Artistic Gymnastics World Championships named Sporting Event of the Year at Scottish Sports Awards

The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Glasgow has been named Sporting Event of the Year ©Getty Images

The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Glasgow has been named Sporting Event of the Year at The Sunday Mail and sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards.

The event, held from October 23 to 31, took place at the SSE Hydro Arena, which staged gymnastics at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and saw 500 of the world’s top gymnasts from 80 nations compete.

It beat off competition from the Davis Cup semi-final between Britain and Australia at Glasgow's Emirates Arena in September, which was won by the hosts, and the International Equestrian Federation European Eventing Championships at Blair Castle, held in the same month.

Scotland had never hosted the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships though the event had been held twice previously in Britain.

The 2009 edition took place at London’s O2 Arena, which came after Birmingham staged the Championships in 1993.

“The 2015 World Gymnastics Championships, held in Glasgow’s SSE Hydro, was a historically successful event for British Gymnastics and for the sport as a whole,” British Gymnastics chief executive Jane Allen said.

American Simone Biles made history by claiming a third straight women's all-around title at Glasgow 2015 ©Getty Images

“It is also a breathtaking example of an excellent world-class event that was so successfully held in Scotland, with the help of many, including the International Gymnastics Federation, UK Sport, Glasgow City Council, through Glasgow Life, and EventScotland.

“We delivered an event that has propelled gymnastics into a brand new and exciting era in the UK.

“We also delivered an event that has set such a high standard for future World Gymnastics Championships events to aspire to.”

The event itself was well received among the Scottish public, with strong ticket sales throughout the competition.

During the Championships, American Simone Biles became the first woman in history to win three straight all-around titles, while Kohei Uchimura of Japan also etched his name into the record books by clinching a sixth consecutive men’s all-around crown.

It proved to be a successful event for the hosts, who claimed women’s team bronze before the men went one better, taking home silver behind Japan.

Max Whitlock then secured his country’s first-ever World Championships individual gold by reigning supreme in the men’s pommel horse event.

The Sunday Mail and sportscotland Scottish Sports Awards celebrate excellence throughout Scottish sports and events.