Filipa Martins
Athletes competing in women’s artistic gymnastics from 20 countries set, matched, or broke records for their nations at the world championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, making history in the sport and inspiring future generations of athletes to follow in their footsteps.
A full list of every nation’s top all-around, apparatus, and team rankings in world championships history is available here.
BRAZIL
After becoming an Olympic champion in Tokyo this summer, Rebeca Andrade became a world champion this week, and broke or matched three of Brazil’s records in the process.
- Andrade’s gold medal on vault was the first time a Brazilian woman won the title on this event. Previously, the vault record was held by Jade Barbosa, who won the bronze medal in 2010.
- She was also the first Brazilian gymnast to ever qualify into an uneven bars final, setting a hard-to-beat record by finishing second to win the silver medal.
- Though she had a fall on balance beam, Andrade finished sixth, tying Flavia Saraiva‘s record from 2019.
CHINA
Wei Xiaoyuan finished first to take the gold on uneven bars, becoming the eighth world champion from China on this event. She follows in the footsteps of Ma Yanhong (1979), Fan Di (1989), Luo Li (1994), He Kexin (2009), Huang Huidan (2013), Yao Jinnan (2014), and Fan Yilin (2015, 2017).
DENMARK
Camille Rasmussen finished 36th in all-around qualifications, breaking the 53rd place record set by Mette Hulgaard in 2013.
ECUADOR
Alais Perea finished 29th in all-around qualifications, breaking the 152nd place record set by Giulianna Pino in 2015.
EGYPT
Nancy Taman became the first gymnast from Egypt to qualify to an individual final at world championships, and she set the record on vault with her fourth-place finish.
FINLAND
Ada Hautala finished 27th in all-around qualifications, breaking the 41st place record set by Annamari Maaranen in 2005 and later matched by Annika Urvikko in 2009.
INDIA
Aruna Budda Reddy finished 46th in all-around qualifications, breaking the 63rd place record set by Dipa Karmakar in 2013.
IRELAND
Emma Slevin became the first gymnast from Ireland to qualify to an individual final at world championships. She finished 19th in the all-around final, breaking the 40th place record set in qualifications by Katie Slader in 2005.
ISRAEL
Ofir Netzer became the first gymnast from Israel to qualify to an individual final at world championships, and she set the record on vault with her sixth-place finish.
ITALY
Asia D’Amato became the first gymnast from Italy to qualify to the vault final at world championships, setting the record and winning the silver medal with her second place finish.
With this achievement, Italy has now earned world medals in every category:
- All-Around – Vanessa Ferrari (Gold medalist in 2006)
- Vault – Asia D’Amato (Silver medalist in 2021)
- Uneven Bars – Vanessa Ferrari (Bronze medalist in 2006)
- Balance Beam – Marja Nutti (Silver medalist in 1950)
- Floor Exercise – Vanessa Ferrari (Silver medalist in 2013)
- Team – Bronze medalists in 1950 and 2019
JAPAN
Ashikawa Urara finished first to take the gold on balance beam, becoming the second world champion from Japan on this event. She follows in the footsteps of Ikeda Keiko (1954).
Additionally, Murakami Mai finished first to win the gold on floor exercise, tying her own record from 2017. She is now the most decorated world gold medalist from Japan, and is the second-most decorated world medalist with a total of five after also winning bronze on balance beam.
LUXEMBOURG
Celeste Mordenti finished 34th in all-around qualifications, breaking the 45th place record set by Lara Marx in 2005.
NETHERLANDS
Naomi Visser finished fifth in the all-around final, breaking the ninth place record set by Verona van de Leur in 2001.
NORWAY
Maria Tronrud finished 41st in all-around qualifications, breaking the 46th place record set by Anita Tomulevska in 1994.
PORTUGAL
Filipa Martins had incredible success in Kitakyushu, breaking two records for Portugal.
- By finishing seventh in the all-around final, Martins broke her own 16th place record from 2014.
- Martins also became the first gymnast from Portugal to qualify to an apparatus final, finishing eighth on the uneven bars to set the record there.
RUSSIA
Angelina Melnikova finished first to take the gold in the all-around final, becoming the third all-around world champion from Russia. She follows in the footsteps of Svetlana Khorkina (1997, 2001, 2003) and Aliya Mustafina (2010).
SLOVENIA
Lucija Hribar finished 38th in all-around qualifications, breaking her own 40th place record from 2017.
SOUTH KOREA
Shin Solyi finished 11th in the all-around final, breaking the 18th place record set by Park Jisook in 1987.
TAIWAN
Ting Hua-Tien finished 30th in all-around qualifications, breaking the 51st place record set by Lu Hsing-Yi in 2005.
VIETNAM
Tran Doan Quynh Nam finished 55th in all-around qualifications, breaking the 79th place record set by Tienna Nguyen in 2018.
Article by Lauren Hopkins