TOKYO: Israel’s Linoy Ashram claimed a shock victory in the Olympic rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around final on Saturday, edging out three-time world champion Dina Averina to end two decades of Russian dominance. Ashram clung on despite a mistake in her closing ribbon routine to win with 107.800 points overall, just 0.150 ahead of Averina. The 22-year-old becomes just the third Israeli Olympic champion in history, following in the footsteps of sailor Gal Fridman and Artem Dolgopyat, who won men’s floor gold in the artistic gymnastics in Tokyo. She is also the first woman from the country to win an Olympic title. “It’s history,” said Ashram. “I’m so happy and proud to represent Israel here on the big stage in the world. “I knew that I could win, at least a medal, but I didn’t know what colour.” It is the first time a Russian has failed to win the event since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and is arguably one of the biggest surprises in the sport’s history. Russian gymnasts have also won 12 of the past 14 world championship all-around golds. One of the two times they missed out was in 2001, when Alina Kabaeva was stripped of her title after testing positive for a banned diuretic. Ashram, the 2018 world all-around silver medallist, was not expected to beat identical twin sisters Dina and Arina Averina.