NANNING, China (AP) – Hong Un Jong of North Korea won the vault event on Saturday, denying Simone Biles of the United States a third gold medal at the gymnastics world championships.
Hong received 15.599 points to secure North Korea’s first medal at the meet. Biles, who won her second all-around title on Friday and also won gold from the team event, took silver with 15.554 points. Mykayla Skinner of the United States was third with 15.366 points.
Hong, the defending bronze medalist, didn’t attempt the triple-twisting back somersault that she had submitted for evaluation, but she still performed the highest-valued pair of vaults in the final.
Biles took silver with a pair of high, clean vaults. Although she outscored Hong in execution on both attempts, she yielded 0.800 points in difficulty to the North Korean on her second vault.
In the men’s floor exercise, Dennis Abliazin of Russia won gold with 15.750 points, beating out Japanese teenager Kenzo Shirai by .017 points. Diego Hypolito of Brazil secured the bronze with 15.700 points