Part one of our Rotterdam World Championships preview, subdivision by subdivision. Are the U.S. women the team favorites after seven straight world titles, and what counts as a successful Worlds for Skye Blakely, Hezly Rivera, Claire Pease, Reese Esponda and Charleigh Bullock? We size up Japan’s first real shot at a team medal in 60 years with Aiko Sugihara and breakout star Misa Nishiyama, ask whether Kaylia Nemour is the all-around favorite, preview the floor and bars finals, and run through Germany, Romania, Australia, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Belarus, Argentina, Ukraine and the individuals you shouldn’t miss. Plus: the Worlds nominative roster scare and a Ukrainian report alleging Russian money behind the FIG.
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WORLDS PREVIEW PART 1: SUBDIVISIONS 1–5
- Rotterdam Rumble #1: Are the U.S. women the favorites to win a record-setting team title? Seven straight world team golds, and one more team medal (with Romania off the podium) would make the U.S. the most decorated women’s team in Worlds history.
- What a successful Worlds looks like for Skye Blakely (USA), Hezly Rivera (USA), Claire Pease (USA), Reese Esponda (USA) and Charleigh Bullock (USA), and whether Claire’s Cheng makes her an all-around medal contender.
- Spencer’s Scoresheets: Germany as the team-final bubble team, Helen Kevric (GER) on bars, Karina Schönmaier (GER) on vault and Lea Quaas (GER)‘s ode to The Scream; can the rest of Romania survive the Voinea drama?
- Individuals: Amanda Yap (SGP), Kaia Tanskanen (FIN), Caitlin Rooskrantz (RSA), Naveen Daries (RSA) and Marta Pihan-Kulesza (POL).
- Japan and its first shot at a women’s team medal since 1966, with defending floor world champion Aiko Sugihara (JPN) and breakout-star alert Misa Nishiyama (JPN); Australia, Kate McDonald (AUS), Breanna Scott (AUS) and Lisa Vaelen (BEL).
- Floor preview: Manila Esposito (ITA), Sugihara, Angelina Melnikova (AIN), Esponda and Rivera.
- Italy without the D’Amatos, Giulia Perotti (ITA), Mexico’s NCAA futures and Jennifer Williams (SWE) of Stanford.
- Rotterdam Rumble #2: Is Kaylia Nemour (ALG) the all-around favorite? Plus Isabella Ajalla (ARG), Julieta Lucas (ARG), Ukraine and Panama’s Hillary Heron (PAN).
- Bars preview: Nemour, Qiu Qiyuan (CHN), Kevric, Melnikova, Du Siyu (CHN), Becky Downie (GBR) and Nishiyama.
HEADLINES
- The Worlds nominative roster scare: Jade Carey was still listed for the U.S. instead of Skye Blakely. It was a paperwork lag, not an injury.
- A Ukrainian sports site, Tribuna, published allegations of Russian lobbying and money flows behind the FIG and president Morinari Watanabe. We discuss what the report does and doesn’t show: Morinari Watanabe: Russian Lobbying and Financial Flows in World Gymnastics
WORLDS COVERAGE
- 2026 World Championship Headquarters: the full schedule in your time zone and the new leaderboard of the top international scores of 2026
- Worlds Roster Tracker and the Elite Score Explorer
- Catch up: U.S. World Team Trials Day One Report, Behind The Scenes: Day Two U.S. World Team Trials and our pre-Worlds rules deep dive
CHAPTERS
00:00 – Welcome + Full Commission raffle
00:57 – Breaking news: the Worlds roster scare
02:05 – Report: Russian money and the FIG
05:34 – Worlds schedule and what’s on the line
09:45 – Live shows: NYC with Katelyn Ohashi and Rotterdam
11:09 – Subdivision 1: Is Team USA the favorite?
20:48 – Germany, Romania and Amanda Yap
29:39 – Subdivision 2: Japan, Australia and Belgium
36:16 – Floor preview
40:35 – Updates: Worlds HQ leaderboard and the Worlds Bundle
43:45 – Subdivisions 3 and 4: Italy, Mexico, Sweden and Belarus
49:15 – Subdivision 5: Kaylia Nemour, Argentina and Ukraine
58:16 – Bars preview
UP NEXT
- Behind The Scenes, Friday at noon Pacific, live for Club Gym Nerd members
- Worlds Preview Part 2 next week: France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Russia, Canada, China and a Man Break
- Daily podcasts from Rotterdam start October 15 after women’s podium training
- Live shows: Rotterdam, Saturday October 24 after event finals, with Bart Deurloo (NED) and Eythora Thorsdottir (NED); New York City, Friday December 4, with Katelyn Ohashi (USA). Streaming and in-person tickets at gymcastic.com
THIS EPISODE IS SUPPORTED BY
- Sand & Sea Travel, presenting our Worlds coverage. Use code GYMCASTICWORLDS.
- Huel: Limited Time Offer – Make healthy eating simple. Get Huel today with my exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code GYMCASTIC at huel.com/GYMCASTIC. New Customers Only. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show!
SUPPORT OUR WORK
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GYMCASTIC TOOLS, GAMES AND RESOURCES
- *NEW* ROTTERDAM WORLDS ROSTER TRACKER
- Find out who’s competing in the 2026 World Championships — search WAG and MAG by name or country, find out how they qualified and link to their score rankings. Updated daily.
- GymCastic tools:
- LA 2028 Roster Lab — Now with auto-fill highest-scoring team, team comparisons and updated roster briefs.
- Elite Score Explorer — U.S. Championships scores are in, plus new charting options and the vault bonus toggle.
- International Gymnastics Calendar
- GymCastic Games
- GymCastic Newsletters
- The Balance Beam Situation: Spencer Barnes’ GIF Code of Points
- Gymnastics History: Gymnastics history and Code of Points archive from Uncle Tim
- Resistance Resources
Cover art © GymCastic / Steve Cooper. All rights reserved
