Author: Rick Mc

Career gymnastics coach who loves the outdoors, and the internet.

Stag Gymnastics MAG Worlds preview

Another excellent preview of the Men’s 2026 World Championships Rotterdam competition.

Pommels and H Bar should be the highest quality apparatus. Rings a little weak, this year, as many of the top guys are not in Rotterdam.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

2026 World Championships LINKS

World Gymnastics Championships Rotterdam MEN’s predictions

The most detailed analysis of the Men’s competition I’ve seen is from zhoxxyy.

Click through to see ➙ 2026 World Championships in Rotterdam Predictions

Crunching the numbers, he considers the favourites to be …

AA – Hashimoto Daiki (JPN)

Floor – Arsenii Dukhno (RUS)

Pommels – Gabriele Targhetta (ITA)

Rings – Lan Xingyu (CHN)

Vault – Artur Davtyan (ARM)

P Bars – Zou Jingyuan (CHN)

H Bar – Tang Chia-Hung (TPE)

Sam Oldham & Dr. Kensley Behel on Worlds Rotterdam

Sam feels most of the top teams will have 3 all-around gymnasts compete by the ’28 Olympics. And 2 that will need to compete 2-3 apparatus.

Kensley feels Japan is the favourite, especially with Zhang Boheng out with injury.

China would be 2nd or 3rd. The other podium position would go to GBR, USA, or Russia.

GBR has the advantage on Vault. And possibly on Floor.

Those 5 top teams are fairly close in difficulty potential. They are all within 2 falls in a 3-up, 3-count Team Final.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Brody Malone previews H Bar at Worlds Rotterdam

He feels Fusuke Maeda will win IF he can hit his crazy difficult routine.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Reese Esponda’s Coach on Her Floor Change

FIG blundered making this decision. It’s wrong. AND it was made just days before World Championships.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Men’s Podium Training Rotterdam

6 subdivisions.

Kensley posted a LIVE BLOG.

In 2026, men are doing more in Podium training than in the past, I believe.

Still, only a small percentage are going 100% on full routines. Nobody wants to win warm-ups.

Here’s an up-to-date list of all competitors.

My biggest takeaway is the JAPAN WILL WIN TEAM. So much difficulty. So well prepared to hit routines.

The big 5 teams are Japan, GBR, China, USA, Russia.

China will likely finish 2nd, but they didn’t look nearly as good as Japan in podium training. HOWEVER, China often takes it very easy in Podium and even the qualification round, saving their best for when medals are on the line.

  • Jordan Carroll, Canada, looking good & confident on Pommels. CAN is without William Émard this time.
  • Rhys McClenaghan looks very serious. He’s changed up his Pommel routine since Europeans, striving for a 9.3 E-score.
  • Count on Eleftherios Petrounias, now age-35, to qualify to the Rings final.
  • only 3 Russian male gymnasts got visas in time for Podium. Kensley interviewed them.
  • Ukraine and Putin’s dictatorship are both in the 2nd sub-rotation
  • Scott Bregman announced Gymnastipedia, an online tool for evaluating WAG routines
  • could Colombia qualify top 8 for the Team Final? Ángel Barajas looks fantastic on H Bar. They did more full routines than most teams.
  • Subdivision 4 of 6 is fantastic. JPN, GBR, USA, Australia, Kovtun.
  • new Senior Danila Leykin at least twice connected Pegan to Koman on H Bar
  • GBR insane difficulty on Floor. The top team on that apparatus.
  • Kam Nelson (from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) is making tumbling look easy. Triple tuck – no problem. He did an even better Triple Pike.
  • Jake looked good. We haven’t seen him much this year.

Read International Gymnast magazine – Subdivisions 5 and 6: Men’s podium training wraps up in Rotterdam

Read World Gymnastics – Notes, quotes and anecdotes: World Championships Men’s Podium Training edition