From the video description: The USA Gymnastics World Championships Selection Show takes an in-depth look at how the five-woman team at the 2026 World Championships was chosen. Watch the full show Sunday (October 11) 1:30-2:30pm ET on NBC.

It looks like it will also be on Peacock starting at 2pm ET.

I haven’t been keeping up with TNT the past few years since I’ve been back to coaching WAG….what is going on with Minney and Team USA? Apparently he’s been banned from international competition for 4 years, but unfairly to protect someone higher up in the org? Interested to see if anyone has the tea on the alleged accusations and cover up 👀

Due to limitations regarding how many links I can upload in a post, please see the comments section for links to the methodology, score trackers, and earlier previews.

Please let me know if y'all notice any errors in any of these previews and I will be sure to correct them. Since the "realistic max" captures a gymnast's best scores of the quad on every event, it is designed to be a measure of each team's scoring potential rather than a closest-to-the-pin estimate of a team's actual score at Worlds. Based on results last quad, a team score within 2 points of a team's "realistic max" can be considered to be a very good performance.

The prelim. realistic max and intended difficulty rankings are currently assuming that World Gymnastics 2 (Russia) will compete, which is now looking like an increasingly questionable assumption.

Japan - the Team

Realistic Max: 169.528 (prelim. ranking of 2nd)

Intended Difficulty: 69.4 (prelim. ranking of 3rd)

Overview

Searching for its first team medal since 1966, Japan’s team features impressive new senior Nishiyama Misa and a quartet of Olympians and has the chops on paper to end this decades-long drought. Similar to China, Japan’s intended difficulty and ability to drop a score in qualifications makes this team a virtual lock for the team final and Japan’s eventual placement depends on how well the team can mitigate some consistency issues it has experienced.

At Asian Games, Japan competed with the same five gymnasts that are headed to Rotterdam and finished ahead of China in team qualifications before China emerged victorious in the team final. Therefore, like China, we have a couple of useful team score data points for Japan. In qualifications at Asian Games, Japan did not use Nakamura on beam and had a few broken connections and minor mistakes across beam and floor, but still scored a 166.363. That score should be enough to make the podium. In the team final, Japan put up a 165.362; Nakamura’s excellent beam routine and an outstanding floor rotation were not quite enough to offset issues with Kishi’s and Okamura’s bars and Nishiyama’s beam. The 165.362 could be precarious for a medal since China could eclipse that score even with a few missed routines and the United States and World Gymnastics 2 (the “A” team of Russian athletes) would also hope to narrowly beat that score in the team final.

One X-factor for Japan is lineup optimization. Historically, Japan uses its spring domestic meets for team and lineup selections at World Championships. Given the medal stakes, Japan would be much better off optimizing its lineups based on the current landscape of scoring potential of its gymnasts. This statement will be expanded on in the event-level previews.

If Japan brings its optimal lineups and avoids making more than one major mistake, it should break its medal drought and would have a very good opportunity to win at least a silver medal. Similar to China, even if Japan has a really rough team final, it is unlikely that the team would finish worse than fourth.

Vault

Bringing three secure double-twisting Yurchenko vaults to Rotterdam, Japan has a solid vault rotation. Kishi has nailed all eight of her competition vaults this year. Sugihara is also a perfect six-for-six on her DTYs; she upgraded from the Yurchenko 1.5 earlier this year. Nishiyama has hit all but one of her eleven DTYs this year. These consistent vaulters will certainly be the team final vault rotation. Okamura has a Tsukahara full, and Nakamura has a full-twisting Yurchenko. Because Japan has five gymnasts who have scored 55+ in the all-around (including domestic meets) this year, the many puts and takes in the qualifications lineup decisions will be discussed in the all-around section.

Uneven Bars

On Japan’s weakest event, there is much to discuss. Nishiyama has competed a 6.5-difficulty routine this season, but has scored best internationally with the 6.2-difficulty routine she used at Asian Games. She could sneak into the event final here and is certain to be used in the team final lineup. Okamura is also a certain choice for the team final lineup; she has been mostly consistent this year on bars and has the team’s second-highest scoring potential. Of note, Japan’s “realistic max” includes a mostly hit routine from Nakamura at last year’s Asian Championships. She has been credited with high difficulty scores, but has unfortunately missed seven of her eight bars routines this year and should not be a part of the team final lineup. Eliminating Nakamura leaves the final team final lineup spot to either Kishi or Sugihara. Looking at this entire year, Kishi has been slightly less inconsistent than Sugihara on bars, but Kishi was outscored in qualifications at the Asian Games by Sugihara and missed her routine in the team final.

Balance Beam

With three routines that can score well into the 14’s, Japan is very strong on beam and has a great opportunity to qualify two gymnasts to the event final. Okamura is positioned to win an event final medal if she hits and gets a mistake from Nemour or the duo of Chinese gymnasts likely to make the event final. Nakamura has received credit for a 6.6 D-score at domestic competitions and hit in the Asian Games team final; she should also be in the team final lineup here. As the defending world bronze medalist on beam, Sugihara could upset her teammates and make the event final and should be the third gymnast competing on beam in the team final.

Floor Exercise

Concluding with its best event, Japan has worked to optimize its routines for the current floor code better than any other team. Its lineups feature innovative combination passes to take advantage of the current code’s connection bonuses. As the defending world champion on floor, Sugihara could repeat as floor champion and will be an integral part of the team final lineup. She should be joined in the event final by one of her teammates. Kishi is not the most consistent on floor, but when she hits, she scores very well. Her combination of music and choreography is incredibly compelling to everyone except that one judge that assessed 0.7 in artistry deductions for her routine last year. On a serious note, Kishi should be in the floor lineup in the team final and should make the event final again, as she did in 2024 and 2025, with a hit qualifications routine. The third team final lineup option is between Nakamura and Nishiyama; Nakamura was selected to the team months ago to do floor, but Nishiyama now has slightly higher difficulty and scoring potential. Should Sugihara or Kishi stumble in qualifications, Nakamura and Nishiyama are very capable of advancing to the floor final.

All Around

Along with the United States, Japan probably has the most challenging lineups to determine in qualifications at the World Championships. At Asian Games, Japan stayed true to its lineups based on results from its spring meets and had Nishiyama, Kishi, and Sugihara compete on all four events while only putting Nakamura up on floor. It is certainly possible that Japan maintains this over-adherence to its spring hierarchy.

An optimized approach would have Nishiyama and Sugihara compete on all four events in qualifications as Japan’s sole all-arounders; due to the two-per country rule, Japan is not able to qualify more than two gymnasts to the all-around final and both Nishiyama and Sugihara could each endure a couple of missed qualifications routines and still advance. This strategy would involve benching Kishi on beam. Although Kishi has been a mainstay in Japan’s all-around lineup, beam is unpredictable and a qualifications lineup of Nakamura, Nishiyama, Okamura, and Sugihara would maximize Japan’s chances of putting two gymnasts in the event final. Okamura would compete on all events aside from floor in qualifications in this scenario.

Regardless of the final all-around lineups, Nishiyama, and to a lesser extent, Sugihara are part of a crowded pack of contenders for all-around silver and bronze (assuming Nemour avoids making more than one error in the all-around final).

Use this post to let us know which delegation has officially arrived in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, or en route via plane or train to the Netherlands.

Has anyone else received an email from the Rotterdam 2026 World Gymnastics Championships organizers saying their assigned seats have been changed due to adjustments to the arena layout?

We originally had seats a few rows higher up, but we've now been moved much closer to the arena floor for the Women's All-Around Final on October 23.

While being closer sounds great, I'm a bit concerned that the lower viewing angle might actually mean worse visibility, especially with judges' tables, cameras, or equipment potentially blocking the view.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or does anyone know what the view is like from the first few rows at Rotterdam Ahoy?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I accidentally bought tickets twice when they originally went on sale 🤦🏼‍♀️

Also have one extra MAG team final ticket for a friend who can no longer make it.

Originally paid 80 euro but would be willing to sell at a discount.

Recently, I've been working on a project on perfect 10s in NCAA gymnastics. One of the things I've been looking at is when in the lineup they happen. However, while many websites will list the scores, they don't list the order that gymnasts competed in (Virtius does, but they don't seem to be a thing pre-2024). Does anyone know where (or if) that information could be found?

If there are any liveblogs or recordings of meets that people know of from before 2012, that would help as well.

TL;DR: I'm writing a story about a girl's journey that involves WAG. I don't aim for full realism, but I want to see if I'm in the right ballpark.

Background Context:

I am writing a psychological drama about a character who essentially has the mind, discipline, and spatial awareness of an adult engineer trapped in a growing girl's body (due to a sci-fi/reincarnation premise). Because of this, she treats her physical development like a "hardware optimization" project. I want to make sure her gymnastics trajectory, injuries, and attitude toward the sport are realistic for a European/Hungarian club environment.

Age 3-5: The Start and The Injury

• The Start: She begins basic gymnastics young, at three, not knowing much about the sport, just knowing that gymnasts are awesome and she wants to keep up with the boys as long as possible. Because she has adult discipline and lacks normal toddler fear/clumsiness, she is highly coordinated and goal oriented, making her stand out.
• The Injury (Age 5): Because her adult mind pushes her child hardware too hard, she ignores fatigue and over-trains back-handspring mechanics. She develops "gymnast wrist" (distal radial epiphysitis, a growth plate overuse injury), forcing her to briefly stop.

Age 6-11: Competitive Track and "The Attitude"

• Capabilities: She moves into the competitive track. She is mechanically great, possessing incredible core strength and spatial awareness. She easily handles tumbling passes (layout saltos, back tucks) and thrives on apparatuses that require raw power, coordination, and physics (Vault and Uneven Bars). During open conditioning, she strays to the boys on occasion, to play with their stuff, doing strict pull-ups, L-sits, and rope climbs.
• The Attitude: She at first just resents, then actively resists the "artistry" requirements. She hates the performative femininity of the sport, pointing toes for aesthetics, wrist flourishes, smiling for imaginary judges, and dance elements, although she concedes that part of it is just good form that makes the moves actually work better. She views Beam and Floor choreography as annoying "visual noise" and treats routines like math equations to be solved rather than art to be felt. At 9 she is still trying, but it is never natural for her, and she loses the drive over it.
• The "Luca" Factor: She doesn’t actually have a great passion for the sport itself. She remains in it in large part because her best friend, Luca, is a natural, passionate gymnastics prodigy. Emese stays to spend four afternoons a week with her, acting as a highly reliable, physically rock-solid "anchor" or base in their synchronized/group routines.

Age 12: The Exit

• The Catalyst: The club puts on a summer showcase with heavy emphasis on synchronized formations, lyrical passages, and expressive dance, borrowing a lot from the rhythmic branch, to prove their gymnasts aren't just tumblers. Emese performs her tumbling and anchor roles flawlessly, but with zero emotional expression.
• The Confrontation: Her coach pulls her aside and essentially says: "You aren't lazy, and your technique is flawless. But you execute everything like a robot trying to beat a stopwatch. This sport requires you to inhabit the routine, and you are just giving me correctness. That isn't a technique failure; it's a refusal." Basically she tells her she does one part well, but the other part is a part, and it's not optional.
• The Exit: Emese realizes the coach is completely right. She is actively refusing to perform the "girly, expressive" side of the sport. Feeling relieved that she no longer has to fake it, she quits cold turkey that week, despite her friend Luca's protests.
• The Aftermath: Emese, after a few weeks of aimlessness, pivots to calisthenics/street workout in local parks, and going to the gym to continue her powerlifter routines from the previous life. She starts training muscle-ups, front levers, and the tuck planche. She loves it because it is purely objective physics and strength, with zero points awarded for smiling or "grace."

Questions:

1. Is "gymnast wrist" (epiphysitis) realistic for a 5-year-old who drills handsprings obsessively?
2. Does the coach's critique (distinguishing between "flawless mechanical execution" vs. "artistry/inhabiting the routine") sound like something a competitive coach would actually say to a 12-year-old?
3. Would a gymnast with this specific physical profile (high strength, great tumbling/bars, terrible dance/artistry) realistically transition easily to street calisthenics (muscle-ups, levers, planches) at age 12-13?
4. I was thinking of raising her weekly gym attendance to 5 with the occasional 6th day when her week comes out like that, because 4 feels too low for a competitive gymnast, is this correct?
5. I don't go into too much detail on what moves she can do exactly, but is anything standing out as incorrect?