ROTTERDAM, Netherlands – The 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships are set for October 17-25 at Rotterdam Ahoy. World champions will be crowned in the men’s and women’s team events, all-around, and event finals. Plus, Olympic quota spots for the Los Angeles 2028 Games will be awarded to the top three teams in both team finals.

Keep reading for the full schedule, how to watch, and more. Don’t forget to follow along with Gymnastics Now’s on-site coverage!

How to watch the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships

Worlds qualifying will be live streamed for free on Eurovision Sport – you just have to make an account. In the U.S., all finals will be on Peacock and NBCSN. Gymnastics Now will also have live updates of qualifying through finals here on our website.

If you’re not located in the U.S., check your local listings for who is the rights holder in your country.

2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships schedule

Date Rotterdam (CEST) Eastern (ET) Event
Sat., Oct. 17 10:00 a.m. 4:00 a.m. MAG Qualification, Subdivision 1
CAN, TPE, AA8 (IRL, CZE, IND), FRA, BRA, AA5 (NOR, MAR, MEX, LUX)
12:10 p.m. 6:10 a.m. MAG Qualification, Subdivision 2
AS1 (ALB, ARG, CZE, GRE, HKG, IRL, PHI, SLO, SRB, SWE, TUR), AS2 (ARM, AZE, BUL, CHI, CRO, FIN, MAR, NOR, UZB, WG1), UKR, KOR, CYP, WG2
4:00 p.m. 10:00 a.m. MAG Qualification, Subdivision 3
AA2 (TUN, ROU, ECU, RSA, POR), HUN, EGY, NED, COL, AA7 (ISL, UZB, TUR)
8:10 p.m. 2:10 p.m. MAG Qualification, Subdivision 4
GBR, JPN, AA9 (CUB, MGL, MAS, GEO, LTU), USA, AUS, AA1 (ARG, CRO, AUT, THA, ALG)
Sun., Oct. 18 10:00 a.m. 4:00 a.m. MAG Qualification, Subdivision 5
BEL, ITA, CHN, AA3 (BUL, JAM, SGP, IRI), AA6 (PHI, PUR, POL), ESP
12:10 p.m. 6:10 a.m. MAG Qualification, Subdivision 6
ISR, KAZ, SUI, AA10 (GRE, FIN, WG1), GER, AA4 (NZL, PER, TTO, GUA)
4:00 p.m. 10:00 a.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 1
GER, ROU, AA7 (SGP, FIN, INA, HON), USA
5:50 p.m. 11:50 a.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 2
JPN, AUS, AA10 (RSA, POL, AZE), BEL
7:40 p.m. 1:40 p.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 3
AA14 (LUX, CUB, IND, HKG, ECU), ITA, AA8 (NZL, CRO), MEX
Mon., Oct. 19 9:30 a.m. 3:30 a.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 4
AA6 (DEN, ZIM, GUA, HUN), SWE, WG1, AA2 (PER, SLO)
11:05 a.m. 5:05 a.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 5
UKR, AA9 (TPE, PAN), ALG, ARG
12:40 p.m. 6:40 a.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 6
FRA, AA4 (AUT, KAZ, LIE), MAS, AA3 (PHI, ESA, SVK)
4:00 p.m. 10:00 a.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 7
AS2 (AZE, CRO, GRE, HUN, PAN, TUR), NED, GBR, AS1 (CZE, EGY, ISL, ISR, MAR, POR, SLO, SVK)
5:35 p.m. 11:35 a.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 8
CAN, AA11 (NOR, EGY, CHI), ESP, WG2
7:35 p.m. 1:35 p.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 9
SUI, BRA, AA12 (TUR, MAR, ISL), AA13 (UZB, DOM, PUR)
9:10 p.m. 3:10 p.m. WAG Qualification, Subdivision 10
CHN, AA1 (ISR, CZE, COL), AA5 (IRL, JAM, CRC), KOR
Tue., Oct. 20 7:30–10:30 p.m. 1:30–4:30 p.m. MAG Team Final
Wed., Oct. 21 7:30–10:00 p.m. 1:30–4:00 p.m. WAG Team Final
Thu., Oct. 22 7:30–10:00 p.m. 1:30–4:00 p.m. MAG All-Around Final
Fri., Oct. 23 7:30–10:00 p.m. 1:30–4:00 p.m. WAG All-Around Final
Sat., Oct. 24 2:00–6:00 p.m. 8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Apparatus Finals 1
MAG Floor Exercise, WAG Vault, MAG Pommel Horse, WAG Uneven Bars, MAG Rings
Sun., Oct. 25 2:00–6:00 p.m. (CET) 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. Apparatus Finals 2
MAG Vault, WAG Balance Beam, MAG Parallel Bars, WAG Floor Exercise, MAG Horizontal Bar

■ MAG   ■ WAG. Qualification times are subdivision start times. All times are approximate and subject to change. Rotterdam is on CEST (UTC+2) through Oct. 24. Europe switches to CET (UTC+1) early on Oct. 25, so that day’s gap with the East Coast is five hours instead of six. Eastern stays on EDT until Nov. 1.

WG1 = Belarus; WG2 = Russia.

Previewing the world championships

Rotterdam has already produced some interesting storylines, with the Russian visa situation and one of the top all-around contenders, Hezly Rivera (USA), limited in training by left ankle pain. Plus, Reese Esponda (USA) has had to change her Barani double back on floor to a punch front through to double back after World Gymnastics’ women’s technical committee said the Barani pass would not fulfill the forward salto composition requirement.

For both the men and women, this marks the first world team competition since Antwerp 2023. That year, the U.S. women and Japanese men were victorious. Both would go on to win Olympic gold at Paris 2024.

After a year break from team competition, the U.S. women are looking to win their eighth consecutive world team title – a streak that dates back to 2011. Their toughest competition is expected to be China – a team with exceptional bars and beam workers and revitalized vault and floor lineups. China hasn’t won the world team title since 2006, but if the team can put all four events together, they could snap that 20 year drought.

Japan hasn’t won back-to-back world titles since their five-title streak from 1962-1978, but the team with two Olympic all-around champions is once again the favorite. Other top contenders for the podium are China – but without all-arounder Zhang Boheng – the U.S., WG2 (Russia), and Great Britain.

There will be a new women’s all-around champion in Rotterdam in the absence of Russian Angelina Melnikova, who won in 2025. Kaylia Nemour (ALG) is the woman to beat, owning the top international all-around score of the year with a 57.750 at the Mediterranean Games. Rivera would be one of her top competitors, but if she doesn’t do all four events, that opens the door for Claire Pease and Skye Blakely (if Blakely does the all-around) to challenge Nemour. The Chinese and Japanese women will also be in the mix, with Ke Qinqin (CHN) and Misa Nishiyama (JPN) both surpassing the 56 mark this season.

2021 Olympic all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto (JPN) is looking for his fourth consecutive world all-around title. His toughest competition will be 2024 Olympic all-around champion (and his teammate) Shinnosuke Oka. If both perform to their expected level, the most wide open race will be for the bronze. Fred Richard could return to the podium after becoming the youngest U.S. men’s gymnast to win a world medal when he won bronze in 2023. Croatia’s newest star, Illia Kovtun, is the reigning European champion. Kovtun edged out WG2’s Arseniy Dukhno for the title by 0.001 – one thousandth of a point – for that title in August.

For the women’s events, Melnikova’s absence means a new world champion on vault. Two-time world vault champion (’21, ’23) Rebeca Andrade returns to the world fold after taking 2025 off. The 2024 Olympic silver medalist on the event is expected to contend for gold along with Yeo Seojeong (KOR), Pease, and Blakely. Other podium contenders include Canada’s Lia-Monica Fontaine and Germany’s Karina Schoenmaier.

Bars, beam, and floor could see world champions defend their titles, with Nemour, Zhang Qingying (JPN), and Aiko Sugihara (JPN) all in the field.

For the men’s events, the 2025 floor, vault, and parallel bars champions are in Rotterdam to mount title defenses – Jake Jarman (GBR), Carlos Yulo (PHI), and Zou Jingyuan (CHN), respectively. Zou is the only overwhelming favorite of the three, as arguably the best parallel bars worker of all time, but both Jarman and Yulo are capable of repeating.

Pommel horse is one of the most wide open events. Gabriele Targhetta (ITA) won the European title in August and is tied for the best score of the year at a 15.200 with Hamlet Manukyan (ARM) – the 2025 European champion. Other podium contenders include 2025 world silver medalist Mamikon Khachatryan (ARM), reigning Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan (IRL), 2025 world bronze medalist Patrick Hoopes (USA), 2024 Olympic silver medalist Nariman Kurbanov (KAZ), Reuben Ward (GBR), and Hur Woong (KOR).

Rings will see an interesting competition between 2021 world champion Lan Xingyu (CHN), reigning European champion Artur Avetisyan (ARM), Harry Hepworth (GBR), Courtney Tulloch (GBR), Eleftherios Petrounias (GRE), and others.

High bar is always the most unpredictable, but if he hits, Fusuke Maeda is likely to walk away with gold. Some of his toughest competitors will be Tang Chia-Hung (TPE), Angel Barajas (COL), and Daiki Hashimoto (JPN).

Check out some of our videos from podium training here. To see a tentative list of competitors, click here.

How the competition works: Qualifications, team final, all-around, and event finals

Qualifications will span the first three days. Men’s qualifications and women’s qualifications are both 1.5 days. The top 8 teams qualify to the respective team final. The top 24 all-arounders (max 2 per country) qualify to the all-around finals. The top 8 athletes on each apparatus qualify to event finals.