Son misses podium at Sofia World Cup

Rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae failed to win a medal at the International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) Sofia World Cup, Sunday.

Son finished fifth in the hoop competition with 18.350 points, fourth in the ball (18.300), fourth in the clubs (18.350) and fourth in the ribbon (18.300) at the second to last FIG World Cup event of 2015, barely missing the podium in all four apparatus finals. In the individual all-around competition a day earlier, she finished fifth with 72.800 points.

In the apparatus finals, she earned scores exceeding 18 points, but that was not enough to outperform the Russian athletes, many of whom received scores higher than 19 points.

Russian starlet Yana Kudryavtseva took all five gold, and her compatriot Margarita Mamun and Melitina Staniouta of Belarus shared the silver.

Son is coming off a successful Universiade campaign. At the event in Gwangju last month, Son won three gold medals and two silver.

Son is next set to appear at the season’s final World Cup event in Kazan, Russia, before heading to Stuttgart, Germany, where the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships will take place Sept. 7-13.