Shang Chunsong is World Games Champion

[Passion]

China's Shang wins women's freestyle parkour gold after scoring reversal at Chengdu World Games​

CHENGDU, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's Shang Chunsong clinched the women's freestyle parkour gold at The World Games 2025 on Wednesday after a dramatic scoring reversal that turned her initial second-place finish into a victory.

Competing alongside the Xinglong Lake, the former captain of China's national women's gymnastics team delivered a series of high-difficulty tricks, including 360-degree aerial flips. A small flaw in her second rotation cost her points, but the crowd erupted in applause at the end of her routine.

Shang's difficulty score came in at 13.5 points, with an initial execution score of 9.2. That gave her a provisional total of 22.7, 0.2 points behind Japan's Nene Nagai, placing her second.

"I knew there was a mistake, but after landing I was confident I'd still be the gold medalist," said the 29-year-old, who last year became the first Chinese athlete to win both the World Cup and World Championship in parkour.

Tears flowed when Shang saw the scoreboard. But the turnaround came just before the medal ceremony. Officials informed her there had been an error in judging, and she was in fact the champion, with an adjusted total of 24.7 points. Nagai took silver, while Sara Banchoff Tzancoff of Argentina got bronze.

"There were blind spots in the venue, and some referees couldn't see certain movements," said referee Zhou Jun. "Three points were deducted for what was judged as a mistake, but after video review we unanimously agreed the penalty was too high and corrected it."

Despite the win, Shang didn't show much excitement. "The score wasn't posted immediately, and honestly I didn't perform as well as I can," she said. "In training I usually score 24 to 25, and have gone above 27."

Her coach, Sun Jie, said Shang can perform a 720-degree rotation - a move almost no female parkour athlete worldwide can execute. "She's a very talented athlete starting a new journey in parkour," he said.

Shang, who switched from gymnastics to parkour out of "pure love" for the sport, said the gold medal carries special meaning. "It completes my parkour Grand Slam," she said. "I want to show that Chinese parkour is strong, and I hope this inspires more people in China to join this amazing sport."

Sun, who has spent nearly 20 years promoting parkour in China, believes the sport has entered its best era yet in the country.

"Twenty years ago, few people was doing parkour here. Now we have professional clubs, young enthusiasts, and national competitions. I believe it will one day be part of the Olympics," he said.

China's Shang wins women's freestyle parkour gold after scoring reversal at Chengdu World Games

China's Shang wins women's freestyle parkour gold after scoring reversal at Chengdu World Games-

english.news.cn

 

[Passion]

Shang Chunsong Finals


Nene Nagai Finals (it's a video)


Medal Ceremony

 

[Passion]

The FIG of course makes no mention of their judges' mistakes in their reporting lol.

Reigning Freestyle Champion at The World Games Noa Man (NED) took the tough route through qualifications at the Xinglong Lake Hubin Arena today. After sustaining a slight injury off the field of play after this morning’s training session she also caught her shin on the side of one of the obstacles during her qualification run and was the only athlete in qualifications to request a redo. The decision was a good one as she qualified in second place with a score of 21.40.

It was the host nation hero Shang Chunsong who set the score to beat, however, qualifying 2.7 points clear of Man thanks to her work on the bars and acrobatics on the floor. Shang maintained her lead in the finals, outscoring her closest rival in difficulty by over three points to take the gold medal. Japan’s Nagai Nene took the silver and Sara Banchoff Tzancoff (ARG) to the bronze by a whisker with a score of 20.60 against a 20.50 for Audrey Johnson (USA).

Home gold for China in Women’s Freestyle while Switzerland’s Cordt-Moller takes another gold in Men’s Speed

Shang Chunsong (CHN) takes gold in Women's Freestyle and Caryl Cordt-Moller adds another Men's Speed title to his résumé

www.gymnastics.sport

Full Results of Qualifcations and Finals

https://static.usagym.org/PDFs/Results/2025/pk_25worldgames_wfs.pdf

D score is max 15 and execution is out of 15.

 

[Snowfan]

So do these games carry as much weight as say the olympics or world chanmpionships in China? I just know that Olympic champions get prizes like apartments or money. Would she get something from the Chinese government for winning an event like this?

 

[Passion]

So do these games carry as much weight as say the olympics or world chanmpionships in China? I just know that Olympic champions get prizes like apartments or money. Would she get something from the Chinese government for winning an event like this?

All I can find on the World Games are the amounts the winners for the competitions to design the mascot, emblem, and slogan win. I can't find anything about the specific amounts athletes get. I did find that Taiwan pays 600,000 for 1st place at World Games. I'm sure she'll receive some sort of small monetary bonus, but I doubt it would be close to what she won in Artistic.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Good for her. Love seeing gymnasts do whatever they want once they retire from the sport.