Bulgaria win gold in rhythmic gymnastics group all-around 

Bulgaria are now new Olympic champions after giving two flawless performances in the rhythmic gymnastics group-all around finals today at Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

Their ball routine topped the scoreboard followed up by their stunning 3 Hoops + 2 Pairs Of Clubs exercise which earned them a combined score of 92.100.

The quintet - Simona Dyankova, Stefani Kiryakova, Madlen Radukanova, Laura Tratets, Erika Zafirova - have delivered Bulgaria's first ever-gold in rhythmic gymnastics toppling pre-favourites ROC.

ROC, who won five consecutive Olympic gold medals between 2000 to 2016, trailed the new champions by 1.4 points (90.700 final score), and now settle for silver.

Meanwhile, Italy have won bronze - their third Olympic medal in rhythmic gymnastics after clinching silver at Athens 2004, and bronze at London 2012.

"It means everything. We put so much into these five years, so much work. We always believed we would be here, but it's still so unreal," Kiryakova said.

"It's so unreal, we cannot believe it. I don't know what to say. This is the happiest moment ever."

Meanwhile, ROC's Anastasiia Maksimova described how the team felt after clinching silver:

"I think we did our best. We competed at our maximum and we were fighting for our country, we were fighting for our individual gymnasts, we were fighting for our team, and we were fighting for out coaches." 

And Alessia Maurelli spoke in behalf of the Italian team:

"This medal means to us a lot of years in the gym to try again, again our exercise and I think that this is all.

"We are very happy today, it's like a dream. We hope that all the people that follow the competition are happy like we are.