Olympics-Rhythmic gymnastics-Germany's Varfolomeev wins individual all-around gold

By Richa Naidu

PARIS (Reuters) -Germany's Darja Varfolomeev won the gold medal in the Olympic rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around final on Friday, becoming the first athlete from her country to take the title.

It was the first time Germany had medalled in rhythmic gymnastics since Regina Weber took the bronze at the Los Angeles 1984 Games, before reunification. Varfolomeev scored 142.850 points overall, 2.250 ahead of Bulgaria's Boryana Kaleyn who took the silver.

The 17-year-old Varfolomeev did not celebrate her victory immediately even as the German supporters cheered. Instead, looking sombre, she walked over to her compatriot Margarita Kolosov to console her for losing out on bronze to Italy's Sofia Raffaeli.

"It's obviously a pity for her (Kolosov) because she gave her all," Varfolomeev told reporters. "It's always a pity if you end up fourth because you're just outside."

"I am extremely happy that I made it."

Varfolomeev was about 12 years old when she moved to Germany alone from Russia to pursue her dream of becoming a competitive rhythmic gymnast.

"I was very focused on myself. It was important for me to stay within my boundaries and stay centred...I have worked so much to get to this point."

An Olympic medal event since Los Angeles in 1984, rhythmic gymnastics sees athletes perform manoeuvres while using hoops, balls, clubs and ribbons.

"It's not an easy competition, you have to keep your concentration to the very last second," Italy's Raffaeli said.

In a more than three-hour final, 10 women each performed four routines to music from Lady Gaga's "Bad romance" to Dream on" by Aerosmith and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from the film Mary Poppins at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris.

Russian-born Varfolomeev, the world number one, fumbled her hoop routine in qualifying but she more than redeemed herself in Friday's final with the highest hoop score of the day, 36.300.

Her best apparatus score was 36.500 for her ball routine where she exhibited impressive control and kept a smile on her face.

Varfolomeev's ribbon performance was dramatic and mesmerising as she snaked, twirled and pirouetted her way through her last routine to get a score of 33.700.

(Reporting by Richa Naidu, editing by Ed Osmond and Clare Fallon)