Yeo Seo-jeong, South Korea's leading female gymnast, reclaimed the gold medal in the women's vault competition at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, marking her return to the top after eight years.
On September 24, at the Rainbow Hall in Nagoya, Yeo scored 14.483 points to secure the gold medal in the women's vault final.
In her first attempt, Yeo executed a routine with a difficulty score of 5.4. Although her landing was somewhat shaky, she avoided major mistakes, earning a score of 14.466. Her second attempt was more stable, but she opted for a lower difficulty of 5.0, scoring 14.100. Combining her average score from both attempts with a bonus of 0.200 points, Yeo finalized her score at 14.483.
Her rival and defending champion, North Korea's An Chang-ok, took the silver medal with a score of 13.666. An performed well in her first attempt with a score of 14.300, but a significant error during her second attempt resulted in a score of 13.033, preventing her from earning any bonus points. The bronze medal went to China's Du Tsu-yu with a score of 13.450, just 0.001 points ahead of Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu, who finished fourth with 13.449.
Yeo previously won the vault title at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. She did not compete in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games to focus on qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, she made history by winning a bronze medal, becoming the first South Korean female gymnast to earn an Olympic medal.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.