South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae established a personal best to grab a bronze medal in the individual all-around at an International Federation of Gymnastics (FIG) competition in Bulgaria.
Son earned a career-high 74.200 points in total from hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon over Friday and Saturday (local time) at the FIG World Cup in Sofia. This was 0.300 point higher than her previous best score, set at the FIG World Cup in Pesaro, Italy, in April.
Son was third after the hoop (18.550) and ball (18.650) programs Friday. Son's score in ball was her personal best in World Cup events, surpassing her previous record by 0.100. She scored 18.600 in clubs and 18.400 in ribbon on Saturday and finished third in the individual all-around.
Russia's Yana Kudryavtseva, a three-time world all-around champion, won the event with a score of 75.750, followed by Ukraine's Ganna Rizatdinova who earned 74.250.
This was Son's fourth World Cup this season and her first since the Pesaro World Cup that was on April 1-3. She skipped the World Cups held in Ukraine and Belarus earlier this month.
It was also the second time that Son won a medal in individual all-around at a World Cup this season. She previously won a silver in her first World Cup in Espoo, Finland, in February. Son finished fourth at the World Cups held in Lisbon and Pesaro.
Son will be looking for more medals in Sofia as she reached all four apparatus finals, open to the top eight gymnasts in each category. They're scheduled for later Sunday.
Son, who turned 22 on Saturday, is trying to become the first South Korean rhythmic gymnast to win an Olympic medal in Rio de Janeiro in August. She ranked fifth in the individual all-around at the 2012 London Olympics. (Yonhap)