GYMNASTICS

October 21, 2026

China Ends U.S. Run to Win World Team Title

China won the women’s team title at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam on Wednesday, scoring 165.764 to finish 0.233 ahead of the United States and end an American run of seven straight world team titles that began in 2011. Japan took bronze with 164.063. It is China’s first world team title since 2006 and its first global team title since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. All three medal teams also earned places at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

The final turned on beam. The U.S. led after vault, where Skye Blakely scored 14.300, and stretched the lead on bars, where Blakely added 14.400 and Claire Pease 14.366. The Americans went to the third rotation 1.967 ahead. China then scored 43.366 on beam. Zhang Qingying posted 15.066, the best beam mark of the final, and Ke Qinqin added 14.400. The U.S. managed 39.199 on the event. Dulcy Caylor fell on her double pike dismount and scored 12.333, and Blakely, who had 14.166 on beam in qualifying, finished at 13.266. With one rotation left, China led by 2.200.

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October 19, 2026

Némour Tops Qualifying as China Edges the U.S. in Rotterdam

Kaylia Némour of Algeria finished women's qualifying at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam on Monday as the top all-around qualifier with 55.999, while China edged the United States for the best team total and Great Britain and Germany missed the eight-team final.

Némour, the Olympic champion on uneven bars in Paris, also led bars qualifying at 14.933, ahead of Germany's Helen Kevric at 14.766. Skye Blakely of the United States qualified second in the all-around with 55.465, followed by Liudmila Roshchina of Russia at 55.098 and Elena Colas of France at 55.032. China's Qinqin Ke (54.699) and Qingying Zhang (54.565) were fifth and sixth, and Claire Pease of the United States was seventh at 54.432. Charleigh Bullock posted the 14th-best total, 53.499, but was left out of Friday's final by the two-per-country rule, which opened the last place to Hungary's Greta Mayer at 51.999.

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October 1, 2026

Rivera, Blakely and Esponda Complete U.S. World Championships Team

Hezly Rivera, Skye Blakely and Reese Esponda were selected Thursday to complete the five-woman U.S. team for the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam. They join Claire Pease and Charleigh Bullock, who secured the two automatic roster places after Wednesday’s all-around at the selection event in Crossville, Tennessee.

Dulcy Caylor was named the traveling alternate, and Jade Carey will serve as the non-traveling alternate. The selection committee chose the final three team members after the second day of competition at FlipFest.

Pease won Wednesday’s all-around with 56.700, followed by Blakely at 56.500 and Bullock at 55.650. The automatic places were decided by a composite that weighted the selection-event all-around at 60 percent and the U.S. Championships all-around at 40 percent, which moved Bullock into the second automatic spot despite Blakely’s higher score on Wednesday. Pease also showed a new Cheng vault and posted the day’s best vault average and floor score.

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October 1, 2026

Pease and Bullock Claim Automatic U.S. World Team Berths at Selection Camp

Claire Pease and Charleigh Bullock are headed to their first World Championships. Pease won Wednesday’s all-around at the U.S. selection event in Crossville, Tennessee, with a 56.700, and the two finished first and second in the composite standings to claim the automatic places on the five-woman team for Rotterdam.

Skye Blakely placed second on the night with a 56.500, followed by Bullock at 55.650 and Reese Esponda at 55.350. The composite, however, weighted Wednesday’s all-around at 60 percent and each athlete’s two-day total from the U.S. Championships at 40 percent. Bullock, third at nationals in August, carried the stronger championships total and moved past Blakely for the second guaranteed berth.

Pease led vault with a 14.525 two-vault average and posted the top floor score at 13.950. Blakely answered with the best marks on uneven bars (14.550) and balance beam (14.250), keeping herself firmly in the selection conversation despite missing the automatic cutoff.

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