By Richa Naidu
PARIS (Reuters) -China’s team won the gold medal in the rhythmic gymnastics group all-around final at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, its first medal in a sport that has for decades been dominated by eastern European countries, mainly Russia, Belarus and Ukraine
Israel took silver, while Italy bagged bronze at the Port de La Chapelle Arena.
China, which was awarded 69.800 points in total, took the lead early in with a 36.950 hoop score, with athletes clad in glittering black and gold leotards and tiaras moving in near-perfect synchrony to make difficult leap and tumbles.
The team began their ribbon and ball routine with traditional Chinese string music, at one point holding three ribbons taut and plucking them like they were on an instrument.
After a mesmerising two-and-a-half minutes filled with illusion turns, acrobatics and quick pirouettes, China scored 32.850 in that routine.
(Reporting by Richa Naidu;Editing by Alison Williams)
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