Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2026: Everything you need to know

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The world's best gymnasts will come together in the Netherlands to compete at the 2026 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

The competition will take place from Saturday 17 October until Sunday 25 October in Rotterdam.

Not only will they be competing for medals throughout the week but also for which teams will be the first to secure a place at the 2028 Olympics Games in LA.

You can watch the action on BBC2 and BBC iPlayer but what can we look forward to? Keep reading to find out.

Will you be tuning in? Let us know who you're most looking forward to watching in the comments below.

What events are there at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships?

Jake Jarman wears a blue and white gymnastics uniform as he twists in the air.

Artistic gymnastic tournaments are split into four main parts:

Qualifications
The team finals
The all-around finals
The individual finals or apparatus finals

In each of these parts, men and women do different events, and they take place in a special order, called the Olympic order.

For women, there are four events:

Vault - this is the only apparatus where the gymnast will perform two routines, and the scores for these will then be averaged out
Uneven bars (women-only event)
Beam (women-only event)
Floor

The men's events are slightly different - they compete on six apparatus, and the order is different, too:

Floor
Pommel horse (men-only)
Rings (men-only)
Vault
Parallel bars (men-only)
Horizontal bar (men-only)

Who is competing for Great Britain?

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Image source, Getty Images
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Becky Downie
Becky has competed in three Olympics during her career and is a World, European and Commonwealth medallist.
The uneven bars are arguably her best skill. Over her career she has won three golds and four silvers in the event.
Image source, Getty Images
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Courtney Tulloch
Courtney is affectionately known as Great Britain's 'King of the Rings'. He became the first British man and first black man to win a world medal for the event at the 2022 World Gymnastics Championships.
Image source, Getty Images
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Ruby Evans
At just 17 years old, Ruby became the first Welsh female artistic gymnast in 28 years to represent Team GB at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024. She is already a Commonwealth gold medallist and a World silver medallist. Ruby was also the first Welsh gymnast ever to win a gold medal at a Commonwealth Games event at the competition earlier this year.
Image source, Getty Images
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Harry Hepworth
Harry was five when he was diagnosed with a condition that affects the growth of the hip bone but took up gymnastics at the age of eight because he wanted to do a backflip. From backflip to beyond, Harry had a very successful Olympic debut at Paris 2024, not only becoming Team GB's first ever Olympic medal on the vault but also making history as the first ever Brit to make an Olympic final for the rings.
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Alia Leat
Alia represented Great Britain at the 2025 European Championships and the 2025 World Championships. She is the British champion in the balance beam and was part of Team England who won bronze in the team competition at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Image source, Getty Images
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Jake Jarman
Jake is an Olympic bronze medallist after coming third on the floor at Paris 2024. He didn't compete in the European Championships this year nor defend his titles at the Commonwealth Games in order to prepare for these World Championships. He's also a two-time world champion in vault (2023) and floor (2025).
Image source, Getty Images
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Abigail Martin
Abi hadn't even got her GCSE results back before making her Olympic debut at Paris 2024. She was part of the Team GB squad that narrowly missed out on a medal, coming fourth in the competition. At last year's World Championships, she came away with a bronze in the floor exercise and most recently won three medals at the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Image source, Getty Images
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Joe Fraser
In 2019, Joe won Great Britain's first ever gold metal on the parallel bars at the World Championships. He was the first black man to win gold in the event too. If that wasn't enough success, he then became the first British man to become the European all-around champion.
Image source, Getty Images
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Alice Kinsella
Olympic bronze medallist Alice Kinsella is coming back to the sport after having her baby boy last year. She helped Team GB win their first ever women's team medal in Tokyo 2020 and narrowly missed out on another in Paris 2024. She loves the beam and became Great Britain's first European beam champion.
Image source, Getty Images
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Reuben Ward
Reuben is coming into the World Championships off the back of a super successful summer. He became Scotland's first-ever all-around champion at the 2026 Commonwealth Games as well as claiming silver in the pommel horse. His goal for the World Championships is to help the team finish on the podium, securing their spot at the 2028 LA Olympics.

How can I watch the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships?

Nils Dunkel of Germany performs his routine on the horizontal bar and is photographed high up in the air — Image caption,
The World Championships are being held in Rotterdam in the Netherlands from 17-25 October

The whole competition will be live on BBC iPlayer and on BBC2.

Saturday, 17 October

16:00 - 20:00 - Great Britain competes in men's qualifications

Monday, 19 October

16:00 - 22:30 - Great Britain competes in women's qualifications

Tuesday, 20 October

19:30 - 22:30 - Men's team final

Wednesday, 21 October

19:30 - 22:30 - Women's team final

Thursday, 22 October

19:30 - 22:00 - Men's all-around final

Friday, 23 October

19:30 - 22:00 - Women's all-around final

Saturday, 24 October

14:00 - 18:00 - Apparatus finals

Sunday, 25 October

14:00 - 18:00 - Apparatus finals

More on gymnastics

What events are there at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships?

Who is competing for Great Britain?

How can I watch the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships?