China will enter Wednesday’s World Artistic Gymnastics Championships finals as the women’s team to beat, qualifying in first place Monday, followed by the U.S. in second.
Russia, competing under a neutral flag in Rotterdam, Netherlands, because of the war in Ukraine, qualified in third, despite having to leave three of its top gymnasts at home because the Netherlands denied their visas.
Italy, Japan, France, Canada and Brazil round out the rest of the teams in Wednesday’s final, with Great Britain edged out in ninth. The top three teams will earn the first spots at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. (The U.S. has already qualified as the host nation.)
Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour qualified first in the all-around, followed by the United States’ Skye Blakely and Russia’s Liudmila Roshchina.
The competition in Rotterdam is Blakely’s fourth World Championships appearance, but her first in the all-around.
“I’m not going to cry, I already cried,” Blakely said after qualifications Sunday. “It truly means the world to me, knowing how much I’ve been through. Two major surgeries, a lot of hardships, ups and downs.”
Blakely won two gold medals with U.S. teams in 2022 and 2023 but has never won an individual medal at worlds. She was a contender for the past two Olympic teams before injuries forced her to withdraw from trials in 2021 and 2024.
In Rotterdam, Blakely also qualified for the vault, bars and beam finals. She is serving as team leader on a young U.S. team full of mostly newcomers, which included a last-minute roster substitution, with alternate Dulcy Caylor filling in on beam in qualifications after Olympian Hezly Rivera withdrew Friday with an ankle injury.
Blakely will be joined in the all-around, vault and floor finals by Claire Pease, and Reese Esponda secured the top qualification spot on floor. Pease and Esponda made their worlds debuts during the U.S. qualification Sunday.
Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade qualified first for the vault final, returning to competition for the first time since she won silver in the event in Paris. Nemour, defending world and Olympic champion on bars, qualified first on the event, and defending world champion Zhang Qingying of China qualified first on beam.
China’s women will look to win their first team gold since 2006, and the U.S. is defending a seven-year streak of World Championship team titles. After years of bans because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wednesday will be the first time the U.S. and Russia go head-to-head in a team final on the world stage since Russia beat the U.S. out for gold at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.
The men’s team final is Tuesday, with Japan qualifying as the top nation. Great Britain, Russia, China and the U.S. rounded out the top five.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Olympics, Global Sports, Women's Olympics
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