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Artistic Gymnastics World Championships

International artistic gymnastics tournament From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships[1][2] are the world championships for artistic gymnastics governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). The first edition of the championships was held in 1903, exclusively for male gymnasts. Since the tenth edition of the tournament, in 1934, women's events are held together with men's events.

The FIG was founded in 1881 and was originally entitled FEG (Fédération Européenne de Gymnastique), but changed its name in 1921, becoming the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG);[3] this name change roughly correlates with the actual naming of the World Championships. Although the first such games were held in 1903, they were not initially entitled the 'World Championships'. The first competition ever actually referred to as a 'World Championships' at the time was a competition held in 1931 that, while referred to in an official FIG publication as the "First Artistic Men's World Championships",[4]: 15  often seems to go ignored by various authorities in the sport. The championships prior to the 1930s, beginning back in 1903, would eventually be recognized, retroactively, as the World Championships.[3]

Although the FEG did not change its name into the FIG until 1921, and although what appears to have been the first non-European delegation to participate at a World Championships wasn't until Mexico sent a men's team that travelled all the way to compete at the 1934 Worlds in Budapest,[5] a trans-Atlantic endeavor they repeated at the 1948 London Summer Olympics (a rare non-European delegation appearance even 14 years later), technically speaking, the transcontinental nature of the World Championships was present at the very first Worlds in 1903, as the all-around champion from those first Worlds was Joseph Martinez, a French-Algerian born in Oran.[6] Additionally, repeat World All-Around Champion from 1909 and 1913, Marco Torres was also French-Algerian as he was born in Sidi Bel Abbès.[7]

It was at those same 1934 World Championships in Budapest, which seems to have been the first World Championships with a non-European delegation, that there was finally the first-ever women's competition[8]: 45 [9] at a world championships, despite women having participated in various world championships since the first such international competition in 1903.[10]

Perhaps the first African delegation was the Egyptian one which offered forth a full male team at the 1950 World Championships in Basel. By the time of these World Championships, a total of 60 male athletes from 6 countries and 53 female athletes from 7 countries comprised the competitive field.[11] By the 2013 World Championships, the competition had grown to include 264 men from 71 countries and 134 women from 57 countries.[11]: 6  As of 2023, over fifty editions of the championships have been staged, and over fifty countries have earned medals in artistic gymnastics events.

The most successful nation, both in gold medal results and total number of medals, is the former Soviet Union (not including medals from its successor states), and China is the second. The United States is the third most successful country in gold medal results while Japan is the third in total number of medals. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, the traditional powerhouses in men's and women's individual still had expressive results: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, China, United States, Japan, and Romania. The last two decades were marked by increasing results from two emerging powers: Great Britain and Brazil and at the same period a big decrease in results from Belarus, Romania and Ukraine. After a busy schedule and some tests which led to the holding of two separate world championships in 1994 (one for individual events and one for teams), it was decided that in each Olympic year the championship would not be held and that the edition held in the subsequent year of the Games, only the competition individual would be held. However, this cycle was broken in 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to the 2020 Summer Olympics to be delayed by one year, the edition scheduled for that year was not cancelled. While the Games were held between July and August 2021, the World Championships was allocated to the end of the same year.

Editions

More information Year, Edition ...
Year Edition Host city Country Events
(men/women)
First in the Medal Table Second in the Medal Table Third in the Medal Table
19031Antwerp Belgium6 / 0 France Luxembourg Netherlands
19052Bordeaux France5 / 0 France Netherlands Belgium
19073Prague Austria-Hungary5 / 0 Czechoslovakia† France Belgium
19094Luxembourg Luxembourg5 / 0 France Italy Czechoslovakia
19115Turin Italy6 / 0 Czechoslovakia Italy France
19136Paris France6 / 0 Italy France Czechoslovakia
19227Ljubljana Yugoslavia6 / 0 Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia France
19268Lyon France6 / 0 Czechoslovakia Yugoslavia France
19309Luxembourg Luxembourg7 / 0 Yugoslavia Czechoslovakia Hungary
1931Unnumbered††Paris France6 / 0 Czechoslovakia Finland
 Hungary
 Switzerland
N/a
193410Budapest Hungary8 / 2 Switzerland Czechoslovakia Germany
193811Prague Czechoslovakia8 / 6 Czechoslovakia Switzerland Yugoslavia
195012Basel  Switzerland8 / 6 Switzerland Poland Sweden
195413Rome Italy8 / 6 Soviet Union Japan Czechoslovakia
195814Moscow Soviet Union8 / 6 Soviet Union Japan Czechoslovakia
196215Prague Czechoslovakia8 / 6 Soviet Union Japan Czechoslovakia
196616Dortmund West Germany8 / 6 Soviet Union Japan Czechoslovakia
197017Ljubljana SFR Yugoslavia8 / 6 Japan Soviet Union East Germany
197418Varna Bulgaria8 / 6 Soviet Union Japan East Germany
197819Strasbourg France8 / 6 Soviet Union Japan United States
197920Fort Worth United States8 / 6 Soviet Union United States Romania
198121Moscow Soviet Union8 / 6 Soviet Union East Germany China
198322Budapest Hungary8 / 6 Soviet Union China Romania
198523Montreal Canada8 / 6 Soviet Union China East Germany
198724Rotterdam Netherlands8 / 6 Soviet Union Romania China
198925Stuttgart West Germany8 / 6 Soviet Union Romania China
199126Indianapolis United States8 / 6 Soviet Union China Romania
199227Paris France6 / 4 CIS China United States
199328Birmingham Great Britain7 / 5 Belarus United States Romania
199429Brisbane Australia7 / 5 Belarus Romania China
 United States
199430Dortmund Germany1 / 1 China
 Romania
N/a Russia
199531Sabae Japan8 / 6 China Ukraine Romania
199632San Juan Puerto Rico6 / 4 Russia Romania Belarus
199733Lausanne  Switzerland8 / 6 Romania Russia China
199934Tianjin China8 / 6 Russia China Romania
200135Ghent Belgium8 / 6 Romania Russia Bulgaria
200236Debrecen Hungary6 / 4 Romania China United States
200337Anaheim United States8 / 6 China United States Japan
200538Melbourne Australia7 / 5 United States China Slovenia
200639Aarhus Denmark8 / 6 China Romania Australia
200740Stuttgart Germany8 / 6 China United States Germany
200941London Great Britain7 / 5 China United States Romania
201042Rotterdam Netherlands8 / 6 China Russia United States
201143Tokyo Japan8 / 6 China United States Russia
201344Antwerp Belgium7 / 5 Japan United States China
201445Nanning China8 / 6 United States China North Korea
201546Glasgow Great Britain8 / 6 United States Japan Russia
201747Montreal Canada7 / 5 China Japan Russia
201848Doha Qatar8 / 6 United States China Russia
201949Stuttgart Germany8 / 6 United States Russia Great Britain
202150Kitakyushu Japan7 / 5 China Japan Italy
202251Liverpool Great Britain8 / 6 United States China Japan
202352Antwerp Belgium8 / 6 United States Japan China
202553Jakarta Indonesia7 / 5 China Japan United States
202654Rotterdam Netherlands8 / 6Future event[12]
202755Chengdu China8 / 6Future event
202956TBDFuture event
203057Liverpool Great Britain8 / 6Future event [13]
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These two pages from a 1912 Slovenian publication[14] provide an early, pre-WWI accounting of basic information relating to the BFEG (the precursor to the FIG/World Gymnastics) and help reinforce an information infrastructure, about the further-back history of the sport of gymnastics, that has been compromised. In an article in a special issue of the peer-reviewed The International Journal of the History of Sport entitled "The Genesis of the International Sports Federations before 1914", it is stated that the "BFEG’s official archives appear to have been lost" and that the "FIG’s archives, kept at its head office in Lausanne, do not contain documents from before the 1950s." Additionally, it is stated therein "Despite inquiries to the Kingdom of Belgium’s general archives and the cities of Ghent (Belgian Liberal Archives) and Liège (the city where the BFEG was founded), it proved impossible to find records specifically relating to the BFEG."[15]
This 1912 Slovenian publication lists, on page 161, the years and locations of the first 6 editions of the games, including the men’s team champions of the first 5 (as the 6th hadn’t yet occurred), beginning with the 1903 edition in Antwerp about which the FIG stated "this meet is recognised as the first Worlds."[3] The website Gymnastics-History.com, in an article dedicated to the 1938 World Championships,[16] replicates an image that shows that those 1938 World Championships were designated as the 11th, (the original title in Czech reads "XI. Závody Mezinárodní Tělocvičné Federace" (XI. International Gymnastics Federation Competitions)),[17] suggestively and consistently upholding the canonizing and numbering established for the first 6 pre-World War editions, as well as the 7th (1922), 8th (1926), 9th (1930), and 10th (1934).
Among World Gymnastics’s "Historical Documents",[18] in their 100 year historical treatment from 1981, this canonizing and numbering of the pre-WWI championships, which belong to what has been termed the "Heroic Stage" (1896-1920) of the sport,[8]: 35  was repeated yet again,[8]: 75–83  as it was also in their 125 year historical treatment from 2006.[4]: 61–63  As recently as 2014, in an article presenting a synopsis of the first 110 years of the World Championships in the peer-reviewed journal Science of Gymnastics Journal, the canonizing and numbering of these pre-WWI games has been upheld.[11]: 6 

† The FIG (now World Gymnastics) in their 125-year anniversary publication, whereas pre-World War I editions of these championships are concerned, credits the teams and athletes from the Bohemian/Czech lands, then part of Austria-Hungary, as belonging to Czechoslovakia. (Additionally, therein, they also credit the athletes from Slovenia, then also part of Austria-Hungary, as belonging to Yugoslavia.)[4]: 61–63 

†† There seems to be a history of inconsistency from the FIG's publications regarding whether these 1931 games are considered to be a World Championships. About these games, it is written in their 100-year Anniversary publication from 1981, that Following "agreements, objections, and discussions" this manifestation was called "World Championships",[8]: 84  however on the following page of that same publication, it is stated "Logically, the manifestations of the 50th anniversary of the FIG cannot be placed among the official competitions".[8]: 85  Additionally, in the FIG's 125-year Anniversary Publication from 2006, it is said about these games "Premiers concours sous l'appellation Championnats du Monde de Gymnastique artistique masculine a Paris",[4]: 13  yet they were referred to as "unofficial"[4]: 35  and their results were omitted from the results section of that book.[4]: 64  As it currently stands (as of as recently as 2021), about these games in 1931, the FIG states "1931 [-] First Artistic Men's World Championships held in Paris."[3]

All-time medal table

Last updated after Day 7 of the 2025 World Championships.

Early events such as the 1913 and 1911 championships were purely team events without any individual awards, individual scores were only introduced in 1922, with the first all-round individual men's champion being recognised in that year.[8]: 76  Similarly the first women's championship in 1934 only had medals being awarded to teams, not individuals.[11]: 7  Individual "medals" for these events were therefore only recognised retrospectively and weren't awarded at the time.[19] Similarly, until 1921 FIG was known as the European Gymnastics Federation (FEG) and its events were not world championships as such.[8]: 41 

Conversely, contemporaneous coverage of select World Championships prior to World War I exists both in the pages of “Slovenski Sokol” magazine (via the Digital Library of Slovenia) and in reproductions of apparently original and contemporaneous Czech source materials (via Gymnastics-History.com) for both the 3rd (1907)[20][21] and 6th (1913)[22][19] World Championships. In the Czech versions of those sources, reproduced by Gymnastics-History.com, both individual all-around scores and apparatus scores are presented for every competitor, and in the Slovenian versions of those sources, individual all-around scores and rankings are reproduced for the top 14 and very last-place competitor for the 1907 Worlds and for every competitor at the 1913 Worlds. Additionally, all of the data that is presented in each of those sources completely matches the data that both the FIG[4]: 61–63  and USAG[23] (the official governing body of the sport of Artistic gymnastics within the USA) present in their respective treatments on the results of these pre-WWI World Championships, with the sole two exceptions of the horizontal bar placing of French Gymnast Francois Vidal and the parallel bars placement of Belgian gymnast Paul Mangin, both at the 1907 World Championships.[21][4]: 62  (In any event, all of these data sources - the Slovenian records, the Gymnastics-History.com's reproduced Czech records, the FIG's records, and the USAG's records - have continually failed to recognize the apparent original human error with respect to the discrepancy between Vidal's and Mangin's scores and rankings. In light of that, all of these data sources remain completely consistent, in terms of the data that they do present, with respect to the results of the pre-WWI editions of these World Championships.)

Additionally, for the very first World Championships (1934) with an official women's competition, the FIG officially recognizes all-around medalists,[4]: 62  and singles out the champion ( Vlasta Děkanová ) as having "won the general competition [there]…and [at the] 1938 World Championships",[24] and in original contemporaneous coverage, the Slovenian newspaper Sokolski Glasnik photographically singled Děkanová out as the champion of those 1934 World Championships.[25]

Additionally, in lieu of an article published in the 10 June 2024 issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport (a peer-reviewed journal) claiming that the BFEG's (the FIG's predecessor) archives from before 1950 appear to have been lost,[26] a brief biographical treatment containing a photograph of multiple medals belonging to 1911 World All-Around Champion Ferdinand Steiner on the website of an alma mater of his, the Jiří Wolkera Gymnasium [cs], shows multiple medals with the words "Concorso Ginnastico Internazionale 1911 Torino" embossed onto them.[27] This brief biographical treatment was published at least as far back as 14 January 2017 on the official[28] Facebook website of his alma mater in a photograph album, begun on 29 November 2016, containing other such brief biographical treatments of its notable alumni.[29] That pictoral presentation of Steiner's medals helps suggest that individual medals were awarded for those 1911 World Championships as they were from the same locale and year as the 1911 Worlds, and with the original title of the competition being printed on those medals, this further helps suggest that these individual medals were awarded contemporaneously.

Men's events

More information Rank, Nation ...
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China713831140
2 Soviet Union614631138
3Japan Japan515861170
4 France25292074
5 Switzerland19151549
6 Czechoslovakia18161448
7 Yugoslavia179834
8 Italy1492346
9 Russia13211448
10 United States12121741
11 Romania129526
12 Belarus1271130
13 Bohemia [a]1081028
14 Hungary910524
15 Great Britain711725
16 Greece73212
17 Germany691227
18 East Germany661426
19 South Korea62311
20 North Korea6028
21 Netherlands55212
22 CIS [c]52310
23 Ukraine491528
24 Bulgaria461121
25 Brazil44311
26 Slovenia3407
27 Philippines3238
28 Finland2529
29 West Germany2518
30 Spain2316
31 Turkey2204
32 Ireland2013
33 Croatia1315
34 Israel1236
35 Armenia1225
 Australia1225
 Poland1225
38 Luxembourg1045
39 Kazakhstan1012
40 Belgium0448
41 Canada0347
42 Cuba0224
43 Chinese Taipei0213
 Latvia0213
45 Austria-Hungary [b]0112
 Jordan0112
47 Mexico0101
48 Azerbaijan0011
 Puerto Rico0011
Russian Gymnastics Federation [e]0011
 Sweden0011
 Uzbekistan0011
–Individual Neutral Athletes [f]0011
Unattached athlete [d]0011
Total4273923831202
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Women's events

More information Rank, Nation ...
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States564432132
2 Soviet Union504028118
3 Romania363637109
4 China24232067
5 Russia23222267
6 Czechoslovakia1613635
7 East Germany1171533
8 Japan631221
9 Brazil45514
10 Great Britain43714
11 Poland40711
12 Ukraine34512
13 Sweden3115
14 Hungary25310
15 North Korea2316
–Individual Neutral Athletes [f]2103
16 Belgium2024
17 Belarus2002
18 Italy13610
19 Germany1247
20 Australia1225
 Uzbekistan1225
22 Algeria1203
23 Austria1113
Russian Gymnastics Federation [e]1113
25 Bulgaria1023
26 Spain1012
27 Canada0527
28 Netherlands0314
29 Yugoslavia0202
30 France0178
31 CIS [c]0123
32 Switzerland0112
33 Cuba0011
 Mexico0011
 South Korea0011
 Vietnam0011
Total259236239734
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Overall

More information Rank, Nation ...
RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Soviet Union Soviet Union1118659256
2China China956151207
3United States United States685649173
4Japan Japan576173191
5Romania Romania484542135
6Russia Russia364336115
7Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia34292083
8France France25302782
9Switzerland Switzerland19161651
10East Germany East Germany17132959
11 Yugoslavia1711836
12Italy Italy15122956
13Belarus Belarus1471132
14Hungary Hungary1115834
15United Kingdom Great Britain11141439
16Bohemia Bohemia [a]1081028
17Brazil Brazil89825
18North Korea North Korea83314
19Ukraine Ukraine7132040
20Germany Germany7111634
21Greece Greece73212
22South Korea South Korea62412
23Netherlands Netherlands58316
24Bulgaria Bulgaria561324
25Commonwealth of Independent States CIS [c]53513
26Poland Poland52916
27 Slovenia3407
28Spain Spain3328
29Philippines Philippines3238
30 Sweden3126
31 Finland2529
32 West Germany2518
33Belgium Belgium24612
34Australia Australia24410
35Turkey Turkey2204
–Individual Neutral Athletes [f]2114
36 Ireland2013
37 Croatia1315
38 Israel1236
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan1236
40Armenia Armenia1225
41 Algeria1203
42Russian Gymnastics Federation [e]1124
43 Austria1113
44 Luxembourg1045
45 Kazakhstan1012
46Canada Canada08614
47Cuba Cuba0235
48 Chinese Taipei0213
 Latvia0213
50 Austria-Hungary [b]0112
 Jordan0112
 Mexico0112
53 Azerbaijan0011
 Puerto Rico0011
 Vietnam0011
–Unattached athlete [d]0011
Totals (55 entries)6866286221,936
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Notes

Statistics

Multiple gold medalists

Boldface denotes active artistic gymnasts and highest medal count among all artistic gymnasts (including those not included in these tables) per type.

Men

All events
More information Rank, Country ...
Rank Artistic gymnast Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Vitaly Scherbo Soviet Union
CIS
Belarus
19911996127423
2Kōhei Uchimura Japan20092018106521
3Joseph Martinez France19031909101–11
4Yuri Korolyov Soviet Union1981198793113
5Dmitry Bilozerchev Soviet Union1983198784–12
6Li Xiaopeng China1997200582111
7Marian Drăgulescu Romania2001201582–10
8Chen Yibing China200620118––8
9Eizō Kenmotsu Japan1970197975315
10Alexander Dityatin Soviet Union1978198172312
Akinori Nakayama Japan1966197072312
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Individual events
More information Rank, Country ...
Rank Artistic gymnast Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Vitaly Scherbo Soviet Union
CIS
Belarus
19911996117422
2Kōhei Uchimura Japan2009201893416
3Marian Drăgulescu Romania2001201582–10
4Dmitry Bilozerchev Soviet Union1983198773–10
5Joseph Martinez France1903190971–8
6Yuri Korolyov Soviet Union198119876219
7Eugen Mack Switzerland193419385319
8Alois Hudec * Czechoslovakia1931193853–8
Marco Torrès France1909191353–8
10Akinori Nakayama Japan1966197052310
Alexei Nemov Russia1995200352310
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Note

* Alois Hudec of Czechoslovakia won 3 individual gold medals at the commemorative competition which was held in Paris, France, in 1931 and referred to as the "First Artistic Men's World Championships". However, as stated before there has been a history of inconsistency from the FIG's publications as to the recognition of the official or unofficial status of this event.[8]: 84–85 [4]: 13, 35, 64  Without the medals he won at this competition, Hudec would not occupy a place on this Top 10 list, however he did win these medals in a competitive field that included no fewer than 7 other gymnasts who either already were or would later become World All-Around Champions or Olympic All-Around Champions or unawarded 1st place finishers at such competitions.

Women

All events
More information Rank, Country ...
Rank Artistic gymnast Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Simone Biles United States20132023234330
2Svetlana Khorkina Russia1994200398320
3Gina Gogean Romania1993199792415
4Larisa Latynina (Diriy) Soviet Union1954196694114
5Ludmilla Tourischeva Soviet Union1970197472211
6Daniela Silivaș Romania1985198972110
7Simona Amânar Romania1994199964–10
8Nellie Kim Soviet Union1974197954211
Yelena Shushunova Soviet Union1985198754211
10Lavinia Miloșovici Romania1991199653513
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Individual events
More information Rank, Country ...
Rank Artistic gymnast Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1Simone Biles United States20132023184325
2Svetlana Khorkina Russia1994200395216
3Gina Gogean Romania1993199762412
4Larisa Latynina Soviet Union1958196263110
5Daniela Silivaș Romania198519896–17
6Ludmilla Tourischeva Soviet Union197019745229
7Maxi Gnauck East Germany1979198351–6
Shannon Miller United States1991199451–6
9Yelena Shushunova Soviet Union198519874329
10Helena Rakoczy Poland195019544–37
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Note

Few non-primary sources state that at the 1938 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, in Prague, Vlasta Děkanová of Czechoslovakia won 2 or 3 golds on multiple apparatuses. According to some sources, Děkanová and her compatriot Matylda Pálfyová shared gold medals in parallel bars (this event was replaced with uneven bars in the women's program at all subsequent world championships), while others state that Pálfyová shared this victory with Polish gymnast Marta Majowska, not Děkanová. The only primary source on the subject, a book officially released by the International Gymnastics Federation containing the results of the World Championships from 1903 to 2005, informs that medals were distributed only in the team all-around event and in the individual all-around event. Therefore, according to official reports, Děkanová's official number of gold medals is four, two in individual all-round (1934 and 1938) and two in team events (1934 and 1938) - not six or seven.[4]: 64–65 

Best results of top nations by event

Men's results

Only nations with medals in five or more events are listed. Positions below third place are not taken into account. Results for Germany and West Germany have been combined.

More information Event, BEL ...
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Women's results

Only nations with medals in three or more events are listed. Positions below eighth place are not taken into account. Results for Germany and West Germany have been combined.

More information Event, AUS ...
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See also

References

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