site.btaUPDATED Stiliana Nikolova Wins Gold, Silver and Bronze at Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup in Milan

Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast Stiliana Nikolova won a gold medal in clubs, silver in ball, and bronze in hoop at the apparatus finals of the last Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup of the season in Milan, Italy.

Coach Valentina Ivanova’s disciple performed her clubs routine excellently, scoring 29.400 points (difficulty 13.000; artistry 8.250; execution 8.200) and took the title.

Second and third place went to Sofia Raffaeli (Italy) with 28.850 and Wang Zilu (China) with 28.800 points, respectively.

The European vice-champion from Tallinn 2025, Nikolova, who ranked fourth in the all-around on Saturday night, received 29.750 points for her ball performance (difficulty 13.100; artistry 8.500; execution 8.150) and took the silver.

The winner on this apparatus was the Olympic champion from Paris 2024, Darja Varfolomeev (Germany), with 30.300 points, and third was Italy’s Tara Dragas with 29.400.

Nikolova also performed strongly on the hoop and won the bronze medal with 29.450 points (13.200; 8.250; 8.000).

The gold medal went to the winner of the all-around competition, Sofia Raffaeli (Italy) with 30.100 points, and second place went to the absolute European champion for 2025, Taisiia Onofriichuk (Ukraine) with 30.000.

Nikolova failed to qualify among the top eight with the ribbon, while the other Bulgarian, Eva Brezalieva, ranked 17th in the all-around.

This is the last major competition before the World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), which will take place from August 20 to 24.