ANAHEIM, California, Aug 23:- Svetlana Khorkina lived up to her reputation as the diva of gymnastics with an historic gold medal-winning performance in a dramatic women’s all-round competition at the world championships on Friday.

The two-time defending champion was reduced to tears after the Russian learned she had become the first ever man or woman to secure three world titles in the all-round event.

What made her latest triumph even more compelling was the manner in which she snatched gold from the clutches of American Carly Patterson and left China’s Zhang Nan with bronze.

The leader at the start of the fourth and final rotation, Patterson could only watch as Khorkina indulged the Arrowhead Pond crowd with a floor routine full of her typical pomp and ceremony.

Khorkina’s award of 9.675 left Patterson needing to score 9.460 or higher to reclaim the gold medal position, but a combination of mental pressure and physical strain proved too much for the 15-year-old.

The friendly rivalry between two-time Olympic champion Khorkina and Patterson, who ended on 37.936, is likely to illuminate the Olympic Games in Athens next year.

Patterson, who has been struggling to overcome a stress fracture of the elbow since May, can take consolation for the moment from the fact she was eclipsed by one of the greatest female gymnasts in the history of the sport.

However, until Khorkina warmed up, it had looked as though the flashlights of the medal ceremony would actually be raining down on Patterson.

A strong start on the asymmetric bars was followed up by a stunning routine on the beam, which culminated in an Arabian double-front dismount — a move which could now be named after her.

She scored 9.612 on the beam but it was in the second rotation that Khorkina — who had managed just a 9.312 on the vault — also stirred.

The self-proclaimed “Queen of the Bars” was awarded a 9.662 for her display on the asymmetric bars, and she followed it up with a 9.475 on the beam.

Patterson, though, actually extended her lead over Khorkina to 0.225 of a point after the third rotation, when her floor exercise drew a mark of 9.537.

So with her world championship legacy resting on a tumultuous floor exercise, Khorkina did not disappoint, writhing on the carpet at the climax of her routine and laying still with an expressionless face for what seemed an eternity.

Perhaps even longer as far as Patterson was concerned.

To compound the challenge ahead of her, she was then kept waiting at the end of the vault runway for other gymnasts to finish their apparatus.

When she finally set off, Patterson produced a vault which carried a lower start value than her originally-intended attempt.

Combined with a stuttered landing, it brought her a mark of 9.262 — her lowest of the night by 0.263 of a point and insufficient to stave off Khorkina.

Women’s all-round results: 1. Svetlana Khorkina (Russia) 38.124 points 2. Carly Patterson (U.S.) 37.936 3. Zhang Nan (China) 37.624 4. Irina Yarotska (Ukraine) 37.311 5. Elena Gomez (Spain) 37.286 6. Oana Mihaela Ban (Romania) 37.262 7. Kang Xin (China) 37.162 8= Alina Kozich (Ukraine) 36.974 8= Chellsie Memmel (U.S.) 36.974.—Reuters