ROTTERDAM, the Netherlands — The gymnastics world championships continue today with a packed day of qualifications, including two men's subdivisions and the first three women's subdivisions.
Most notably, the U.S. women take center stage in subdivision 1.
USA TODAY's Nancy Armour is on the ground in Rotterdam bringing you the latest live updates, reactions, analysis and highlights. Follow along.
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Let's get this started!
I'm back at Ahoy Arena. We get started with a bang, with the Chinese men in the first of the remaining two qualifying sessions. Japan is the defending Olympic and world champion, but China bested its rivals twice this summer, at the Asian Championships and the Asian Games. So we'll see if they can surpass
what Japan did in qualifying on Saturday, Oct. 17.
A reminder: Japan tops the qualifying standings, followed by Britain, Russia and the United States.
Who are contenders to win worlds?
03:43 AM ET, October 18 2026, Nancy ArmourOn paper, the U.S. women are the favorites simply because they've won every world title going back to 2011, as well as three of the last four Olympic gold medals. But the Americans' inexperience — Skye Blakely is the only member to have competed at a world championships before — and Russia's return will make the team final very interesting.
Russia was set to field a powerhouse team, led by reigning world champion Angelina Melnikova and fellow Tokyo gold medalist Viktoria Listunova. But the Dutch government refused to issue them and Anna Kalmykova visas, and Russia had to scramble to put together a full team.
That said, Russia is still sending three members of its team that easily beat Olympic silver medalist Italy for the European title in August.
China can never be counted out, and don't overlook Japan.
On the men's side, China and Japan are in a class by themselves, combining to win nine of the last 10 world titles and six of the last seven Olympic gold medals. Japan is defending champion in both, having won gold at the Paris Games in 2024, one year after claiming the world title in Antwerp.
Russia is the only team to interrupt China and Japan's run of dominance, winning the world title in 2019 and Olympic gold in Tokyo. But after being absent from the world stage for much of the last four years, they're a question mark. They were silver medalists at the European championships in August, finishing about a half-point behind Britain.
The American men are the reigning Olympic and world bronze medalists. But U.S. champion Fred Richard is the only holdover from those squads.
Who's on US men's roster?
03:42 AM ET, October 18 2026, Nancy Armour- Patrick Hoopes (Lehi, Utah/U.S. Air Force Academy)
- Danila Leykin (Sarasota, Fla./EVO Gymnastics)
- Kameron Nelson (Columbus, Ohio/EVO Gymnastics)
- Frederick Richard (Stoughton, Mass./University of Michigan)
- Shane Wiskus (Spring Park, Minn./EVO Gymnastics)
- Traveling replacement athlete: Yul Moldauer (Arvada, Colo./University of Oklahoma)
- Non-traveling replacement athlete: Cooper Kim (Grand Ledge, Mich./Stanford University)
Who's on US women's roster?
03:41 AM ET, October 18 2026, Nancy Armour- Skye Blakely (Frisco, Texas/University of Florida)
- Charleigh Bullock (Spotsylvania, Va./Capital Gymnastics National Training Center)
- Reese Esponda (Shenandoah, Texas/World Champions Centre)
- Claire Pease (Sunnyvale, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics)
- Dulcy Caylor (Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre)
- Non-traveling replacement athlete: Jade Carey (Phoenix, Ariz./Oregon State University Training Center)
- Withdrawn: Hezly Rivera (Plano, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics)
How does gymnastics scoring work?
03:41 AM ET, October 18 2026, Nancy ArmourA gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution. Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine. (Except in vault, which is a single skill.) The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there.
Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus.
In qualifying, teams will put four gymnasts up on each event and count their three best scores. The top eight countries advance to the team final, where scoring starts over. Each team puts up three gymnasts on every apparatus, and every score counts. (You'll often hear this called three up, three count.) Have to count a fall, and your chances for gold are probably gone. Count two or three, and you'll be watching the medals ceremony with the rest of the spectators.
The top 24 all-around gymnasts after qualifying advance to the final, with a limit of two per country. The top eight on each event following qualifying make the event finals, also with a limit of two per country.
How does Olympic qualifying work?
03:40 AM ET, October 18 2026, Nancy ArmourThe top three teams in the men's and women's team finals qualify for LA28. The remaining nine teams in the Olympic field will be determined at next year's world championships, which are in Chengdu, China.
Gymnastics world championships schedule today
03:39 AM ET, October 18 2026, Nancy ArmourTwo men's subdivisions open today's action before three women's subdivisions wrap the day. Each block features at least two five-person teams as well as individuals whose countries don't have a full team trying to qualify for either the all-around final or event finals. All times Eastern.
- 4 a.m., men's subdivision 5: Belgium, Italy, China, Spain, all-around group 3, all-around group 6
- 6:10 a.m., men's subdivision 6: Israel, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Germany, all-around group 10, all-around group 4
- 10 a.m., women's subdivision 1: Germany, Romania, USA, all-around group 7
- 11:50 a.m., women's subdivision 2: Japan, Australia, Belgium, all-around group 10
- 1:40 p.m., women's subdivision 3: Italy, Mexico, all-around group 14, all-around group 8
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US women's reign faces its first test at gymnastics world championships
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