The XXVI World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, during 24–29 September, 2003.
The Championships acted as a qualifying event for the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the event, the qualifying round, apparatus finals, and team event were held concurrently; after all gymnasts competed during the day, the top eight gymnasts on each apparatus competed again in the evening for apparatus finals.
At the event, a medal ceremony was held for medals from the 2001 World Championships that were reallocated as a result of Alina Kabaeva and Irina Tchachina having their results nullified due to testing positive for diuretics at the 2001 Goodwill Games. One of the recipients of the new medals, Simona Peycheva, had herself recently tested positive for diuretics in an out-of-competition test and though she was present at the event, refused to participate in the medal ceremony.
Kabaeva was allowed to return to competition in time to compete. The rivalry between Russian and Ukrainian gymnasts was exemplified by the performance of her and Anna Bessonova, a rising Ukrainian gymnast. In the early part of the competition, they split the four apparatus titles with two each, and though the Russian team won the team competition, Bessonova outperformed Kabaeva in the qualifying round, scoring 1.7 points over her. However, in the all-around final, Kabaeva competed more cleanly, with only small mistakes in her ball and club routines, while Bessonova lost the ball at the end of her first routine and finished without her apparatus, a larger mistake. Though she performed more strongly in her other routines, including receiving the highest score of the day during her hoop routine, it was not enough to overcome the point deficit. Kabaeva won the gold, Bessonova finished with the silver, and Tchachina won bronze.
Tchachina also won two of the apparatus medals, a silver with clubs and bronze with ball. Inna Zhukova also won a bronze with ball, and Elizabeth Paisieva won Bulgaria's only individual medal of the competition with a bronze in ribbon.
Russia dominated the group competition, winning all three gold medals, while Bulgaria won all three silvers. Belarus won bronze in the all-around, while the Italian group won both apparatus final medals.
Medal winners Team Competition Alina KabaevaVera SessinaOlga KapranovaIrina Tchachina Anna BessonovaTamara YerofeevaNatalia Godunko Inna ZhukovaSvetlana RudalovaLiubov CharkashynaValeria Kurylskaya Individual Finals Groups Finals Olesia BeluguinaNatalia LavrovaTatiana KurbakovaOlessia ManurovaElena MurzinaElena Posevina Olesia BeluguinaNatalia LavrovaTatiana KurbakovaOlessia ManurovaElena MurzinaElena Posevina Elisa BlanchiMarinella FalcaDaniela MasseroniPamela MastroianniFrancesca PasinettiElisa Santoni Olesia BeluguinaNatalia LavrovaTatiana KurbakovaOlessia ManurovaElena MurzinaElena Posevina Elisa BlanchiMarinella FalcaDaniela MasseroniPamela MastroianniFrancesca PasinettiElisa Santoni
Individual Events Individual All-Around Place Nation Name Total 1 Alina Kabaeva 106.475 2 Anna Bessonova 106.150 3 Irina Tchachina 105.775 4 Inna Zhukova 98.825 5 Elizabeth Paisieva 97.650 6 Svetlana Rudalova 97.125 7 Aliya Yussupova 97.000 8 Dinara Gimatova 94.075 9 Eleni Andriola 93.050 10 Mary Sanders 91.800 11 Jennifer Colino 91.200 12 Lisa Ingildeeva 90.475 13 Almudena Cid Tostado 90.050 14 Tamara Yerofeeva 89.875 15 Zhong Ling 89.500 16 Alexandra Orlando 88.700 17 Laura Zacchilli 87.450 18 Katerina Pisetsky 87.300 19 Susanna Marchesi 86.275 20 Sun Dan 85.275 21 Theodora Pallidou 85.000 22 Magdalena Markowska 84.575 23 Irina Risenzon 84.400 24 Silviya Miteva 83.550 25 Dominika Červenková 83.025 26 Maria Ringinen 82.825 27 Yukari Murata 82.650 28 Joanna Mitrosz 80.250 29 Mex Cynthia Valdez 80.000 30 Hannah McKibbin 79.450
Individual Hoop Place Nation Name Result 1 Anna Bessonova 26.375 2 Alina Kabaeva 25.900 3 Irina Tchachina 25.200 4 Aliya Yusupova 24.250 5 Elizabeth Paysieva 24.200 6 Inna Zhukova 24.050 7 Mary Sanders 23.475 8 Stergiani Pantazi 23.325
Individual Ball Place Nation Name Result 1 Alina Kabaeva 26.675 2 Anna Bessonova 26.550 3 Inna Zhukova 25.875 4 Tamara Yerofeeva 25.700 5 Irina Tchachina 25.625 6 Aliya Yusupova 25.325 7 Eleni Andriola 23.675 8 Dinara Gimatova 23.525
Individual Clubs Place Nation Name Result 1 Anna Bessonova 27.225 2 Irina Tchachina 27.000 3 Alina Kabaeva 26.475 4 Inna Zhukova 25.550 5 Aliya Yusupova 24.725 6 Eleni Andriola 23.950 7 Mary Sanders 23.775 8 Almudena Cid Tostado 23.650
Individual Ribbon Place Nation Name Result 1 Alina Kabaeva 26.525 2 Anna Bessonova 26.375 3 Elizabeth Paysieva 24.225 4 Irina Tchachina 23.825 5 Inna Zhukova 23.725 6 Svetlana Rudalova 22.800 7 Eleni Andriola 22.000 8 Laura Zacchilli 21.600
Groups Finals Groups All-Around Place Nation Result 1 50.325 2 50.175 3 46.450 4 46.450 5 45.625 6 45.150 7 44.150 8 42.675 9 41.800 10 40.675 11 40.250 12 39.350 13 39.150 14 39.025 15 37.950 16 35.100 17 34.875 18 32.575 19 32.075 20 31.750 21 31.000 22 30.700 23 24.675
Groups 5 Ribbons Place Nation Result 1 25.200 2 24.950 3 23.550 4 22.950 5 22.650 6 22.250 7 21.500 8 20.800
Groups 3 Hoops + 2 Balls Place Nation Result 1 25.275 2 25.200 3 24.700 4 23.500 5 23.375 6 21.975 7 21.800 8 20.200
Medal table
References