Sticking the Landing: Recapping the 2025 Gymnastics World Championships

Kaylia Nemour, courtesy of Olympics.com

The Gymnastics World Championships are always full of excitement, upsets, and surprises, and this year's was no exception! From injuries preventing medal favorites from competing, to an unpredictable qualifications competition, to unexpected but welcome athletes on the podium, the 2025 World Championships kept us on our toes.

Let's take a look at what went down at Worlds!

All-Around

Leanne Wong, Angelina Melnikova, and Zhang Qing Ying, courtesy of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG)

The All-Around final was a nail-biter with the gold medal coming down to the last routine and every last tenth, literally. Three-time Olympic medalist and 2021 World all-around champion Angelina Melnikova, a Russian gymnast competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, finished qualifications in first place by nearly half a point. Aside from a fall on beam in the third rotation, Melnikova had a solid all-around performance in the final and improved on all of her scores from qualifications, aside from vault. With her high level of difficulty, especially on bars, she became the World All-Around Champion once again.

When U.S. national all-around champion Hezly Rivera sustained an ankle injury and pulled out of the Worlds selection camp, everyone wondered who would step up to continue the USA's world all-around medal streak that started in 2001. And that gymnast was Leanne Wong. Wong was shaky in qualifications, but shone under the pressure of the all-around final. She went into the final in ninth place, but hit all of her routines to put herself in medal contention. In the final rotation, she even pulled out her more difficult vault, a Cheng, and nailed it.

In a repeat of the 2021 World All-Around Final, Melnikova won gold and Wong won silver, this time with only a tenth separating them. Zhang Qingying of China, who has a very difficult and gorgeous beam routine, won bronze, only a few tenths behind Wong.

Vault

Angelina Melnikova, courtesy of Forbes

Melnikova took home a second gold the next day in the vault final. She had clean form on her first vault, a double twisting Yurchenko, and brought a high level of difficulty with her second vault, a Cheng. This was Melnikova's second world vault medal, after she won bronze on the event in 2021.

16-year-old Lia-Monica Fontaine of Canada looked like a confident veteran in her first World Championships. Coming off a successful Pan American Championships where she won five medals, including gold on floor and silver on vault and in the all-around, the gymnast in her first year of senior competition qualified for the vault final in the third spot. Fontaine had a lot of power on her double twisting Yurchenko but was clean in the air, and had a controlled Lopez that definitely leaves room for upgrading. Fontaine's great form and cool, calm, and collectedness won her her first world medal, a silver on vault.

The USA's Joscelyn Roberson opened up about struggling mentally and physically in Jakarta. After initially considering to only focus on the floor exercise in qualifications, she decided to give vault a go and ended up qualifying in the final spot. Rocking Razorback red in the final, Roberson upped her difficulty by competing a Mustafina, a vault she hadn't trained in over half a year and decided the night before to throw in competition, to win bronze, her first individual Worlds medal.

Bars

Kaylia Nemour, courtesy of Le Parisien

There was no surprise with the gold medal on the uneven bars, but that didn't make the event final any less exciting. Algeria's Kaylia Nemour, the reigning Olympic champion on the event, is the best bar worker in the world and one of the best of all time. Nemour brought a high level of difficulty, huge releases, and immaculate form to bars, and is such a fun athlete to watch in the event. With her gold medal, she became the first World champion from an African nation.

Melnikova was quick and precise on the uneven bars, and her execution was critical in this final. In a tie for the second-highest score in the event, Melnikova won the tiebreaker, which goes to the routine with the higher execution score. The silver on bars was her third medal of the 2025 World Championships, the most of any of the athletes, and her first in the event.

China's Yang Fanyuwei had the second-highest difficulty score, four-tenths behind Nemour and four-tenths above Melnikova. Yang had a form break early in her routine, but quickly recovered to perform the rest of her routine with elegance and poise. She won the bronze medal at her first World Championship.

Beam

Zhang Qingying, courtesy of Dita Alangkara/AP Photo

Zhang Qingying had the highest level of difficulty on the balance beam in qualifications by half a point. She looked comfortable, relaxed, and effortless while competing in the event. In fact, Zhang was so confident in the event final that she scored eight-tenths higher than she did in qualifications! She won gold by nearly eight-tenths for her second medal at Worlds.

Nemour qualified in the final spot on beam, but improved her routine by over a point to win her second world medal. She exhibited confidence throughout her whole routine and attacked every skill. Her smart routine construction led to her scoring much higher in execution and to the silver medal.

Two-time Olympian Aiko Sugihara of Japan had herself a Worlds. Sugihara looked stunning and calm on the beam and nailed every skill. She also improved her score by seven-tenths from qualifications. She won the bronze medal, her first medal at Worlds and just her first of the day.

Floor

Aiko Sugihara, courtesy of Olympics.com

Everything went Sugihara's way in the event finals. Just hours after winning her first world medal on beam, she won gold on floor. Sugihara's routine was filled with equal parts fun, grace, power, and smiles. She finished her routine by posing like she was placing a crown on her head, the perfect accessory to match her world medals!

It was a great day for Great Britain. Their two competitors in the floor exercise final, Ruby Evans and Abi Martin, became Great Britain's first pair of women gymnasts to medal on the same event at Worlds. Evans brought brilliant choreography and artistry to her floor routine, and with her silver medal, she became the first Welsh gymnast to win an individual medal at Worlds. Martin's routine was full of energy, and her fun performance powered her to a bronze medal.

And that wraps another World Championship!

Head over to Peacock to check out the full event finals.

Edited by: Kelly Cassette