Angel Barajas helped Colombia qualify for its first men’s team final at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday, Oct. 18. Colombia finished eighth with 242.727 points, beating Italy by just 0.232 points to secure the last place in Tuesday’s final.
The six-man team of Barajas, Camilo Vera, Thomas Mejia, Yan Dairon Zabala, Jorman Alvarez and Juan Felipe Ramos combined their scores across the six men’s apparatuses to reach the final. Colombia will now compete against the seven highest-ranked teams for its first men’s team medal at the World Championships.
Barajas and Vera also qualified for the individual all-around final on Thursday, Oct. 22, and the horizontal bar final on Sunday, Oct. 25. With these results, Colombia has secured places in three finals at the championships, which run through Oct. 25.
Italy’s score made final qualification decisive
Colombia’s 242.727 points placed it behind host nation the Netherlands, which scored 242.995 to finish seventh. Italy ranked ninth with 242.495, missing the final by less than a quarter of a point.
Japan led the qualifying standings with 254.529 points, followed by Great Britain with 251.460 and Russia, competing under the World Gymnastics 2 designation, with 249.162. China placed fourth with 247.493, ahead of the United States with 245.961 and Switzerland with 244.430. The Netherlands and Colombia completed the eight-team field.
The Colombian team recorded its highest apparatus total on parallel bars, scoring 42.433 points, the sixth-best mark among the competing nations. Its 40.499 on horizontal bar ranked fifth. The other apparatus totals were 39.198 on floor exercise, 40.099 on pommel horse, 39.566 on rings and 40.932 on vault.
The men’s team final takes place Tuesday, Oct. 20. The eight qualifiers will compete again, with the top three teams earning direct qualification places for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Colombia will face a substantial challenge: Japan finished 11.802 points ahead of the Colombian team.
Barajas and Vera target individual medals
Barajas finished ninth in the all-around qualifying standings with 82.831 points, while Vera placed 10th with 82.764. Both advanced to the 24-gymnast final, where competitors will contest all six men’s apparatuses.
Barajas also delivered Colombia’s strongest individual result on horizontal bar, scoring 14.333 points to finish fifth in qualifying. His routine earned 6.300 points for difficulty, 7.933 for execution and a 0.1 bonus. With a score of 14.166, Vera placed seventh and earned Colombia’s second berth in the eight-gymnast apparatus final.
The all-around final on Thursday, Oct. 22, will test both gymnasts across floor exercise, pommel horse, rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. The six-event format rewards overall consistency, giving Vera a direct opportunity to compete against his more seasoned teammate.
Barajas arrived in Rotterdam with an Olympic medal already to his name. At 17, he won silver on horizontal bar at the Paris 2024 Olympics, becoming Colombia’s first Olympic medalist in artistic gymnastics. His fifth-place qualifying score in Rotterdam keeps him in contention for another major international result, although the final will determine the medal positions.
The horizontal bar final takes place Sunday, Oct. 25, on the championships’ closing day. Barajas and Vera will face the other qualifiers in a single-apparatus contest, where their qualifying scores offer a starting point but do not determine the final standings.
For Colombia, the next test comes Tuesday, when the team will measure itself against the world’s leading gymnastics nations. Barajas and Vera will then return for the all-around final before competing for individual honors on horizontal bar. Their performances have already secured Colombia’s first men’s team final at the World Championships and given the country three opportunities to pursue medals in Rotterdam.