Hazuki Watanabe won the women's balance beam title on Sunday at the world titles to become the youngest Japanese female artistic gymnastics world champion ever.
Making her world championships debut as a substitute, Watanabe scored 13.600 points to beat Elsabeth Black of Canada by just 0.034 point. Fellow debutant Shoko Miyata of Japan finished third with 13.533.
The 18-year-old Watanabe beat out top qualifiers Ou Yushan of China, Skye Blakely of the United States and Rebeca Andrade of Brazil after all three struggled in the event held in Liverpool, England.
"I was substitute at the start and wasn't even imagining myself performing on this stage," said an emotional Watanabe. "The tears flowed because of the astonishment and happiness (I feel)."
Watanabe, who said her "legs were trembling during her performance" also retained the balance beam title for Japan after her countrywoman Urara Ashikawa won the event at the 2021 edition.
"Other gymnasts were falling and making big mistakes, but I was able to go through my routine okay. That was a real boost to my confidence," Watanabe said, according to the international gymnastics federation.
The 2021 winner Ashikawa was previously the youngest Japanese female to take a world title at 18 years and seven months before Watanabe bettered the record by some five months on Sunday.
Miyata's bronze medal also gave Japan a second straight double podium after Ashikawa and Mai Murakami completed the feat in Kitaskyshu last year.
Watanabe joins an exclusive club in Japan as only the fourth woman to win a gymnastics world title.
"I want to be picked among the (Japan team) members from the start next time and become a gymnast who can also compete in the all-around on the world stage," she said.
Also for Japan, 2022 world all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto won silver on the horizontal bar, logging 14.700 but falling 0.100 behind Brody Malone of the United States.
Hashimoto, the reigning Olympic gold medalist in the apparatus having taken the title and the all-around gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, ended the meet in Liverpool with four medals after also winning silver in the floor exercise and team event.
"It eventually comes down to how much you can nail the landing," said Hashimoto, who took a step on the final dismount of his grueling week-long campaign in which he appeared in 19 disciplines.
"I'm a bit frustrated, but it was positive I could end without getting injured while taking part in a string of events," he said.
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