2026 American Cup: Field, schedule, how to watch

HENDERSON, Nv. – The 2026 American Cup is set for Saturday, March 7 at Lee’s Family Forum, with Team USA headlining a field of eight countries who will compete in a first-of-its-kind mixed team event.

This is the first American Cup since 2020, which saw Sam Mikulak and Morgan Hurd crowned the men’s and women’s champions, respectively. Excluding the six-year hiatus, American Cup has been held annually since 1976, where the first meet was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Nastia Liukin Cup will be hosted in the afternoon before American Cup takes place in the evening. The Nastia Liukin Cup was part of American Cup weekend prior to its hiatus. It then became part of the reimagined Winter Cup weekend for the past five editions.

Keep reading for everything you need to know about the 2026 American Cup event, including the schedule, how to watch, the full field, and an event preview.

2026 American Cup Schedule & How to Watch

All times are Eastern.

Date	Time	Event	How to Watch
Friday, March 6	3:00 p.m.	Nastia Liukin Cup Podium Training	FlipNow.tv ($)
	5:30 p.m.	Podium Training, Session 1 (USA, MEX, BRA)	FlipNow.tv ($)
	7:30 p.m.	Podium Training, Session 2 (JPN, GBR, PHI)	FlipNow.tv ($)
	9:30 p.m.	Podium Training, Session 3 (CHN, ESP, Open)	FlipNow.tv ($)
Saturday, March 7	2:00 p.m.	Nastia Liukin Cup	YouTube (Free)
	9:00 p.m.	American Cup	Peacock (U.S.) YouTube (Intl.)

Previewing the weekend: What to expect from American Cup and Nastia Liukin Cup

American Cup

With this being a new format, it’s hard to predict how the American Cup will shake out. Historically, when it was an all-around competition, the U.S. was overwhelmingly dominant, but this is new territory. Every routine matters, and a fall could be the difference between advancing or being eliminated. If everyone hits? A missed handstand or an out of bounds could be the difference. There is a small margin for error… which makes it all the more exciting!

This will be a two-and-a-half hour meet that takes place over three rounds – six rotations total. In regard to the rotation and length, this will be similar to a men’s meet. Here are some other format notes:

Each rotation will feature two routines – one men’s, one women’s – from every country still standing: all eight in Round 1, six in Round 2, and four in Round 3.
Eligible events are men’s floor, parallel bars, and high bar and women’s bars, beam, and floor.
Teams must select each apparatus twice across all rounds, and an athlete cannot repeat an apparatus.
Combined scores of all four routines in a round determines who advances.
Scores will reset after each round.

We’ve created an interactive meet simulator that you can use to test different scenarios and learn the format.

The U.S. has the advantage going into the meet, with three Olympians – Asher Hong, Yul Moldauer, and Hezly Rivera – and all six athletes having international experience. Their biggest competition seems to be Japan, which also boasts three Olympians on its four-person team, including the most decorated athlete in the field, Daiki Hashimoto. The other top medal contender is China, which brings a relatively young and inexperienced team but boasts reigning world balance beam champion and all-around bronze medalist Zhang Qingying.

In reality, while you could say the U.S., Japan, and China are the medal favorites if they hit, this is an extremely volatile format. With only four routines each round and scores resetting, it is very much in the realm of possibility that another team(s) could end up on the podium.

Other athletes to watch: Caio Souza (BRA), Xie Chenyi (CHN), Abigail Martin (GBR), Isaac Nunez (MEX), Natalia Escalera (MEX), Zachary Nunes (PHI), Joel Plata (ESP), and Alba Petisco (ESP).

Nastia Liukin Cup

The 2026 Nastia Liukin Cup will take place the Saturday afternoon of American Cup. Level 10 all-around gymnasts will vie for the junior and senior titles. Last year’s champions were Mackenzie Estep (senior) and Caylee Cain and Elizaveta Grebenkova (junior – tie). Estep is now a freshman at Oklahoma, where she earned a perfect 10 earlier this season. Auburn commit Grebenkova headlines the senior field this year and is the top-ranked recruit in the Class of 2027, according to College Gym News. Cain is not in the field after tearing both of her Achilles to varying degrees in the fall.

All 22 of the senior athletes in the field are committed to compete in the NCAA. Auburn has the most commits in the field with three: Grebenkova, Ella Fina, and Giselle Guenther.

Field for 2026 American Cup and Nastia Liukin Cup