Team Japan
With the nearly three-year qualification process for the 2020 Olympic Games finally coming to a close with the last apparatus world cup meet at the end of June, and with July 5 acting as the deadline for national Olympic committees to fill non-nominative team and individual roles, we finally have a complete list of every gymnast set to compete in Tokyo.
Women’s artistic gymnastics had a total of 98 spots available for the Tokyo Games, 48 of which were reserved for the 12 qualified teams (four members per team), while the remaining 50 were available for individual athletes. Below, we break down the rules for each team and individual qualifier as well as any updates to these rules in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we also talk through any changes and reallocations that have happened since the athletes who earned these spots were originally determined.
2018 World Championships
The top three NOCs will qualify a full four-member team based on their finish in the team final competition.
* Russia is still deciding between Elena Gerasimova and Lilia Akhaimova for the fourth team spot. The athlete not selected will compete individually in the spot Russia earned with the reallocation of the all-around world cup series.
2019 World Championships | Teams
The top nine NOCs that didn’t previously qualify in 2018 will qualify a full four-member team based on their team finish in qualifications.
| France | Marine Boyer, Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos, Aline Friess, Carolann Heduit |
| Canada | Ellie Black, Brooklyn Moors, Shallon Olsen, Ava Stewart |
| Netherlands | Eythora Thorsdottir, Vera van Pol, Lieke Wevers, Sanne Wevers |
| Great Britain | Jennifer Gadirova, Jessica Gadirova, Alice Kinsella, Amelie Morgan |
| Italy | Alice D’Amato, Asia D’Amato, Vanessa Ferrari, Martina Maggio, Giorgia Villa* |
| Germany | Kim Bui, Pauline Schäfer, Elisabeth Seitz, Sarah Voss |
| Belgium | Maellyse Brassart, Nina Derwael, Lisa Vaelen, Jutta Verkest |
| Japan | Hatakeda Hitomi, Hiraiwa Yuna, Murakami Mai, Sugihara Aiko |
| Spain | Laura Bechdejú, Marina González, Alba Petisco, Roxana Popa |
* Giorgia Villa withdrew from the team on July 13 due to a foot sprain. She was replaced by Vanessa Ferrari.
2019 World Championships | Individuals
A total of 32 individual athletes will qualify nominative spots based on their finish in all-around qualifications (one per NOC) and apparatus finals (maximum of three per NOC across all apparatuses).
Note: Up to 12 athletes were eligible to qualify via apparatus finals, but in 2019, only one gymnast qualified this way, with the remaining 11 spots reallocated to all-around qualifications.
* With North Korea withdrawing all athletes from the Olympic Games due to the COVID-19 situation, Kim Su Jong’s berth was reallocated to the first reserve, Megan Ryan of Ireland. Anastasiya Alistratava of Belarus withdrew her nominative spot on July 2, and it was reallocated to her teammate, Hanna Traukova, who missed qualifying at worlds in 2019 due to the one-per-NOC rule.
2018-2020 Apparatus World Cup Series
A total of four individual athletes will qualify nominative spots based on their ranking at the conclusion of the eight-meet series, beginning in November 2018 and concluding in June 2021.
Note: This series was originally supposed to conclude in March 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the final meet of the series was instead held in June 2021.
* Lara Mori was the reserve for the world cup spot on floor behind teammate Vanessa Ferrari, but the spot was reallocated to Mori when Ferrari was added to Italy’s main team on July 13.
2020 All-Around World Cup Series
A total of three NOCs will qualify one individual spot apiece based on their ranking at the conclusion of the four-meet series held March–April 2020.
Note: The all-around world cup series was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the three nations were instead selected based on team rankings in qualifications at the 2019 world championships.
* Russia is still deciding between Elena Gerasimova and Lilia Akhaimova for the fourth team spot. The athlete not selected will compete individually in the spot Russia earned with the reallocation of the all-around world cup series.
2020 Continental Championships
A total of nine spots will be awarded to an individual on a nominative basis if the individual’s NOC didn’t qualify a full team to the Games, or on a non-nominative basis to the NOC if the individual’s NOC has already qualified a full team.
Note: The 2020 continental championships meets were all postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
* The 2021 Asian Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Asia’s two continental berths were instead awarded to the top two gymnasts from Asian NOCs that had not previously qualified athletes to the Olympic Games based on all-around qualifications at 2019 world championships.
** Russia earned a non-nominative spot due to previously qualifying a full team at world championships in 2018. The NOC later named Anastasia Iliankova as the athlete who would take this spot.
Host Country & Tripartite Invitations
The host country is guaranteed one spot if not qualified through other criteria, and one nominative tripartite commission invitation spot is available to an athlete meeting eligibility criteria.
* Since Japan qualified a full team to the Olympic Games, the host country’s berth was reallocated to the next highest-ranked all-around athlete based on qualifications at world championships in 2019.
** NOCs eligible for the tripartite invitation that had athletes competing at world championships in 2019 included Sri Lanka and the Cayman Islands.
Article by Lauren Hopkins