As invincibly as Armenia’s Artur Davtyan vaulted to gold on that apparatus at the World Championships in Rotterdam on Sunday, he said he could have performed his first of two attempts even better.

“Yes, it’s possible to improve,” said the 34-year-old Davtyan, who also placed first on vault at the 2022 Worlds in Liverpool. “There were still some mistakes. The first vault wasn’t perfect and I could have improved it, but the second was the maximum.”

Although Davtyan might be underestimating his performance in the final, he said he, his teammates and their coaches will leave Rotterdam content.

All four Armenian gymnasts won medals. On the first day of apparatus finals held Saturday, Hamlet Manukyan and Mamikon Khachatryan claimed gold and bronze, respectively, on pommel horse, and Artur Avetisyan earned bronze on still rings.

“I’ve extremely satisfied that four of us came here and all four of us got something, and especially two gold medals,” Davtyan said. “This a super result. It seems that everyone is happy and pleased. Our coaches are also pleased. We thank them for training and motivating us.”

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