FIG World Cup Overview
The 2025 FIG World Cup series features individual event competition for Women on vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. Athletes who compete and make the podium collect World Cup ranking points aggregating throughout the season. Points are awarded by event finals placement, with competitions building to an annual end-of-series recognition. Prize money is awarded per stage by event final placement, and according to FIG directives and official provisions of local event organizers. Each competition's event finals qualification follows a standard FIG format: a preliminary round determines the top eight per apparatus (with a maximum two per country) advancing to event finals, where medals and points are decided.
The World Cup series is distinct from the World Challenge Cup, which runs later in the calendar. Both are FIG-sanctioned and award medals, prize money, and ranking credit, but the Challenge Cup functions as a separate circuit with its own schedule and standings. World Cup stages typically attract deeper fields earlier in the season as athletes tune programs, test construction, and secure event-specific results ahead of continental and world events.
Baku served as the second stage of the 2025 World Cup series, following the season opener in Cottbus where Slovenia's Teja Belak captured vault gold and 49 year old Oksana Chusovitina VT bronze, while China's Zhang Kexin (UB) and Zhou Yoquin (BB, FX), claimed three titles.
Key Highlights
- Historic gold: Oksana Chusovitina, age 49, wins vault gold, a modern era record
- Japan's 2 gold: Paris Olympians Nakamura Haruka claims beam (13.433) & Kishi Rina floor (13.066)
- Deca-Olympiad: Chusovitina, starting her 10th Olympic quad, successfully competes and wins
- 8 nations advance to finals
2025 Baku World Cup Event Finals Recap
Baku delivered decisive results across all four apparatus with clean competition and standout individual achievements. The eight-time Olympian Chusovitina authored the meet's signature moment with her vault victory, while Japan's Paris 2024 representatives claimed decisive wins on beam and floor to highlight the nation's apparatus depth.
Chusovitina's Golden Milestone: History at 49
Oksana Chusovitina secured gold with 13.516, extending her competitive legacy with a performance that transcends typical career timelines. The eight-time Olympian executed a 1.5 twisting Tsukahara vault to claim her first victory since the 2024 Asian Championships injury that ended her Paris Olympics bid. At 49 years old, she becomes the oldest gymnast to win World Cup gold in the modern era, surpassing her own records for longevity in elite competition.
Chusovitina's achievement carries additional weight given her unprecedented Olympic career spanning from Barcelona 1992 to Tokyo 2020, representing four different nations across three decades. Her vault expertise includes five eponymous skills in the Code of Points and nine World Championship medals in the event. The Uzbekistan gymnast's victory in Baku follows her bronze medal performance two weeks earlier in Cottbus, demonstrating sustained technical execution that defies conventional athletic aging patterns.
Japan's Paris Olympians Lead Apparatus Sweep
Nakamura Haruka controlled beam with 13.433, showcasing the technical precision that helped Japan's team finish eighth at Paris 2024. The 2023 junior world all-around champion delivered controlled execution on a 6.1 difficulty routine, separating from the field with consistency that reflected her Olympic experience despite being just 16 years old.
Kishi Rina claimed floor gold at 13.066, completing Japan's two-event conquest with dynamic tumbling and composition control. The Paris Olympian, who posted Japan's highest all-around score in Olympic qualification, demonstrated the power and artistry that positioned her as the team's anchor performer. Her victory reinforced Japan's apparatus strength following their historic all-teenage Olympic team composition.
Tsitavets Secures Bars Victory in Competitive Field
Alena Tsitavets won uneven bars at 13.400, representing the Athletes from Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) designation while displaying clean release work and efficient bar transitions. Lucija Hribar earned silver for Slovenia at 13.233, continuing the nation's strong World Cup showing after their vault sweep in Cottbus. The bars final featured technical construction across all finalists, with execution determining the podium order in a closely contested field.
With Baku concluding the apparatus-focused World Cup stage, the circuit transitions into the World Challenge Cup series beginning with Varna, Bulgaria in May. Athletes will carry forward ranking points and competitive momentum as the season builds toward continental championships and the World Championships qualification period.