“I knew the World Championship would be harder and more difficult than the Olympics, so based on that information I trained harder than usual, so I think I deserved it,” said the victorious Ban in her post-competition interview with organisers at the arena.
“Now I want to keep my pace and I don’t want to come down from the throne.”
Ban has curiously won just one World Cup medal in her short career – a silver in Munich before the Olympics last summer.
However, she showed once again that she is a woman for a big occasion, producing a brilliant performance to win gold on the opening day of 2025 World Championship with a score of 255.0.
That was exactly one point better than Wang, the world No. 1 and world junior champion, who claimed the silver medal.