Category: vault

From the Qualification Day – November 21st in Manila, Philippines.

I heard today from FIG that between 1/3 and 1/2 of these Juniors will one day compete a Senior World Championships. It really is a stepping stone.

Team

🥇 France 🇫🇷 108.432
🥈 Japan 🇯🇵 107.930
🥉 USA 🇺🇸 106.230

AA Final Qualifiers

The BIG story of the day is Elena Colas from France having a near perfect day, hitting and sticking almost everything. This performance would have won the 2025 World Senior Championships, in my opinion.

Vault Final Qualifiers

I was happy to see so many gymnasts compete two Vaults, even if they did not aspire to qualify for the Final. Good experience for the future.

Bars Final Qualifiers

Relatively few have Maloney and Van Leeuwen.

Perhaps the weakest apparatus, overall. But the finalists are excellent. Some of these qualifying routines were hit with no visible deductions. Judges have to invent -1.8 out of elbows bent, or something. 😀

Beam Final Qualifiers

There were many high difficulty mounts. It makes the apparatus more exciting. On the other hand, I was surprised how many Juniors opted to do safer dismounts ➙ Forward Layouts and with twist. Smart.

Reserve Chou Mei (Taiwan) is excellent.

Floor Final Qualifiers

Everyone agrees that artistry (whatever that is) has much improved. Gymnasts are spending more time and effort preparing choreography. Trying to tell a story with their routine.

Full RESULTS.

A few notes from the 2025 Junior World Artistic Gymnastics Championships MAG podium training.

Competition goes 20 to 24 November at the Marriott Grand Ballroom at the Newport World Resorts in the Metro Manila city of Pasay.

Manila Junior Worlds: Women’s podium training showcases depths of global talent

• super exciting to see all the new faces at a World Championships ➙ gymnasts and coaches
• it’s safe to say that the concept of a World Artistic Jr Championships is well accepted now. 10 more nations sent Juniors to this meet for the first time.
• we always have to admit that it’s silly to have small nations like Malta (pop. 520,000) compete against huge nations like China. That said, Algeria has an Olympic champion. It’s possible.
• it’s great to see good gymnastics from unexpected small nations. Sophie St John from Malta is a name to remember, for example.
• while level of gymnastics is mixed, I found the level of Jr. WAG mostly closer to Senior level than MAG
• myself and some of the judges I spoke with were impressed with the ARTISTRY of these young gymnasts on Floor. Entertaining choreography.
• the FIG WTC push to improve artistry on Beam and Floor worked

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

FIG posted a preview article:

• all those competing in Manila will be eligible for senior level competition by 2028 Olympics
• Competitors to watch include Elena Colas (FRA) and Muneta Rinon (JPN), the reigning women’s Junior European and Junior Asian All-Around champions, respectively. Charleigh Bullock (USA), who earned five gold medals at the Junior Pan American Games earlier this year, will lead the U.S. effort.
• Lavi Crain (USA) looked great in Podium
• Elena and team France look terrific in podium training
• the tiny gymnasts from Japan do HUGE difficult skills
• Minamino Yume full-twisting layout Jaeger from a jam to handstand
• one young gymnast not ready for full difficulty on Bars opts to compete a super clean, simple routine with Straddle Cut and Sole Circle dismount.  Maximize execution score. 
• I was surprised at the number of backward handspring tucks on Beam. Layout is normally more consistent.
• as rules still promote difficulty over execution, I’m expecting a lot of falls
• USA puts a priority on HITTING routines. I expect them to be very successful at this level.