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LONDON (Reuters) - It was raining sequins on the final day of the London Games as Russia's rhythmic gymnasts shut out the rest of the world to win a fourth successive group all-around Olympic title on Sunday.
Italy arrived in London having won the last three world titles and had high hopes of knocking the Russians off their pedestal but a slight improvisation in their display with five balls did not go unnoticed by the judges.
Russia produced an exquisite routine with the balls and followed it up with a foot-tapping, hip-shaking Samba performance where they twirled around in unison with three ribbons and two hoops.
A score of 57.000 helped them to edge out surprise silver medallists Belarus by 1.500 while Italy trailed in third.
For the fourth successive Olympics, Russia completed the rhythmic gymnastics double after Evgeniya Kanaeva won the individual all-around gold on Saturday.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Mark Meadows)
