ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (October 18, 2026) – Hitting all 16 of their routines Sunday afternoon, the U.S. women rank first in team qualifying after three of ten subdivisions at the 2026 Artistic World Championships. Following the conclusion of men’s qualifying earlier in the day, the American men advanced to team, all-around and apparatus finals at Rotterdam Ahoy arena.

American women at the top

The women of the United States hit 16-for-16 on Sunday afternoon to assume the top team spot, with seven more subdivisions of qualifying still on tap Monday. Competing in Subdivision 1, the U.S. team of Skye Blakely (Frisco, Texas/University of Florida), Charleigh Bullock (Spotsylvania, Va./Capital Gymnastics National Training Center), Dulcy Caylor (Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre), Reese Esponda (Helena, Mont./World Champions Centre) and Claire Pease (Sunnyvale, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics) put up a combined score of 164.529. By the end of the evening, Italy sat in second with 162.430 and Japan third with 161.630.

Top performances came from Blakely and Pease, who are the current all-around leaders with a 55.465 and 54.432, respectively. The 2026 edition of the World Championships sees Blakely compete in all-around competition for the first time in her four appearances at the competition. The veteran of the team also sits in good position to make several finals, including balance beam (14.166, third), uneven bars (14.333, fourth) and vault (14.066; 14.000, 13.733, second).

Pease also looks strong for apparatus final appearances as she sits first on vault (14.283; 14.033, 14.133), second on floor exercise (13.333) and fifth on bars (14.066). She was only bested on floor by her teammate Esponda, who currently has the top qualifying spot with a 13.633. Bullock notched the third-best all-around score with a 53.499 but will be unable advance to the final due to the two-per-country limit.

The U.S. finished their subdivision on beam, where Caylor successfully stepped in and scored a strong 13.300 for the team. She joined the five-person lineup on Saturday to fill in for Hezly Rivera (Oradell, N.J./WOGA Gymnastics), who medically withdrew from competition just before qualifying.

U.S. men advance to team final in fifth

With all subdivisions completed in the men’s division, the American team of 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) and Shane Wiskus (Spring Park, Minn./EVO Gymnastics) moved on to Tuesday’s eight-team final after landing fifth. They rank behind Japan, Great Britain, Russia and China.

In individual competition, both Richard and Leykin secured their spots to Thursday’s 24-person all-around final with Richard placing 10th and Leykin 21st. Richard also punched his ticket to the men’s floor final in fourth and is first reserve on horizontal bar, while Hoopes will be active in the pommel horse final with his fifth-place finish on the apparatus.

The men also collected a number of reserve spots with their performances, with Nelson second reserve on still rings and vault, Wiskus first reserve on parallel bars and Leykin first reserve on floor.

The American delegation will have a day of rest as qualifying continues through Monday, after which they’ll return to the floor on Tuesday for the men’s team final in Rotterdam. An update on the U.S. women’s standings will be available Monday evening. Follow along with the competition through World Gymnastics.