Odd 4-way tie for gold at world gymnastics championships

Four gold medal winners China’s Fan Yilin, from left, Madison Kocian of the U.S., Russia’s Viktoriia Komova and Russia’s Daria Spiridonova pose after their uneven bars exercise at the women's apparatus final competition at the World Artistic Gymnastics championships at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader) Four gold medal winners China’s Fan Yilin, from left, Madison Kocian of the U.S., Russia’s Viktoriia Komova and Russia’s Daria Spiridonova pose after their uneven bars exercise at the women's apparatus final competition at the World Artistic Gymnastics championships at the SSE Hydro Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

By Associated Press October 31, 2015 4 min read

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) – Might as well call them the even bars.

China’s Fan Yilin, Russia’s Viktoria Komova and Daria Spiridonova and Madison Kocian of the U.S. made history on Saturday at the world gymnastics championships, tying for gold in the uneven bars when the judges awarded each the same score.

There are no tiebreakers during world meets, meaning all four shared the top of the podium in one of the more unusual award ceremonies in the 112-year history of the event.

“Guess they couldn’t decide which routine was the best,” Kocian said with a laugh. “I don’t know.”

Neither, apparently, did the six-person judging panel. While there was a five-way tie for silver on pommel horse at the 1922 worlds, this is the first time the gold medal stand looked like a line at Starbucks. Organizers were forced to improvise during the ceremony, with the flags of all three countries being walked out onto the floor rather than being raised to the rafters because the rigging couldn’t accommodate four flags hanging from the same height.