The October Briefing | Rotterdam in Review
The 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, ran October 17–25, with the Women's Team Final, All Around Final, and Event Finals completing the women's championship program. Here's a break down of key performances that shaped the competition, podium results, and the first LA28 team berths.
In this issue:
- China's Team gold medal winning margin (+0.233) ultimately came down to its (+1.333) E score advantage vs. the US's (+1.300) D score edge, plus the US's (-0.200) neutral deductions vs. none for China
- Skye Blakely won the AA with the Final's highest total execution score
- Rebeca Andrade, Kaylia Nemour, and Claire Pease won four Event Final titles through distinct score drivers
- Event Qualification foreshadowed two champions and two climbs: Andrade qualified 1st on VT and won VT gold; Nemour qualified 1st on UB and won UB gold, then qualified 8th on BB and won BB gold; Pease qualified 5th on FX and won FX gold
- China, the US, and Japan secured women's team berths for LA28
China gold: 0.233 Team Margin over US silver
China won Team gold (165.764), US silver (165.531), and Japan bronze (164.063). The US led the eight-team field on VT, UB, and FX, building a combined 3.934 advantage. On BB, China outperformed the US, 43.366 vs 39.199, gaining 4.167 and neutralizing the US advantage across the other three apparatus.
China's Team Final gold medal came by the smallest margin since 2010, when Russia edged the US by (+0.201) points. The 2026 winning edge (+0.233) is the second-smallest across World Championships women's team finals since open-ended scoring began in 2006.
WAG Team Finals | 2006–2026 Worlds
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Winning margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | CHN 165.764 | USA 165.531 | JPN 164.063 | (+0.233) |
| 2025 | - | - | - | No team event |
| 2024 | - | - | - | Olympics |
| 2023 | USA 167.729 | BRA 165.530 | FRA 164.064 | (+2.199) |
| 2022 | USA 166.564 | GBR 163.363 | CAN 160.563 | (+3.201) |
| 2021 | - | - | - | No team event |
| 2020 | - | - | - | Olympics |
| 2019 | USA 172.330 | RUS 166.529 | ITA 164.796 | (+5.801) |
| 2018 | USA 171.629 | RUS 162.863 | CHN 162.396 | (+8.766) |
| 2017 | - | - | - | No team event |
| 2016 | - | - | - | Olympics |
| 2015 | USA 181.338 | CHN 176.164 | GBR 172.380 | (+5.174) |
| 2014 | USA 179.280 | CHN 172.587 | RUS 171.462 | (+6.693) |
| 2013 | - | - | - | No team event |
| 2012 | - | - | - | Olympics |
| 2011 | USA 179.411 | RUS 175.329 | CHN 172.820 | (+4.082) |
| 2010 | RUS 175.397 | USA 175.196 | CHN 174.781 | (+0.201) |
| 2009 | - | - | - | No team event |
| 2008 | - | - | - | Olympics |
| 2007 | USA 184.400 | CHN 183.450 | ROU 178.100 | (+0.950) |
| 2006 | CHN 182.200 | USA 181.350 | RUS 177.325 | (+0.850) |
Evenly matched teams: difficulty and execution nearly canceled each other out. The US earned 68.0 in D score, (+1.3) above China's 66.7, while China's E score totaled 99.064, (+1.333) more than the US's 97.731; in other words, before neutral deductions, China gained a (+0.033) advantage over the US. With the US team's neutral deductions, China expanded their winning margin to 0.233.
Gold Medal Margins | 2006–2026 Worlds
Sources: FIG results, GIGA Data & Analytics
Blakely's AA gold: the Day's Best Execution
Skye Blakely won the All Around Final (55.733), and delivered the day's highest cumulative E score (33.433). On the way to the title, Blakely earned top three scores on VT, UB, and BB. Liudmila Roshchina finished second (55.199), and Qinqin Ke third (55.032). Claire Pease, seventh overall, delivered the AA Final's highest overall D score (23.2).
Blakely finished Rotterdam with four medals, and reached the podium in four of five finals she competed: gold (AA), silver (Team), and 2 bronze (VT, UB), creating a compelling case for Team USA on the Road to LA28.
Andrade, Nemour, Pease Capture EF Gold
In the Event Finals top qualifiers Rebeca Andrade won VT (14.466) with the highest EF E score (9.367) and Kaylia Nemour won UB (15.333) delivering the top EF D score (7.0), then going on to capture BB gold (14.566) via E score tie break (8.266 vs 8.066) over Qingying Zhang. Claire Pease won FX (13.866), with Reese Esponda second (13.566).
2026 Elite Gymnast Season High Scores
Following the 2026 World Championships GIGA's 2026 High Score Tracker shows many of the 2026 medalists and event finalists at the top of the rankings. Gold medalists Kaylia Nemour notched the season's top AA score (57.750) and best D score (7.4) on UB; Rebeca Andrade ranks #1 on VT (14.549, 2 VT average) and E score (9.700, single VT E); Claire Pease ranks second in (14.525, 2 VT average) and third AA high (56.700); Skye Blakely ranks fourth AA (56.500) and third VT high (14.450, single VT).
GIGA's high score tracker analyzes scores from 2026 international, continental, and domestic elite events, plus World Cup and World Challenge Cup competitions, and ranks elite gymnast season high scores across VT (2 VT + single VT), UB, BB, FX, AA, plus D + E score detail.
Last updated: October 29, 2026