Blanick seizes vault gold medal at Stuttgart worlds

STUTTGART, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Poland's Leszek Blanik won the gold medal of the men's vault on Sunday at the Stuttgart World Gymnastics Championships.

The 30-year-old scored 16.512 points for Poland's first medal in this world championships.

Romanian Ilie Daniel Popescu took the silver medal with 16.500 points, while Ri Se Gwang from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) brought home the bronze medal with 16.387 points.

Blanik, who finished first at the qualifying round, was under pressure from challenge by Romanian and DPRK gymnasts as he was the last to show up at the final.

Blanik scored 16.450 points at his first jump, less than Popescu's final score of 16.500, bringing all the more pressure to the Polish team.

Prior to Blanik's second jump, some members of the Polish team covered their faces with hands, not daring to watch Blanik's second jump.

However, the veteran made a brilliant jump at his second try, sealing the first gold medal as well as the first medal for the Polish team at the current tournament.

This is also Blanik's first world title.

Two DPRK gymnasts demonstrated high-level skill at this event as Ri Jong Song, the second DPRK jumper took the fourth place with 16.362 points, just 0.150 points shy of the champion's score.