A day of thrilling drama, high emotion and stunning routines brought the 42nd Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships to a close in Frankfurt — and one thing is clear: Darja Varfolomeev (GER) is is the queen of the competition floor. The German celebrated double gold in Ball and Ribbon on the final day at the Festhalle to add to the All-Around title she won on Friday.
“Today I really felt very confident on the floor, no matter which apparatus I was using. I had the feeling that I was going to pull it off. With all the audience and with my amazing team…I’m doing great", said Varfolomeev.
“I’m happy that the competition ended this way. I gave it my all, there were some really strong routines. I felt good because I’d already performed the routines for the audience twice. I was in a good mood and felt confident that I could do it.”
In front of a packed arena, the 19-year-old first defended her Ball world title, packing her routine with difficulty and flair, scoring 30.350 points to finish 0.550 ahead of silver medallist Sofiia Ilteriakova (WG2) and Mariia Borisova (WG2) in third. She had also already picked up bronze with the Hoop.
But there was even better to come from the Olympic champion. In the last final of the day, her breathtaking Ribbon routine had the crowd gripped from start to finish. And the score reflected it — a massive 30.500 points was her best apparatus result of the entire World Championships, beating silver medallist Stiliana Nikolova (BUL) by 0.500.
“During the first few days, it was hard to get out on the floor. I was really worried about everything back then — I was very nervous. Over the last few days, I’ve really felt good, performed well, and am very satisfied.”
“Overall, there was naturally more pressure at this home World Championship — including pressure I put on myself. You want to give it your all; you want to hear the German national anthem in front of the whole audience."
Nikolova picked up her own gold in Frankfurt with her trademark high-energy Clubs routine. Her score of 30.150 points matched her highest apparatus mark of the World Championships — 0.100 ahead of both second and third place. Taisiia Onofriichuk (UKR) and Mariia Borisova (WG2) both scored 30.050 for their routines, but the Ukrainian took the silver medal thanks to her higher execution score.
“I am very, very emotional, and I think I'm not quite understanding what is happening right now. I'm very happy and I'm very thankful for everyone, for the support, for the work with me, and for the dedication."
“I didn't know if it would be enough. And to be honest, I actually wasn't sure until I went back after my Ribbon routine when they told me that I'm a world champion in Clubs! I cried because didn't expect it.”
Ukraine’s Taisiia Onofriichuk won her first-ever world title in a Hoop final that had it all: Drama, emotion, and the highest quality on the carpet. Onofriichuk scored a massive 30.700 points with her iconic “Thriller” routine to beat 2025 champion Sofia Raffaeli (ITA) by just 0.200.
“For me, becoming a world champion means taking pride in our country. I’m so glad I was able to pull myself together and do everything I could. I’d like to thank our coaches, Lidiya Ivanova, and our whole team for helping me get off to such a great start. I’m just so happy that I managed to do it. To prove that our country is unbreakable, and I’ll keep doing so.”
Brazil claimed both Group apparatus titles the first apparatus titles on final day at the Festhalle. The All-Around bronze medallists added golds in both the 5 Balls and 3 Hoops/2 Pairs of Clubs to end the World Championships as the most decorated group.
“I think we always believed that it was possible, and that's our goal from the beginning,” said Brazil captain Maria Eduarda Arakaki.
“We were already happy about yesterday with the third place and the quota for the Olympic Games, but we knew that we could do better, especially in 5 balls, routines. And we came here with this goal, and we did it.”
