How to watch the U.S. women’s 2026 World Championships Selection Event: Schedule, field, preview

The U.S. women’s team for the upcoming world championships will be determined at the 2026 World Championships Selection Event from September 30 – October 1 at FlipFest Gymnastics Camp in Crossville, Tennessee. Gymnastics Now will have on-site coverage.

Twelve athletes will compete for five spots over the two day selection camp. The 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will follow from October 17-25 in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Although there are 12 athletes, there is a short list for this world team.

Reigning two-time U.S. all-around champion Hezly Rivera is expected to make her first world team after winning team gold at the 2024 Olympics. Her teammate and three-time Olympic medalist Jade Carey is expected to bring upgrades to camp as she looks to make her fourth world team, with a focus on vault and floor. Skye Blakely is also eyeing her fourth world team after returning to the all-around at August’s U.S. championships; Blakely has great all-around potential but brings the highest scores on bars and beam. Dulcy Caylor is the only other athlete in the field with world championships experience. She won the world selection event last year to make her first world team.

Of the gymnasts who haven’t made a world or Olympic team, Reese Esponda and Claire Pease bring significant difficulty and medal potential.

Esponda won the 2026 U.S. Classic, marking her first elite all-around win. If the reigning U.S. floor champion makes the team, she is expected to contend for a world medal on that event.

Pease is a strong all-arounder and finished second to Rivera at championships. She also won bars and finished second on vault and beam at that meet.

First-year senior Charleigh Bullock rounded out the podium at championships. She can go 14+ on bars and brings a clean vault to a potential team score.

Other contenders include Tatum Drusch – who won the American Classic over the summer – and first-year senior Caroline Moreau, who has put up a few big scores on beam this year, including a 14.300 on the second day of championships.

Incoming UCLA freshman Zoey Molomo can provide a good single vault score and also has potential on floor. Lila Richardson can get into the upper 13s on beam. Simone Rose has a high difficulty ceiling on bars and can also contribute a solid score on beam.

How to watch the selection event live

Who is competing for a spot on the world team?

• Skye Blakely (Florida)
• Charleigh Bullock (Capital)
• Jade Carey (Oregon State)
• Dulcy Caylor (World Champions)
• Tatum Drusch (Flips)
• Reese Esponda (World Champions)
• Zoey Molomo (Metroplex)
• Caroline Moreau (Texas Dreams)
• Claire Pease (WOGA)
• Lila Richardson (Metroplex)
• Hezly Rivera (WOGA)
• Simone Rose (Pacific Reign)

Note: Leanne Wong, Jayla Hang, and Izzy Stassi were also invited to selection camp but later withdrew. Wong and Hang are recovering from injuries; Stassi won silver on vault and floor at the Paris World Challenge Cup last weekend and shared Monday that she is “saying goodbye to this chapter of [her] life for now” as she shifts her attention to competing for Oklahoma.

How the U.S. women’s world team will be selected

Unlike last year, no athlete will automatically qualify to the world team just by winning the all-around meet at selection event. Instead, the selection committee will calculate each athlete’s composite score using the following methodology:

• 60% – All-around score from selection event Day 1
• 40% – Combined all-around score from U.S. championships

Based on the calculated composite score, the top two athletes automatically make the world team.

The remaining three athletes will be determined based on discretionary criteria.

In total the world team and alternate selections will look like this:

• Two (2) automatic qualifiers
• Three (3) additional team members selected based on discretionary criteria
• One (1) traveling alternate
• One (1) non-traveling alternate

The team is expected to be named during the afternoon of Thursday, October 1. You can read the full selection procedures here.

When and where the 2026 World Championships are

The 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships will take place in Rotterdam, Netherlands from October 17-25. Podium training begins October 14. Gymnastics Now will have on-site coverage.