• Sport

Ekandjo climbs five places at World Champs

• 7 Hours Ago

Namibia’s Emilia Ekandjo has walked away from her second consecutive Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships with measurable progress, climbing five places overall and improving her ranking on all four apparatus compared to her debut last year.

The Windhoek Rhythmic Club gymnast finished 91st in the individual all-around qualification at the 42nd edition in Frankfurt, Germany, last weekend, with 49.9 points, improving on the 48.55 that placed her 96th at the 41st edition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Her progress was also reflected across the apparatus standings. Ekandjo scored 16.45 on hoop for 92nd, moving up five places from 97th in Rio, while her 12 on ball placed her 94th, two positions higher than last year.

She added 15.8 on clubs to finish 93rd, another five-place improvement from 98th, before producing her strongest placing of the championships with 17.65 on ribbon for 89th, six positions better than her 95th-place result in Brazil.

Only her three highest apparatus scores counted towards the all-around total, meaning the 12 on ball was not used. Her hoop, clubs and ribbon scores combined for the 49.9 points overall.

For Ekandjo, who returned home yesterday after setting out for Frankfurt with the objective of bettering her first Worlds outing, the numbers represented what she had hoped to see.

“I’m extremely happy and proud with how everything turned out,” she said.

Her improved results have also shifted what she expects from herself the next time she steps onto the international carpet.

“[I’m hoping] to be more confident in myself and trust myself more, as well as trust my training and everything that I’ve learned,” she said.

Ribbon tells the story

Of her four performances at Festhalle Frankfurt, ribbon stood above the rest. Ekandjo’s 17.65 was not only her highest apparatus score of the championships, but also produced her best placing across her two World Championships appearances.

The judges awarded the routine 5.8 for difficulty, 6.65 for artistry and 5.2 for execution, with the artistry component her highest of the four routines in Frankfurt. That aligned with how Ekandjo herself viewed a routine she considers one of her favourites.

“I really try to put a lot of emotion into it and try to be very expressive. I put a story behind it. I think trying to express and convey that story is what really helped me do my best. I went onto the stage and thought that I should just perform,” she said.

Ekandjo said visualising a clean routine without mistakes or apparatus drops also helped her deliver when it mattered. Ribbon had also produced her best apparatus placing at the Rio Worlds last year.

Ball disruption

Her second day of qualification provided a different challenge. Ball, which had produced her highest raw score of 17.45 in Rio, fell to 12 in Frankfurt after an unexpected music problem unsettled her before the routine.

Ekandjo said the wrong music was initially played for her performance, compounding concerns that had already surfaced during training when she was told her correct music was not available despite it having been submitted.

The correct track was eventually played, but she admitted the interruption had already broken her concentration.

“I was already stressed about it [by then]. I was not prepared for that because, you know, it’s the World Championships. I wasn’t expecting such a mistake to happen,” she remarked.

Instead of dwelling on the 12, Ekandjo said the experience has given her another competition scenario she now knows she must be prepared to handle.

“I’ve learned that I should actually just learn to be more composed. Now I’ve learned how to handle that better,” she said.

Among the world’s best

Not every lasting memory from Frankfurt came with a score. Away from the carpet, Ekandjo found herself sharing the same environment with some of the gymnasts she usually sees competing at the very top of the sport.

Among them was Germany’s Olympic champion Darja Varfolomeev, with whom the Namibian managed to share a conversation and take a selfie.

“She’s honestly very sweet and a very nice gymnast. I really liked just talking to her. She was just nice to talk to,” Ekandjo said.

The encounter became even more memorable as Varfolomeev went on to dominate her home World Championships, winning the individual all-around, ball and ribbon titles to leave Frankfurt with three gold medals and increase her career haul to 14 world titles.

Ekandjo said being inside that environment for a second year also provided lessons she will hold dear in her career, while noting that she had made friends at the global showpiece.

“Being backstage is actually quite interesting because you see how different athletes train and how they interact with their coaches. You see how their warm-ups are and how they condition their bodies, so it’s really interesting,” she said.

Next targets

With Frankfurt now behind her, Ekandjo is already looking towards what could become another busy international season in 2027. She hopes to compete at the Chungcheong 2027 FISU World University Games in South Korea from 1 to 12 August.

She is also targeting the African Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships, which could put her in contention for a third consecutive senior World Championships appearance in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 15 to 19 September next year.

– mariud@nsh.com.na