KAZAN — A catastrophic fall kept Russian gymnast Alia Mustafina off the floor routine podium at the 2013 World University Games, but she still came away with two medals, bringing her total haul to four on the last day of the artistic gymnastics competition.
The Russians swept the women's 20 kilometer walk and won eight of 20 boxing medals in another staggeringly strong day for the 686-athlete home delegation. Russia has 115 medals after day five of the 12-day Universiade including 62 gold, 26 silver and 27 bronze.
Running away from the rest of the field by a huge margin, Russia has 78 more medals than second-place Ukraine and 84 more than third-place Japan.
An ethnic Tatar, Mustafina was backed by a large, supportive crowd inside Kazan's Gymnastics Center. She won silver on the balance beam and gold on the uneven bars to bring her Universiade medal haul to four. Earlier in the week, she won golds in the individual all-around and team competitions.
The 18-year-old, who took bronze in the floor routine in London, finished last in the Universiade event after crashing to the mat when she failed to stick a landing. Russia's Ksenia Afanaseva picked up the slack with the gold medal. Canada's Ellie Black took silver and Mexico's Elsa Rodriguez won bronze.
The Canucks secured their first gold medal of the student games on Wednesday thanks to Kimberly Hyacinthe's 22.78 time in the women's 200m. She squeezed past Finland's Hanna-Maari Latvala by 0.2 of a second to set a personal best.
The United States earned its second and third gold medals thanks to Vashti Thomas's Universiade record 12.61 time in the women's 100 meter hurdles. Belarus's Alina Talay finished second and while third went to Jamaica's Danielle Williams.
Jeneva McCall claimed the Americans' other gold with a 73.75 meter effort in the women's hammer throw.
Russia's Yuliya Zaripova, who won gold in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the London Games, set a Universiade record on Wednesday with a time of 9:28:00.
The 27th Universiade wraps up July 17.
