British gymnasts chase Olympic berths at World Championships, live on BBC
More than 400 of the world’s top artistic gymnasts from 84 nations will gather in Rotterdam for the 54th World Championships, which run from 20 to 25 October. The event also serves as a qualifier for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, with the three highest‑placed teams in each gender earning spots. China and Japan enter the men’s competition as favourites, while Great Britain, fresh from a near‑flawless European title in August, hopes to contend for a medal.
The United States women have dominated the team final since 2011 and will look to continue that streak. Veteran Skye Blakely, now in her fourth World Championships, brings experience, while the rest of her squad, including Olympic team gold medallist Hezly Rivera, are making their senior Worlds debut. Russian athletes compete under a neutral flag; they are the reigning European women’s champions, but world‑all‑around champion Angelina Melnikova and two teammates were denied visas for Rotterdam.
Great Britain, which finished fourth at the most recent Olympics and Europeans, is led by multiple‑medal winner Alice Kinsella, who returned to competition 13 months after giving birth. Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto seeks a fourth straight men’s all‑around world title, and Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour has a chance to become the first African woman to win the event. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, a four‑medal star from the 2024 Olympics, returns to a major global stage for the first time since her floor gold.
The British squad includes:
- Jake Jarman, the Paris 2024 Olympic floor bronze medallist and two‑time world champion on vault (2023) and floor (2025), who skipped the European Championships and Commonwealth Games to focus on Worlds.
- Courtney Tulloch, 31, known as Britain’s “King of the Rings”, the first British and first Black man to medal on the apparatus at a world level in 2022.
- Harry Hepworth, 22, who made a spectacular Olympic debut in Paris 2024, winning Britain’s first Olympic vault medal and becoming the first Briton to reach an Olympic rings final.
- Joe Fraser, 27, the 2019 world champion on parallel bars and Britain’s first European men’s all‑around champion, remains a key contributor.
- Reuben Ward, 21, Scotland’s first all‑around Commonwealth Games champion and pommel‑horse silver medallist, making his world debut.
- Alice Kinsella, 25, Olympic bronze medallist who helped Team GB secure its first women’s team Olympic medal in 93 years at Tokyo 2020, now back for her sixth Worlds.
- Becky Downie, 34, a three‑time Olympian and holder of world, European and Commonwealth medals, with three golds and four silvers on uneven bars.
- Ruby Evans, 19, who became the first Welsh female artistic gymnast in 28 years to compete for Britain at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and a recent Commonwealth gold and world floor silver medallist.
- Abigail Martin, 18, a Devon native who earned team, vault and floor silvers at this year’s Commonwealth Games, contributed to Britain’s fourth‑place finish in Paris and took a world floor bronze last year.
- Alia Leat, 21, a 2025 European and World Championships competitor, British balance‑beam champion and member of the England team that won bronze at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
The BBC will broadcast the competition live on iPlayer and BBC Two, with the following schedule:
Tuesday 20 October – Men’s team final, 18:25‑21:30 (iPlayer), 19:00‑21:30 (BBC Two)
Wednesday 21 October – Women’s team final, 18:25‑21:00 (iPlayer), 19:00‑21:00 (BBC Two)
Thursday 22 October – Men’s all‑around final, 18:25‑21:00 (iPlayer), 19:00‑21:00 (BBC Two)
Friday 23 October – Women’s all‑around final, 18:20‑21:00 (iPlayer), 19:00‑21:00 (BBC Two)
Saturday 24 October – Apparatus finals, 13:00‑17:00 (BBC Two)
Sunday 25 October – Apparatus finals, 13:00‑17:00 (BBC Two)
The championships promise high‑stakes gymnastics and the chance for nations to secure their place at the next Olympic Games.