Category: vault

Worlds ’25 Apparatus Finals – day 1

World Gymnastics Championships 2025 Jakarta. 

Gymnasts warm-up in the arena for Event Finals. This competition is LONG, of course, with only 1 routine at a time, so many go back to the training Gym to stay warmed-up.

Links to full results.

Floor

Superb Final. Huge difficulty. Really well done.

Vault

Terrible Final.

I expected Deng to medal. Warm-ups were strong. But she ran over the horse and got a zero on her first vault. Judges wouldn’t let her do a second.

Schönmaier tried upgrading to Cheng  — but lost 2.0 for using only 1 hand.

16-year-old Lia-Monica Fontaine is the breakout star on Vault. Tons of potential here. And very good in the AA, as well. She’s destined to be on the Canadian team for years to come.

Pommels

Toughest final, in my opinion. Of the top routines, any could have been World Champion. Scores are that close.

Bars

After the awful Vault Final, Bars was one of the best ever. Fantastic performances.

In fact, the routine everyone will remember from Jakarta will be G.O.A.T. Kalyia Nemour hitting this set.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Skye hit her best Bars in some time. Ever?

Zoja Szekely did a good routine, but couldn’t land her dismount. I understand she was too injured from Vault the previous day. I admire her courage. But with 20 / 20 hindsight, she should have withdrawn and let the Reserve gymnast go.

Rings

Amazing Final. Superhuman strength.

Dismount landing critical.

This sets up Donnell for the coming quadrennial. USA can always use a top Ring man who can compete other apparatus, if needed. Along with Asher Hong, it would not be a weak event.

Zhang Boheng and Adem Asil are incredibly good at Rings for AA gymnasts.

Related:

Leanne Wong – CHENG in AA Final

Looks very, very good from the side (judges) angle.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Melnikova, Wong, ZHANG Qingying

World Gymnastics Championships 2025 Jakarta All-around Final.

🥇 Angelina Melnikova, AIN, 55.066
🥈 Leanne Wong, United States, 54.966
🥉 Zhang Qingying, China, 54.633

4. Kaylia Nemour ALG 54.564
5. Asia D’Amato ITA 53.532
6. Rina Kishi JPN 53.232
7. Aiko Sugihara JPN 53.132
8. Abigail Martin GBR 52.998
9, Naomi Visser NED 52.299
10, Ruby Evans GBR 52.066

Full results.

Zhang said she was satisfied with her performance. “I would give myself 95 out of 100 today,” she said.

“My goal was to do my routines as I trained them. I didn’t expect to make the podium, so this result really motivates me for future competitions.”

Source: Xinhua

An amazing Bronze medal, considering she only competes a Kasamatu vault with average execution.

Well … quite a poor All-around Final, I must say. How many gymnasts had zero falls?

How many fell on Wolf turn?

Disappointing after the excellent Men’s Final the previous night.

Leanne Wong had an excellent meet. Many were doubting her Cheng Vault (including me) — and she proved the haters wrong. It was fairly good, putting her back in medal contention.

Gold was decided on the very last routine — Angelina on Floor. Fans will be criticizing the judges on that score for years to come. Did they get the Out of Bounds deduction wrong? Were the turns evaluated correctly?

Controversial.

Judging at Worlds was better than ever, I felt. But E-scores are too close together. A routine far superior in every way will only get, perhaps, 0.2 higher than the average routine.

How long do we have to wait before FIG compares our human judging D-panels with Fujitsu Gymnastics Judging Support System video analysis?

FIG – In 2021 repeat, Melnikova edges Wong to take World All-Around title

Related:

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. Jessica’s feelings. Spencer actually looking at performance. 😀

Hits, Misses, Surprises – Mens World Gymnastics Championships 2025

One of the great analysis sites of Men’s Gymnastics is “Zhoxxyy” 

Here’s a sample:

Jakarta 2025 Qualifications Review

For each of the events, the Hits, the Misses and the Surprises will be reviewed.

Floor

Jake Jarman (GBR): the bronze medalist at the 2024 Games totally delivered with a tough routine (and didn’t fall…)
Carlos Yulo (PHI): the Olympic champion nailed it again with his awesome execution. He may increase his D score in the final
Kameron Nelson (USA): 1st World Championships, 1st gymnast to include 2 triple backs in the same routine. It paid off
Minami Kazuki (JPN): 2X silver medalist on FX at WC, one of the best Japanese FX specialists
Milad Karimi (KAZ): regularly qualifies for FX finals and won bronze in Antwerp. Solid routine.
Luke Whitehouse (GBR): the 3X European Champion is the 2nd Brit in the final

Jakarta 2025 Qualifications Misses Dog

Several gymnasts have reported difficulties with the Taishan floor podiums, noting that numerous athletes experienced falls, particularly during double fronts.
Harry Hepworth (GBR): he got luckier on rings; out of the three British FX guys, one was bound to trip up and miss the final (he fell after his double front)
Ray Zapata (ESP): the Tokyo silver medalist and Paris finalist had a bummer of a fall during his tuck double front, but his routine was pretty solid overall
Eddie & Kevin Penev (BUL): the Penev Brothers provide an enjoyable viewing experience; Kevin is the third reserve and Eddie attained a slightly lower score.

Jakarta 2025 Qualifications Surprises Dog 6

Tikumporn Suritornta (THA): I don’t think many people predicted the qualification of the 27 year old gymnast from Samut Sakhon in Thailand. Great surprise and great upset!
Krisztofer Mészáros (HUN): It’s kinda a surprise, but not really, since Titi is all about those floor podiums. Super cool to see him make it to the finals in Jakarta

Read the rest …

Jakarta 2025 Qualifications: Hits, Misses, & Surprises


Women’s FINALISTS – World Gymnastics Championships 2025 Jakarta

Here are the fantastic gymnasts who qualified to the Finals. Congratulations.

Vault

1. Angelina Melnikova AIN 14.499
2. Deng Yalan CHN 14.250
3. Lia Monica Fontaine CAN 14.099
4. Karina Schönmaier GER 14.049
5. Anna Kalmykova AIN 13.916
6. Lisa Vaelen BEL 13.816
7. Charlize Mörz AUT 13.666
8. Joscelyn Roberson USA 13.599

No Simone. No Rebeca. I would say Vault is the weakest of the apparatus Finals in 2025.

Bars

  1. Kaylia Nemour ALG 15.533
  2. Yang Fanyuwei CHN 14.566
  3. Angelina Melnikova AIN 14.500
  4. Kate McDonald AUS 14.200
  5. Leila Vasilieva AIN 14.200
  6. Zoja Szekely HUN 14.200
  7. Skye Blakely USA 14.166
  8. Naomi Visser NED 14.000

It’s an honour just to compete against Kaylia, the greatest to ever put on grips.

Being second to Kaylia is like being second to Simone on Floor.

Beam

  1. Zhang Qingying CHN 14.366
  2. Flavia Saraiva BRA 13.833
  3. Sabrina Voinea ROU 13.833
  4. Ellie Black CAN 13.466
  5. Sugihara Aiko JPN 13.433
  6. Dulcy Caylor USA 13.333
  7. Amanda Yap SGP 13.300
  8. Kaylia Nemour ALG 13.233

Making the Final is the hard part. On the day, you go aggressively for your very best routine. HIT and good things can happen.

Floor

  1. Sabrina Maneca-Voinea ROU 13.666
  2. Kishi Rina JPN 13.566
  3. Ruby Evans GBR 13.566
  4. Sugihara Aiko JPN 13.366
  5. Denisa Golgota ROU 13.333
  6. Abigail Martin GBR 13.300
  7. Giulia Perotti ITA 13.266
  8. Dulcy Caylor USA 13.266

All-around

  1. Angelina Melnikova AIN 54.566
  2. Sugihara Aiko JPN 54.099
  3. Kaylia Nemour ALG 53.865
  4. Zhang Qingying CHN 53.699
  5. Dulcy Caylor USA 52.765
  6. Karina Schönmaier GER 52.131
  7. Lyudmila Roshchina AIN 52.065
  8. Kishi Rina JPN 51.965
  9. Leanne Wong USA 51.865
  10. Alba Petisco ESP 51.665
  11. Ruby Evans GBR 51.599
  12. Abigail Martin GBR 51.532
  13. Asia D’Amato ITA 51.498
  14. Naomi Visser NED 51.066
  15. Lena Bickel SUI 50.899
  16. Kaia Tanskanen FIN 50.866
  17. Silja Stöhr GER 50.731
  18. Laia Font ESP 50.665
  19. Breanna Scott AUS 50.665
  20. Zoja Szekely HUN 50.632
  21. Greta Mayer HUN 50.632
  22. Natalia Escalera MEX 50.532
  23. Sona Artamonova CZE 50.531
  24. Lucija Hribar SLO 50.498

Balance Beam Situation – 2025 WORLDS LIVE BLOG — WOMEN’S QUALIFICATION DAY 2

Gymnastics Now – LIVE blog

TheGymter.net LIVE blog

World Gymnastics Championships ’25 Jakarta – Women’s day 1

Three of 10 subdivisions are complete.

Here’s are the leaders, so far.

Vault

Bars … or we could name them Kaylia Bars

Beam

Look at you Amanda. Reppin’ Singapore.

Floor

All around

  • HIGHLIGHT for sure was Kaylia’s Bars. Unbelievable good again. The best who ever lived AND super consistent.
  • Kaylia fell on Yurchenko Double Twist and had a weird fall on Beam.
  • Stil — I could see Kaylia being World AA Champion 2025. It’s possible.
  • Japan is awesome, as usual. But had falls today.
  • Nakamura’s DEF on Bars is incredible. That skill should be valued higher.
  • Ellie Black leads Beam. This is her 9th Worlds? Or maybe 19th. 😀
  • I’m a new Kaia Tanskanen fan. Charlize Moerz is similarly amazing. Kicks out of Double Pike dismount.
  • Tiny Hwang Seohyun shoulda, coulda won Beam here. But she fell on Back 1/1.
  • South Korea is the most under appreciated team.
  • Karina Schönmaier is a new leader for German Gymnastics. And she’s very good.
  • Lia Monica Fontaine didn’t have a great day, aside from Vault. But Canada expects she’ll be the new AA for the team behind Ellie.

Gymnastics Now has a page combining MAG & WAG highlights together.

Balance Beam Situation has a LIVE blog.

READ the FIG summing up ➙ Sugihara, Nemour 1-2 overall after first day of women’s qualification at World Championships in Jakarta

Men’s FINALISTS -World Gymnastics Championships 2025 Jakarta

Congratulations to all.

Maximum 2 / nation.

Russians are back. Competing AIN (Athlètes Individuels Neutres / Individual Neutral Athletes)

Floor

Thailand to the Floor Final.

  1. Jake Jarman GBR 14.700
  2. Carlos Yulo PHI 14.566
  3. Kameron Nelson USA 14.300
  4. Milad Karimi KAZ 14.133
  5. Minami Kazuki JPN 14.100
  6. Krisztofer Meszaros HUN 13.966
  7. Tikumporn Surintornta THA 13.866
  8. Luke Whitehouse GBR 13.866

Pommels

  1. Nariman Kurbanov KAZ 14.700
  2. Hong Yanming CHN 14.600
  3. Patrick Hoopes USA 14.566
  4. Hamlet Manukyan ARM 14.500
  5. Aidan Li CAN 14.400
  6. Mamikon Khachatryan ARM 14.400
  7. Alexander Yolshin-Cash GBR 14.333
  8. Zeinolla Idrissov KAZ 14.300

Rings

  1. Lan Xingyu CHN 14.766
  2. Donnell Whittenburg USA 14.700
  3. Zhang Boheng CHN 14.600
  4. Adem Asil TUR 14.466
  5. Eleftherios Petrounias GRE 14.366
  6. Harry Hepworth GBR 14.366
  7. Glen Cuyle BEL 14.333
  8. Caio Souza BRA 14.333

Vault

  1. Carlos Yulo PHI 14.750
  2. Artur DAvtyan ARM 14.566
  3. Nazar Chepurnyi UKR 14.316
  4. Daniel Marinov AIN 14.266
  5. Tommaso Brugnami ITA 14.249
  6. Huang Mingqi CHN 14.183
  7. Minami Kazuki JPN 14.050
  8. Mukhammadzhon Yakubov AIN 14.033

P Bars

  1. Zou Jingyuan CHN 15.466
  2. Oka Shinnosuke JPN 14.533
  3. Tsunogai Tomoharu JPN 14.500
  4. Shi Cong CHN 14.400
  5. Angel Barajas COL 14.300
  6. Donnell Whittenburg USA 14.300
  7. Vladislav Poliashov AIN 14.233
  8. Daniel Marinov AIN 14.200

H Bar

  1. Tsunogai Tomoharu JPN 14.800
  2. Joe Fraser GBR 14.533
  3. Hashimoto Daiki JPN 14.400
  4. Carlo Macchini ITA 14.233
  5. Milad Karimi KAZ 14.200
  6. Brody Malone USA 14.166
  7. Daniel Marinov AIN 14.133
  8. Shi Cong CHN 14.133

All-around

  1. Hashimoto Daiki JPN 83.065
  2. Noe Seifert SUI 82.499
  3. Zhang Boheng CHN 82.331
  4. Daniel Marinov RUS 81.932
  5. Shi Cong CHN 81.398
  6. Angel Barajas COL 80.664
  7. Florian Langenegger SUI 80.298
  8. Caio Souza BRA 79.166
  1. Ryu Sunghyun KOR 78.866
  2. Diogo Soares BRA 78.798
  3. Robert Kirmes FIN 78.798
  4. Oka Shinnosuke JPN 78.731
  5. Timo Eder GER 78.265
  6. Thierno Diallo ESP 78.032
  7. Krisztofer Meszaros HUN 77.699
  8. Anthony Mansard FRA 77.432
  1. Joel Plata ESP 77.365
  2. Akseli Karsikas FIN 76.865
  3. Jesse Moore AUS 76.732
  4. Félix Dolci CAN 76.632
  5. Vladyslav Hryko UKR 75.932
  6. Sebastian Sponevik NOR 75.898
  7. Omar Mohamed EGY 75.531
  8. Dagur Olafsson ISL 75.365

International Gymnast – Men’s individual finals set at Worlds as qualifications conclude


Men’s Jakarta Worlds qualification day 1

Oct 19, 2025 we had SIX subdivisions of the best male gymnasts in the world. Two more subdivisions go Oct 20 — with a much better idea what they need to do to make the apparatus final? Triple back? Or go safe?

Leaders so far.

Since there is no team competition this time, gymnasts are looking to qualify to Apparatus and/or AA Finals. Some have a goal to improve their previous best ranking at Worlds.

Read the FIG summing-up of Day 1 Men’s competition:

Difficulty — and difficulties — take centre stage as curtain rises on World Championships in Jakarta

TheGymternet is trying a LIVE blog from the international video feed. 

Kensley Behel is posting to Twitter.  You MIGHT have to log in to X.com in order to see those public tweets.

A few notes I took over 12 hours of competition:

Worst news of the day was hearing Asher Hong injured in training on Floor. He had to withdraw.

There were more falls and mistakes than I expected. And it wasn’t always gambling on Triple Back. In fact, most of the Triples were quite safe. Some will keep that dismount even after FIG devalues Jan. 2026.

  • JAPAN in the 1st subdivision.
  • One audience concern with this Individual format for Worlds is that some apparatus are empty when none of the gymnasts in the group have decided to compete that event.
  • Judging was VERY SLOOOWWW to start.
  • Daiki Hashimoto looks good to win the AA at Worlds 2025. He’s easily leading the all-around qualification scores, despite errors.
  • I predicted the other Olympic champion, OKA Shinnosuke, to be top 2 AA — but he had many problems in the qualification round. Hopefully he can get it together in the Final.
  • Tarrab from Syria stuck Handspring Double Front on Vault.  Excellent gymnasts here from all over the world. 
  • All 3 Japanese gymnasts are using Liukin on H Bar. It’s the cool new skill to add for the top gymnasts.
  • Minami on Floor has awesome difficulty.  He could win the Floor final with better control.

Good news story for those following Donnell Whittenburg‘s long, long career is that he’s having his best Worlds ever. Many questioned whether he’s still got it at age-31. The answer is … YES.

LEGEND. And lesson in persistence.

  • Kameron Nelson competed his best Floor ever since he started including 2 Triples. Respect. His mom, coach and judge, is here cheering with us.
  • Caio Souza from Brazil is looking better than ever.
  • Fan favourite Milad Karimi looks great, as well.
  • Two teams I love to watch: Swiss men and Swedish women. Over the years those programs emphasize form, line, rhythm, artistry.
  • We already know Angel Barajas is a superstar at age-19. 4th AA with 80.664 after day 1.
  • Talking to some of the male gymnasts … They like the Floor in the competition arena and warm-up Gym. On podium. Dislike the same Floor in the training Gym, on concrete. It’s too hard.
  • I’m thrilled there are very few Rybalko skills on H Bar at Worlds. It’s nearly impossible to do those skills well.
  • Pommels Final is the most competitive with all the specialists here. Surprisingly, I’d say H Bar is the 2nd most competitive. Vault has been weak compared with previous Worlds.

Yulo – Vault in Podium

Our Olympic champion could win again here.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Women’s Podium Training Jakarta Worlds

I love the first World Championships of the quadrennial. It’s fun to see all the new Worlds competitors and start speculating on which will qualify for L.A. Olympics 2028.

Gymnastics Now has a Podium training page.

Here are some of my thoughts on WAG …

The BIG story of Podium is AIN 1 (Russia). I’m predicting they win the most medals of any nation. They look great. And have much to prove after being banned for so many months.

Personally, I support banning dictator-for-life Putin’s nation. His war killed over 1 million people already. BUT since Russia was allowed to compete Jakarta, fans can enjoy some excellent Gymnastics.

Second biggest story is Kaylia Nemour. Our Bars Olympic champ is an AA podium contender. A Worlds medal for Algeria would be a huge accomplishment in our sport.

USA is just another of the top teams here in 2025. Trying to qualify to apparatus finals in order to get a chance at a medal.

The U.S. have won at least one gold at every Worlds since 2006, and the All-Around champion has been an American in all but two of those years.

FIG – ‘There were many moments when I thought I wouldn’t make it’: Notes from Saturday podium training at Jakarta Worlds

Random notes:

  • Some good skills and difficulty from around the world. Disappointingly few have excellent execution, however. This means the Code rewards difficulty more than quality. Too bad. It’s less impressive to watch for the general public. And we risk more serious injuries.
  • Impressive skill ➙ Def from Haruka Nakamura. Respect. Not easy on Bars. AND Piked Deltchev. AND Bhardwaj. … I’d say hers is the most difficult routine, irrespective of D-score.
  • The Japanese gymnasts in this Bars line-up all have high, floaty Paks with good form. As good as anyone in the competition.
  • Ellie Black won’t do the AA here. She’s pacing herself, wanting to continue to her 5th Olympics in L.A. 2028.
  • Hwang Seohyun from South Korea is the smallest competitor, I believe. Born 2009. She won Asian Championships on Beam. You can see why.
  • South Korea is the top team that deserves more attention online. They’ve been under-appreciated for years.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

  • Like previous international meets, I like the Korean spotting. A soft touch. Doing the absolute minimum possible.
  • Impressed with the tumbling of Kaia Tanskanen representing Finland. She’s improved & upgraded since the World Cup in Paris.
  • Our Olympic Bars champion, Kaylia Nemour, upgrading to YDT and hitting a fantastic Bar routine.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

  • It feels like women’s Gymnastics is getting more like MAG in that there’s more parity. USA is not so dominant without Simone. I hope this trend continues.
  • Ruby Evans is a legit Vault medal contender. I won’t be surprised if she tries Amanar in the Final.
  • Looking at power for tumbling and vault, I’d say Joscelyn Roberson is
  • I vote for a bonus 0.1 for any gymnast who can keep legs together on Maloney Bars skills. 😀
  • Many are complaining about execution of Cheng vaults here. I’d agree. Many are terrible. The code is obviously valuing them too high compared with alternative Vaults. That should be fixed by WTC. E-score evaluation on all vaults should be fixed, as well. Perhaps doubling the current deductions.
  • VERY COOL. Weiler direct to Jaeger ➙ Thelma Adalsteinsdottir. Love it. VIDEO.
  • Celia Serber has terrific potential on Bars.
  • Romania still MUST WATCH for Beam. A fantastic history and legacy on this apparatus.
  • Twin sisters Nathalie and Emelie Westlund compete for Sweden
  • Best true Tkachev ➙ Kate McDonald VIDEO. What turnover!
  • Marta Pihan-Kulesza is back at Worlds. 38-years-young.
  • Flavia balked on one Floor tumbling line. She was fine. Laughed it off. But at the time it looked like an Achilles injury on take-off.
  • AIN (Russia) is back. Lyudmila Roshchina and Angelina Melnikova both warm-up piked (in-bar) Stalders first Touch Bars. Both definitely medal contenders. Super Bars aside from the awful bent knee Giant over the low bar before dismount. Anne-Leen Thorburn from Namibia is rotating with them. Great experience for her.
  • Russia looks great on Beam, as well as Bars. Finalist(s) if they hit. Falls in Podium, however.
  • I’m happy to see CAMEROON at Worlds. But gymnasts who can just barely Kip should not be on Bars. A minimal level should be required.
  • Russia super clean and powerful tumbling, as well. It looks to me like the many, many months out of international competition have not resulted in the anticipated problems. No rust.
  • REALLY like Angelina’s Floor. Age-25 now.
  • I haven’t seen much of China. Zhou Yaqin and Zhang Qingying (the all-arounder this week) are doing Beam. Vault specialist Deng Yalan is a contender. Great Bars, as usual.

RELATED:

FIG – Notes from Friday podium training at Jakarta Worlds