Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team competed late Saturday in the team all-around final at the World Championships in Brazil, which also served as the qualifier for two apparatus finals.
The team placed fifth overall with 53.150 points, falling short of defending its world title from the 2023 championships but advancing to both individual apparatus finals scheduled for later Sunday.
The lineup has changed since last year’s gold medal. The current squad includes Agam Gev, Kristina Eilon Ternovski, Arina Gvozdetskaia, Maya Gamliel, and Varvara Salenkova, replacing the gymnasts who won silver at the Paris Olympics and retired last December.
Japan, Brazil, and China all finished ahead of Israel.
Israel opened the competition with the five ribbons routine, earning 26.250 points for fifth place. In the mixed apparatus routine of balls and hoops, a synchronization error near the end — when a gymnast caught two hoops instead of one — resulted in 26.900 points and seventh place. Despite the mistake, the team still qualified for another final.