from Iran (14,500) and Ali Zahran from Egypt (14,200).

The next challenges for the Greek champion will be the FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup in Baku (March 12-15) and the FIG World Cup 2020 in Doha (March 18-21).

To secure his place in the next Olympics, Petrounias will not only need to clinch gold in both events, but also receive better scores than Melbourne.

President Prokopis Pavlopoulos congratulated the athlete and wished him success in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.