Road to LA 2028 Starts in Rotterdam: World Gymnastics Championships Open With First Olympic Spots on the Line

The road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics starts this weekend in Rotterdam. The 54th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships opened at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena on October 17, 2026, and run through October 25 — with the first Olympic team berths for LA 2028 on the line. The U.S. women are chasing an unprecedented eighth straight world team title, Russia returns with a full team for the first time in seven years, and the top three teams in each field will punch their tickets to Los Angeles.

Illustration: a stylized gymnastics worlds arena in Rotterdam.

What Happened

The 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships opened on Saturday, October 17, at Rotterdam Ahoy in the Netherlands, with men's qualifying beginning that day and the women's qualifying scheduled for October 18. The championships, the 54th edition of the event, bring together the world's best gymnasts for nine days of competition ending October 25.

The stakes go far beyond world titles. These championships are the first qualifying opportunity for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, which are now less than two years away. The top three men's and women's teams in Rotterdam will secure their spots in the LA28 field, according to USA Today reporting on October 17. The remaining nine Olympic team places in each field will be decided at the 2027 World Championships in Chengdu, China.

Japan's men — the reigning world and Olympic champions — opened qualifying on October 17 in the fourth qualification subdivision, beginning on pommel horse, sixteen years after Kohei Uchimura won the world all-around title in this same Rotterdam arena in 2010. Japan's women enter qualifying on October 18, starting with vault, per the Japan Gymnastics Association's championship schedule.

Team finals are scheduled for October 20–21, where the Olympic berths and the team titles will be decided.

Illustration: a stylized U.S. team chasing a record eighth straight title.

Background

The American women arrive in Rotterdam as the sport's dominant force — and with everything to prove. They have won seven consecutive team world titles, a streak that began in 2011, and they have finished first or second at every world championships going back to 2003, never off the podium since 1999. But this is an inexperienced team: Skye Blakely is the only member with prior world championship experience, and Hezly Rivera is the lone Paris Olympian. "These next few years going to be big," Rivera said, as reported by USA Today.

The U.S. women's roster in Rotterdam: Skye Blakely, Charleigh Bullock, Reese Esponda, Claire Pease and Hezly Rivera, with Dulcy Caylor as the traveling replacement athlete and two-time Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey as the non-traveling alternate. Waiting in the wings back home is a galaxy of talent — Suni Lee, the Tokyo all-around champion who came back from a debilitating kidney disease to win three more medals in Paris, is training again and plans to return to competition next year; Shilese Jones, a two-time world all-around medalist, and Paris gold medalist Jordan Chiles are coming back too. And the biggest question of all remains unanswered: whether Simone Biles will return.

The competition is formidable. Russia is back with a full team for the first time since 2019 and easily won the European title in August — but Dutch officials denied visas to Russia's three best gymnasts: reigning all-around champion Angelina Melnikova, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Viktoria Listunova, and Anna Kalmykova, who finished second to Melnikova in the all-around at the Europeans. Even with three members of the European-championship-winning team still in the lineup, the Russians are now a longshot for the podium. Italy, the silver medalists at the 2024 Olympics, finished second at Europeans even without Paris beam champion Alice D'Amato, who is out with a shoulder injury. China impressed in winning titles at the Asian Championships and Asian Games, and Japan is on the rise.

On the men's side, the road is steeper for the Americans. Japan and China have been on a different level for decades, combining to win nine of the last 10 world titles and six of the last seven Olympic gold medals — and China bested its longtime rival at both the Asian Championships and the Asian Games earlier this year. That seemingly leaves one podium spot open in Rotterdam, with at least two other contenders besides the Americans: Britain, which just won the European title with a deep, experienced team, and Russia, which took silver with the silver and bronze medalists in the all-around.

The U.S. men's roster: Patrick Hoopes, Danila Leykin, Kameron Nelson, Frederick Richard and Shane Wiskus, with Yul Moldauer as the traveling replacement and Cooper Kim as the non-traveling alternate. Notably absent: three-time U.S. champion Brody Malone, who is taking this season off but is expected back next year; 2025 U.S. champion Asher Hong, out with an injury; and Stephen "The Pommel Horse Guy" Nedoroscik, who didn't make the world team after falling at nationals. Leykin, making his senior world championships debut after winning three junior-world medals last year, was defiant: "I'm definitely expecting for us to go and absolutely crush it and put ourselves on the podium... We're going to go for it all and have expectations of being on the podium, and it being a matter of what color the medal will be."

Why It Matters

Rotterdam is where the LA 2028 era truly begins. For every national team, qualifying early means two full years of Olympic preparation without the pressure of a last-chance qualifier — and the gymnasts who perform here will define the pecking order for domestic selection battles through 2028. With stars like Lee, Chiles, Malone, Hong and possibly Biles all planing returns, the newcomers competing in Rotterdam are fighting not just for Olympic berths for their countries, but for their own place in squads that will look very different by 2028.

The geopolitics are impossible to ignore. Russia's return after a seven-year absence — and the visa denials that stripped its three best women from the roster — add a layer of off-mat drama to the women's competition, while the race for the third men's podium spot could come down to a handful of tenths between the United States, Britain and Russia.

And the calendar is only tightening. After Rotterdam, the 2027 World Championships in Chengdu will be the last chance for the nine remaining teams per field to earn Olympic spots — meaning the heartbreak of missing out in the Netherlands will have a long runway to fester.

Illustration: a stylized long road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.

What Happens Next

• Men's and women's qualifying wraps up this weekend (Oct 17–18), setting the lineups for the team finals on October 20–21, when the first LA 2028 Olympic berths and the world team titles are decided.
• Individual all-around and apparatus finals follow through October 25, crowning the world's best gymnasts and sorting out early favorites for LA28 medals.
• The top three men's and women's teams book their Olympic tickets; everyone else must wait for the 2027 World Championships in Chengdu, China, the last chance for the final nine spots per field.
• Watch for roster movement back home: Suni Lee, Shilese Jones, Jordan Chiles and Brody Malone all plan returns next year, and Simone Biles' decision on whether to come back could reshape the U.S. women's landscape entirely.
• Japan's men and women, competing in the arena of Uchimura's 2010 triumph, carry home expectations of their own — a strong Rotterdam could signal a shifting balance with China ahead of LA28.

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FAQ

Q: When and where are the 2026 World Gymnastics Championships?

A: The 54th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships run October 17–25, 2026, at Rotterdam Ahoy in the Netherlands, with men's qualifying on Oct. 17, women's qualifying on Oct. 18, and team finals on Oct. 20–21.

Q: How do the championships affect the LA 2028 Olympics?

A: They are the first Olympic qualifying opportunity. The top three men's and women's teams in Rotterdam secure their spots in the LA28 field; the remaining nine teams per field qualify at the 2027 World Championships in Chengdu, China.

Q: What are the U.S. women chasing?

A: An eighth consecutive team world title, extending a streak that began in 2011. It is an inexperienced team, though — Skye Blakely is the only member with prior worlds experience and Hezly Rivera the lone Paris Olympian.

Q: Why are Russia's top gymnasts missing?

A: Russia is fielding a full team for the first time since 2019, but Dutch officials denied visas to its three best women: reigning all-around champion Angelina Melnikova, Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Viktoria Listunova, and Anna Kalmykova, leaving the team a longshot for the podium.

Q: What is the U.S. men's outlook?

A: Tough. Japan and China have combined to win nine of the last 10 world titles, and Britain and Russia are also strong. The Americans, without Brody Malone (season off) and Asher Hong (injured), are fighting for the third podium spot and an Olympic berth.

Sources

• USA Today (Oct 17, 2026) — "The Olympics start now for US gymnastics. Here's what's at stake at worlds": first LA 2028 qualifying opportunity, U.S. women chasing eighth straight title, U.S. men vs. Japan/China/Britain/Russia, full U.S. rosters, quotes from Hezly Rivera and Danila Leykin.
• japan.co.jp (Oct 17, 2026) — Japan's 10 gymnasts return to Rotterdam: men's qualifying Oct. 17 in subdivision four starting on pommel horse, women's qualifying Oct. 18 starting on vault, team finals Oct. 20–21.
• Gymnastics Now / BVM Sports (Oct 17, 2026) — live updates from men's qualifying at Rotterdam Ahoy, streaming and schedule details.
• World Rowing (Oct 17, 2026) — 2026 World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals set for Oct. 18–21 in Qingdao, China, with 300+ athletes from 52 nations (context on the week's other world championships).