Davtyan earns Armenia's maiden World Championship gold

Artur Davtyan became the latest gymnast to write his name into a nation's history books at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with a stunning gold in the men's vault.

The Olympic bronze medallist recorded two 15-plus scores to average at 15.050 and relegate reigning champion Carlos Yulo into the silver medal spot and become Armenia's first world gymnastics champion.

Davtyan became the second Armenian to stand on the podium in as many days following Harutyun Merdinyan's pommel horse bronze on Saturday and he hopes their success will leave a legacy back home.

“Since the fall of the Soviet Union this is the first gold for Armenia in a world championships," said Davtyan, who earned 9.500 for execution on both of his vaults.

"We got third on pommel and now we have gold.

“It is thanks to our coaches and to our unity. We have been through a lot of difficulties and we’ve been working hard to try and improve continuously. Thankfully, we were able to achieve this gold medal. 

“The most important thing is to avoid injuries, to try to stay healthy and compete uninjured. Unfortunately, in Armenia there are not very good conditions – we have no training centres or facilities. 

“If it wasn’t so hard, maybe we could have achieved this earlier.” 

Igor Radivilov also had a turbulent build-up to this World Championships but delivered an excellent performance to took bronze to earn Ukraine's first podium finish of the week. 

“I'm very tired, but happy about the result," he said.

“This world championship medal is very important for Ukraine, because of the war and the problems we have had training.

“This medal will help push me towards the next world championships and the Olympic Games, and maybe there will be one more medal for me.”

The World Gymnastics Championships Liverpool 2022 will be one of the largest international sporting events ever to be held in the city. Over 500 gymnasts from more than 70 countries will compete at the M&S Bank Arena from 29 October to 6 November 2022. Tickets are available at www.2022worldgymnastics.com/tickets.