2021 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships: Preview, Schedule, How to Watch, and more
The 2021 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships begin Monday, October 18 in Kitakyushu, Japan, just over two months after the conclusion of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Team USA will take on many of the world’s best gymnasts in Kitakyushu, and it’s sending some of it’s best as well, including a trio of Olympians on the men’s side and two Olympic alternates for the women.
The American men will be represented by 2020 Olympians Brody Malone, Yul Moldauer, and Alec Yoder. They are joined by world medalist Donnell Whittenburg, still rings specialist Alex Diab, and pommel horse specialist Stephen Nedoroscik.
The American women are led by 2020 Olympic alternates Kayla DiCello and Leanne Wong. They are joined by eMjae Frazier – the younger sister of UCLA star Margzetta Frazier – and Konnor McClain. All women’s team members are competing in their first senior world championships.
The individual world championships begin with three days of qualifications at Kitakyushu’s General Gymnasium, followed by the all-around and individual event finals.
The U.S. women begin their competition with qualifications in subdivision three on October 18. The U.S. men will qualify in subdivision four the following day.
The women’s all-around final will be held October 21 followed by the men’s all-around final October 22. Individual apparatus finals begin October 23 with the women’s uneven bars and vault and men’s floor exercise, pommel horse and still rings. The women’s balance beam and floor exercise and men’s horizontal bar, parallel bars and vault titles will be awarded on the final day of competition. The full schedule is listed below and is subject to change.
Only three gymnasts per country may compete on any apparatus, and a maximum of two-per-country may qualify to the individual all-around and event finals.
The top 24 all-around athletes will advance to the all-around final. The top-eight athletes on each apparatus will advance to the event finals.
Schedule
Kitakyushu is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time.
| Date (ET) | Event | Japan Time | Eastern Time |
| Monday, October 18 | Women’s qualifications (U.S.) | 1 p.m. | 12 a.m. |
| Tuesday, October 19 | Men’s qualifications (U.S.) | 11:10 a.m. | 10:10 p.m. |
| Thursday, October 21 | Women’s all-around final | 6 p.m. | 5 a.m. |
| Friday, October 22 | Men’s all-around final | 6 p.m. | 5 a.m. |
| Saturday, October 23 | Individual event finals (M: FX, PH, SR; W: VT, UB) | 4:10 p.m. | 3:10 a.m. |
| Sunday, October 24 | Individual event finals (M: VT, PB, HB; W: BB, FX) | 4:25 p.m. | 3:23 a.m. |
How to follow the action
Gymnastics Now will have live blogs of both the U.S. qualifying subdivisions, as well as all finals, thanks to virtual media livestreams provided by the FIG. Qualification routines from each athlete will be made available on the FIG’s YouTube Channel following the event.
You can watch all finals live and on demand on the FIG YouTube channel. If the content is geoblocked, this means a TV channel in your territory has bought the rights. Click here to see the list of rightsholders.
Olympic Channel will air the men’s and women’s all-around and event finals live, with same-day delayed coverage of the all-around competitions on NBCSN and additional World Championships coverage set to air October 24 on NBC and stream on Peacock at 1:30 p.m. ET.
NBC Sports’ John Roethlisberger, 2008 Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin and two-time Olympic medalist Tim Daggett will call the action.
Follow the scores in real time during qualifications and finals here.
Visit the FIG’s 2021 worlds site here, and find out more about the U.S. team at the USA Gymnastics worlds site here.
