NAGOYA, Japan, 7 December 2003 — World and Olympic champion Svetlana Khorkina of Russia claimed her first all-around title at gymnastics’ Chunichi Cup here yesterday.
The 24-year-old Khorkina, who took uneven parallel bars gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, collected a total of 36.775 points from four categories to beat Romanian rivals Andreea Munteanu into second and Oana Ban into third.
Khorkina earned 9.425 points in the pommel horse and the uneven bars, 9.175 points in the beam and 8.750 points in the floor exercise.
Munteanu, 15, who teamed up with Ban to win the team silver medal at the world championships, claimed a total of 36.700 points, while Ban, runner-up last year here, gained 36.675 points.
In the men’s competition world bronze medalist Hiroyuki Tomita became the first man in 20 years to successfully defend the all-around title after totaling 56.625 points from six disciplines.
Fellow Japanese Naoya Tsukahara, the 2001 champion and runner-up last year, was second again with 56.150 points, while 2001 world champion Feng Jing of China was third with 55.875 points.
