That's knot supposed to happen: Russian gymnast docked for equipment malfunction
Arina Averina goes through 3 ribbons after knots, breaks
Ribbon gymnastics is harder than it looks.
Just ask Arina Averina, the Russian rhythmic gymnast who suffered two equipment malfunctions in just one routine.
Watch the disastrous performance here:
The current European Champion and world all-around silver medallist knotted up her rainbow ribbon less than 10 seconds into her routine at the rhythmic gymnastics world championships in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Thursday.
Too much slack during her somersault caused the end of the ribbon to become tied up. Averina even tried to discretely straighten it but ended up accidentally tightening the knot and had to fetch a new ribbon placed along the sidelines.
Almost immediately after trying to recover with the second ribbon, the stick broke when she threw it into the air.
Enter ribbon number three.
Third time seemed to be the charm and Averina managed to make it to the end of her routine. But not without a death glare from the head coach of the Russian national team, Irina Viner-Usmanova.
According to the International Gymnastics Federation, Averina incurred mandatory deductions for "an unusable apparatus but also for the use of the auxiliary ribbon."
Since the equipment malfunctions occurred during qualifications, the gymnast did not advance to the all-around final to defend her silver.