At the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, Everyone thought  American Leanne Wong would surely win the women’s all-around title. But it was won by Angelina Melnikova, competing as a neutral athlete from Russia. Yes, she edged Wong to win the women’s all-around title by just one tenth of a point. But was it justified? Seems like fans don’t think so!

Well, Wong had an outstanding day, almost hitting every routine without a fall. But before the final rotation, Wong was sitting in fourth place, about 1.1 points behind third and out of medal contention. But her last event was vault. There she made a smart choice,  instead of playing it safe, she went for a Cheng vault – one of the most difficult skills in the sport, with a start value of 6.0. It was a bold choice, and it paid off. Wong hit the Cheng cleanly, with only a tiny step on landing. Her score was enough to leap past China’s Zhang Qingying and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, briefly moving her into first place as the arena buzzed with excitement. But she still had to wait for Melnikova.

The Russian star’s final event was the floor exercise. To take the gold, she needed a score above .133 – a big ask under pressure. And she delivered a 13.466, nearly four-tenths higher than her qualifying score. Hence, that sealed the win by a tenth. But the controversy from one small detail. In her last routine,  Melnikova stepped out of bounds. But she was given a penalty of a 0.1-point deduction, but some fans and analysts argued it should have been 0.3, since both feet appeared to be close to the line. If that stricter deduction had been applied, the gold would have gone to Wong. But the result has divided fans around the world.

Fans outraged as Leanne Wong narrowly misses gold

One fan added, “Leanne Wong should’ve won the All-Around. She had the cleanest day (no falls). This isn’t a political statement about Melnikova, who had some really excellent gymnastics today. I don’t say “she was robbed” lightly, but Leanne Wong was robbed.” And honestly, it’s hard to argue. Melnikova won gold with 55.066, just 0.100 ahead of Wong’s 54.966 – one of the closest margins you’ll ever see. China’s Zhang Qingying took bronze at 54.633, and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour finished fourth with 54.564. However, it was Melnikova’s second world all-around championship.

But at the same time, let’s not forget, Wong had spent the entire day hunting. But due to this  23-year American podium finish streak might have been in jeopardy with Olympic champions Simone Biles and Suni Lee on vacation, and U.S. all-around champion Hezly Rivera hurt. But Wong showed everyone why she’s one of the sport’s brightest stars. Even though she fell just short, her performance was clean.

One wrote, “How can the judges actually still have a job?” Another added, “That beam score was surprising. Her vault wasn’t better than Dulcy’s, yet scored higher.” The beam was Melnikova’s third routine. But even veterans can stumble here. Midway through her acrobatic series, she landed crooked, fighting for a few tense seconds to regain balance before falling. Still, the judges gave her a 12.800, strong, considering the deductions leading up to the fall. While Dulcy Caylor, the top American qualifier, also struggled on the beam. She had been stellar in qualifying, but a fall on her double wolf turn brought her score down, disappointing the world championship newcomer.

Fans were not shy about expressing their outrage online. One wrote, “Leanne Wong was robbed. Over-scoring Melnikova’s beam with a fall is wild, and the floor routine was lackluster with errors and penalties.” Another added, “I’m not even a Wong fan, but this is the only correct take  everyone in the arena knew it. That floor score was egregious.” A third chimed in with unfiltered frustration: “I’m so pissed. Those judges could never do the right thing.” Well, this came afterMelnikova’s dramatic return to international competition after a three-year hiatus due to the suspension of Russian athletes following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. With a solid floor routine and a favorable one-tenth deduction for going out of bounds, she won gold despite falling on the balance beam. However, in gymnastics, judging is not above accountability, and many fans view this as a scoring issue.

If a judge’s behavior deviates from accepted norms, they may be disciplined. For instance, USA Gymnastics has a systematic procedure for dealing with misconduct: minor infractions can result in a letter of reprimand, probation from events, or the loss of judging privileges; major infractions can result in assignment suspension or termination. In summary, there is a system in place to hold judges accountable when bias or mistakes occur, even though fans’ frustration is understandable.