After seven years, China’s gymnast Zou Jingyuan once again “ruled” Jakarta.

Zou claimed the gold medal on the parallel bars at the 2018 Asian Games held in Jakarta. Seven years later, Zou repeated the same achievement at the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

In the final held on Saturday (Oct. 25), Zou collected 15.300 points, finishing well ahead of Japan’s Tomoharu Tsunogai who took silver and Daniel Marinov who won bronze.

When asked about winning another gold medal in Jakarta after seven years, Zou said he was happy.

“Thank you for the support to me and for the support to Team China,” Zou said.

The parallel bars are indeed Zou’s specialty. At this year’s world championships, he had already dominated since the qualification round by scoring the highest points.

Regarding the key to maintaining consistency throughout the championships, Zou said, “We, Team China, support and help each other.”

“I learned a lot from my teammates to be able to see the results and make better decisions together with them.”

The 27-year-old gymnast has now collected three gold medals in parallel bars from three editions of the world championships —Montreal 2017, Doha 2018, and Liverpool 2022.

He also won two Olympic gold medals in the same apparatus —at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

Zou said he does not plan to stop despite already having won many gold medals.

“I think this [gold medal] is a form of recognition for my hard work, because every day I keep training, refining myself, and pushing my own limits,” he said.

“My target is, of course, long-term development, while paying attention to my physical condition. Step by step, I might increase the level of difficulty and give myself more challenges.”

Silver medalist Tomoharu Tsunogai said he was happy, as he was ranked third in the qualification round.

“For today’s competition, I was able to perform my own routine and I’m happy with that,” Tsunogai said, adding that he has not yet decided on his next competition plans.

“Today’s victory is thanks to the guidance of my coach and the techniques taught by everyone on the team.”