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World Artistic Gymnastics Championships facts for kids

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The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships are big international competitions for artistic gymnastics. They are organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which is the main group for gymnastics worldwide.

The very first championships happened in 1903, but only men competed back then. Women's events were added much later, starting in 1934. The FIG was first called the FEG (Fédération Européenne de Gymnastique) when it started in 1881. It changed its name to FIG in 1921, which is closer to when the World Championships really became known by that name.

Even though the first games were in 1903, they weren't officially called "World Championships" at first. A competition in 1931 was actually the first to be called a "World Championships" at the time, but sometimes its results are not fully counted by some experts. However, the championships from 1903 onwards were later officially recognized as the World Championships.

The first time a team from outside Europe joined was in 1934, when Mexico sent a men's team to compete in Budapest. Interestingly, even in the very first championships in 1903, the winner was Joseph Martinez, who was French-Algerian, showing the competition was already reaching beyond just Europe. Another French-Algerian, Marco Torres, won the all-around title twice in 1909 and 1913.

The 1934 championships in Budapest were also special because they were the first to include women's competitions. Later, in 1950, Egypt sent a full men's team to the championships in Basel, marking perhaps the first African team to join.

The championships have grown a lot over the years. In 1950, there were 60 male gymnasts from 6 countries and 53 female gymnasts from 7 countries. By 2013, these numbers had jumped to 264 men from 71 countries and 134 women from 57 countries! As of 2023, there have been over 50 championships, and more than 50 countries have won medals.

The most successful country in artistic gymnastics is the former Soviet Union, which won the most gold medals and total medals. China is second, and the United States is third in gold medals, while Japan is third in total medals. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, countries like Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, China, United States, Japan, and Romania continued to do very well. In recent years, Great Britain and Brazil have also become strong competitors, while Belarus, Romania, and Ukraine have seen a decrease in their results.

Usually, the World Championships are not held in the same year as the Summer Olympics. Also, the year after the Olympics, only individual events are held. However, this plan changed in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 Summer Olympics to be moved to 2021. Because of this, the World Championships that were supposed to happen in 2020 were held at the end of 2021, after the Olympics.

Championship Events Over the Years

See also: Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships

Here's a look at the different World Championships that have taken place:

Year Edition Host City Country Events
(men/women)		 First in the Medal Table Second in the Medal Table Third in the Medal Table
1903 1 Antwerp  Belgium 6 / 0  France  Luxembourg  Netherlands
1905 2 Bordeaux  France 5 / 0  France  Netherlands  Belgium
1907 3 Prague  Austria-Hungary 5 / 0  Bohemia  France  Belgium
1909 4 Luxembourg  Luxembourg 5 / 0  France  Italy  Bohemia
1911 5 Turin  Italy 6 / 0  Bohemia  Italy  France
1913 6 Paris  France 6 / 0  Italy  France  Bohemia
1922 7 Ljubljana  Yugoslavia 6 / 0  Yugoslavia  Czechoslovakia  France
1926 8 Lyon  France 6 / 0  Czechoslovakia  Yugoslavia  France
1930 9 Luxembourg  Luxembourg 7 / 0  Yugoslavia  Czechoslovakia  Hungary
1931 Unnumbered† Paris  France 6 / 0 N/A N/A N/A
1934 10 Budapest  Hungary 8 / 2  Switzerland  Czechoslovakia  Germany
1938 11 Prague  Czechoslovakia 8 / 6  Czechoslovakia  Switzerland  Yugoslavia
1950 12 Basel  Switzerland 8 / 6  Switzerland  Poland  Sweden
1954 13 Rome  Italy 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Japan  Czechoslovakia
1958 14 Moscow  Soviet Union 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Japan  Czechoslovakia
1962 15 Prague  Czechoslovakia 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Japan  Czechoslovakia
1966 16 Dortmund  West Germany 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Japan  Czechoslovakia
1970 17 Ljubljana  SFR Yugoslavia 8 / 6  Japan  Soviet Union  East Germany
1974 18 Varna  Bulgaria 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Japan  East Germany
1978 19 Strasbourg  France 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Japan  United States
1979 20 Fort Worth  United States 8 / 6  Soviet Union  United States  Romania
1981 21 Moscow  Soviet Union 8 / 6  Soviet Union  East Germany  China
1983 22 Budapest  Hungary 8 / 6  Soviet Union  China  Romania
1985 23 Montreal  Canada 8 / 6  Soviet Union  China  East Germany
1987 24 Rotterdam  Netherlands 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Romania  China
1989 25 Stuttgart  West Germany 8 / 6  Soviet Union  Romania  China
1991 26 Indianapolis  United States 8 / 6  Soviet Union  China  Romania
1992 27 Paris  France 6 / 4  CIS  China  United States
1993 28 Birmingham  Great Britain 7 / 5  Belarus  United States  Romania
1994 29 Brisbane  Australia 7 / 5  Belarus  Romania  China
 United States
1994 30 Dortmund  Germany 1 / 1  China
 Romania		 N/A  Russia
1995 31 Sabae  Japan 8 / 6  China  Ukraine  Romania
1996 32 San Juan  Puerto Rico 6 / 4  Russia  Romania  Belarus
1997 33 Lausanne  Switzerland 8 / 6  Romania  Russia  China
1999 34 Tianjin  China 8 / 6  Russia  China  Romania
2001 35 Ghent  Belgium 8 / 6  Romania  Russia  Bulgaria
2002 36 Debrecen  Hungary 6 / 4  Romania  China  United States
2003 37 Anaheim  United States 8 / 6  China  United States  Japan
2005 38 Melbourne  Australia 7 / 5  United States  China  Slovenia
2006 39 Aarhus  Denmark 8 / 6  China  Romania  Australia
2007 40 Stuttgart  Germany 8 / 6  China  United States  Germany
2009 41 London  Great Britain 7 / 5  China  United States  Romania
2010 42 Rotterdam  Netherlands 8 / 6  China  Russia  United States
2011 43 Tokyo  Japan 8 / 6  China  United States  Russia
2013 44 Antwerp  Belgium 7 / 5  Japan  United States  China
2014 45 Nanning  China 8 / 6  United States  China  North Korea
2015 46 Glasgow  Great Britain 8 / 6  United States  Japan  Russia
2017 47 Montreal  Canada 7 / 5  China  Japan  Russia
2018 48 Doha  Qatar 8 / 6  United States  China  Russia
2019 49 Stuttgart  Germany 8 / 6  United States  Russia  Great Britain
2021 50 Kitakyushu  Japan 7 / 5  China  Japan  Italy
2022 51 Liverpool  Great Britain 8 / 6  United States  China  Japan
2023 52 Antwerp  Belgium 8 / 6  United States  Japan  China
2025 53 Jakarta  Indonesia 7 / 5 Future event
2026 54 Rotterdam  Netherlands 8 / 6 Future event
2027 55 Chengdu  China 8 / 6 Future event

† The 1931 competition in Paris was called "World Championships" at the time. However, official records from the FIG have sometimes been unclear about whether it counts as an official World Championship. As of 2021, the FIG officially calls it the "First Artistic Men's World Championships."

All-Time Medal Winners

This section shows which countries have won the most medals in Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. The information is up-to-date after the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

It's important to know that in the early years, like 1911 and 1913, only team medals were given out. Individual awards started later, in 1922 for men and 1934 for women. So, some individual "medals" for those early events were recognized much later, not given out at the time. Also, before 1921, the FIG was called the European Gymnastics Federation, so its events weren't truly "world" championships yet.

Men's Medals by Country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  China 69 37 30 136
2  Soviet Union 61 46 31 138
3 Japan Japan 50 56 61 167
4  France 25 29 20 74
5  Switzerland 19 15 14 48
6  Czechoslovakia 18 16 14 48
7  Yugoslavia 17 9 8 34
8  Italy 14 9 23 46
9  Russia 13 21 14 48
10  Romania 12 9 5 26
11  Belarus 12 7 11 30
12  United States 10 12 16 38
13  Bohemia 10 8 10 28
14  Hungary 9 10 5 24
15  Greece 7 3 2 12
16  Great Britain 6 10 6 22
17  Germany 6 9 12 27
18  East Germany 6 6 14 26
19  South Korea 6 2 3 11
20  North Korea 6 0 2 8
21  Netherlands 5 5 2 12
22  CIS 5 2 3 10
23  Ukraine 4 9 14 27
24  Bulgaria 4 6 11 21
25  Brazil 4 4 3 11
26  Slovenia 3 4 0 7
27  Finland 2 5 2 9
28  West Germany 2 5 1 8
29  Spain 2 3 1 6
30  Philippines 2 2 2 6
31  Turkey 2 1 0 3
32  Ireland 2 0 1 3
33  Croatia 1 3 1 5
34  Israel 1 2 3 6
35  Australia 1 2 2 5
 Poland 1 2 2 5
37  Luxembourg 1 0 4 5
38  Armenia 1 0 2 3
39  Kazakhstan 1 0 1 2
40  Belgium 0 4 4 8
41  Canada 0 3 4 7
42  Cuba 0 2 2 4
43  Chinese Taipei 0 2 1 3
 Latvia 0 2 1 3
45  Austria-Hungary 0 1 1 2
 Jordan 0 1 1 2
47 Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico 0 1 0 1
48  Azerbaijan 0 0 1 1
 Puerto Rico 0 0 1 1
Russian Gymnastics Federation 0 0 1 1
 Sweden 0 0 1 1
 Uzbekistan 0 0 1 1
– Unattached athlete 0 0 1 1
Total 420 385 376 1181

Women's Medals by Country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States 56 43 31 130
2  Soviet Union 50 40 28 118
3  Romania 36 36 37 109
4  China 23 23 18 64
5  Russia 23 22 22 67
6  Czechoslovakia 16 13 6 35
7  East Germany 11 7 15 33
8  Japan 5 3 11 19
9  Brazil 4 5 5 14
10  Great Britain 4 2 6 12
11  Poland 4 0 7 11
12  Ukraine 3 4 5 12
13  Sweden 3 1 1 5
14  Hungary 2 5 3 10
14  North Korea 2 3 1 6
16  Belgium 2 0 2 4
17  Belarus 2 0 0 2
18  Italy 1 3 6 10
19  Germany 1 2 4 7
20  Australia 1 2 2 5
 Uzbekistan 1 2 2 5
22  Austria 1 1 1 3
Russian Gymnastics Federation 1 1 1 3
24  Bulgaria 1 0 2 3
25  Spain 1 0 1 2
26  Canada 0 4 2 6
27  Netherlands 0 3 1 4
28  Yugoslavia 0 2 0 2
29  France 0 1 7 8
30  CIS 0 1 2 3
31  Switzerland 0 1 1 2
32  Algeria 0 1 0 1
33  Cuba 0 0 1 1
Flag of Mexico.svg Mexico 0 0 1 1
 South Korea 0 0 1 1
 Vietnam 0 0 1 1
Total 254 231 234 719

Overall Medal Count by Country

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Soviet Union Soviet Union 111 86 59 256
2 China China 92 60 48 200
3 United States United States 66 55 47 168
4 Japan Japan 55 59 72 186
5 Romania Romania 48 45 42 135
6 Russia Russia 36 43 36 115
7 Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia 34 29 20 83
8 France France 25 30 27 82
9 Switzerland Switzerland 19 16 15 50
10 East Germany East Germany 17 13 29 59
11 Kingdom of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia 17 11 8 36
12 Italy Italy 15 12 29 56
13 Belarus Belarus 14 7 11 32
14 Hungary Hungary 11 15 8 34
15 United Kingdom Great Britain 10 12 12 34
16 Bohemia Bohemia 10 8 10 28
17 Brazil Brazil 8 9 8 25
18 North Korea North Korea 8 3 3 14
19 Ukraine Ukraine 7 13 19 39
20 Germany Germany 7 11 16 34
21 Greece Greece 7 3 2 12
22 South Korea South Korea 6 2 4 12
23 Netherlands Netherlands 5 8 3 16
24 Bulgaria Bulgaria 5 6 13 24
25 Commonwealth of Independent States CIS 5 3 5 13
26 Poland Poland 5 2 9 16
27  Slovenia 3 4 0 7
28 Spain Spain 3 3 2 8
29  Sweden 3 1 2 6
30  Finland 2 5 2 9
31  West Germany 2 5 1 8
32  Belgium 2 4 6 12
33 Australia Australia 2 4 4 10
34 Philippines Philippines 2 2 2 6
35  Turkey 2 1 0 3
36  Ireland 2 0 1 3
37  Croatia 1 3 1 5
38  Israel 1 2 3 6
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan 1 2 3 6
40 Russian Gymnastics Federation 1 1 2 4
41  Austria 1 1 1 3
42  Luxembourg 1 0 4 5
43 Armenia Armenia 1 0 2 3
44  Kazakhstan 1 0 1 2
45 Canada Canada 0 7 6 13
46 Cuba Cuba 0 2 3 5
47  Chinese Taipei 0 2 1 3
 Latvia 0 2 1 3
49  Austria-Hungary 0 1 1 2
 Jordan 0 1 1 2
 Mexico 0 1 1 2
52  Algeria 0 1 0 1
53  Azerbaijan 0 0 1 1
 Puerto Rico 0 0 1 1
 Vietnam 0 0 1 1
– Unattached athlete 0 0 1 1
Totals (55 entries) 674 616 610 1,900
Notes
  • Official FIG documents count medals won by athletes from Bohemia as medals for Czechoslovakia.
  • Official FIG documents count medals won by athletes from Austria-Hungary as medals for Yugoslavia.
  • Medals won by athletes from the former Soviet Union at the 1992 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Paris are counted as medals for the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).
  • At the 1993 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham, Great Britain, athlete Valery Belenky from Azerbaijan won a bronze medal. He competed as an "unattached athlete" because Azerbaijan didn't have a gymnastics group for him. Later, official FIG documents counted his medal for Germany.
  • At the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, gymnasts from Russia competed under the name and flag of the RGF (Russian Gymnastics Federation). This was due to a ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Top Gymnasts with Many Gold Medals

This section highlights gymnasts who have won many gold medals at the World Championships. Gymnasts whose names are in bold are still competing.

Top Men's Gymnasts (All Events)

Rank Artistic gymnast Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Vitaly Scherbo  Soviet Union
 CIS
 Belarus		 1991 1996 12 7 4 23
2 Kōhei Uchimura  Japan 2009 2018 10 6 5 21
3 Joseph Martinez  France 1903 1909 10 1 – 11
4 Yuri Korolyov  Soviet Union 1981 1987 9 3 1 13
5 Dmitry Bilozerchev  Soviet Union 1983 1987 8 4 – 12

Top Women's Gymnasts (All Events)

Rank Artistic gymnast Country From To Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Simone Biles  United States 2013 2023 23 4 3 30
2 Svetlana Khorkina  Russia 1994 2003 9 8 3 20
3 Gina Gogean  Romania 1993 1997 9 2 4 15
4 Larisa Latynina (Diriy)  Soviet Union 1954 1966 9 4 1 14
5 Ludmilla Tourischeva  Soviet Union 1970 1974 7 2 2 11

More Information

  • Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships
  • Gymnastics at the Summer Olympics
  • Gymnastics at the Summer Youth Olympics
  • Gymnastics World Championships
  • List of gymnastics competitions
  • Major achievements in gymnastics by nation

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Campeonato Mundial de Gimnasia Artística para niños

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