October Global Cup: the US lead, Russia closing in

The month of October has been very busy (World Championships in Taekwondo, Fencing and Artistic Gymnastics) and has seen Russia, still second in the 2009 Global Cup, closing the gap on leaders USA by 116 points vs September.

Top level results in the Fencing and Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, and in the Chicago Marathon (1st and 3rd in the Ladies!), went together with good placements in the Taekwondo World Championships. The gap from the USA, 1536 points, is still remarkable however. The Americans notched up 2 world Taekwondo titles and many good placements in the tournament, and in the Chicago Marathon. Added to that, they won the Women world title in Sabre at the Fencing Worlds and gathered a useful amount of points at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

Behind the two superpowers, positions are fairly stable. China has lent substance to its 5th position by winning overall the World Gymnastics Championships, while Italy, who otherwise did not score in any other event, held its ground (8th overall) by scoring the most points in the World Fencing Championships. October was a weak month for Great Britain, apart from clinching the Women title in the Floor exercises at the Artistic Gymnastics world.