2026 World Gymnastics Men's Team: D-Score Title Contenders
A D-score preview of the 2026 World Gymnastics men's team event in Rotterdam (Oct 17-25): how Japan, China and the USA compare, plus the Hashimoto-Zhang duel.
The 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships take place from October 17 to 25 at Rotterdam Ahoy in the Netherlands. After an individual-only 2025 edition in Jakarta, the men's team event returns for the first time in three years, with the team final scheduled for October 20. This article previews the leading contend
ers — Japan, China and the USA — through the lens of the D-score (difficulty value), written from the perspective of a Japanese gymnast and D-score app developer.
Note: This analysis reflects rosters and entries announced by each federation as of September 12, 2026. Final line-ups and orders may change before the competition.
2026 Men's Team Event: The Basics
Understanding the schedule and format helps clarify where the D-score really matters.
Schedule and venue
At Rotterdam Ahoy, the men compete in qualification on October 17-18 (six subdivisions), the team final on October 20, the individual all-around final on October 22, and apparatus finals on October 24-25. The top 8 teams from qualification advance to the team final, as listed on the FIG event page.
Team format (five members, 3-up 3-count)
Current Worlds men's teams field five gymnasts. In qualification, four compete per apparatus and the top three scores count (4-up, 3-count); in the team final, three compete and all three count (3-up, 3-count). In the final, no mistake can be dropped — so combi
ning a high D-score with a clean E-score (execution) under pressure decides medals.
Why D-score drives the team event
The D-score sums difficulty, element-group requirements, connection bonuses and dismount value. A team final is decided over 18 routines (6 apparatus x 3 gymnasts), so even a 0.3-0.5 D-score edge per routine compounds into a large gap. If you want to build and compare routines yourself, the Gymnastics AI D-Score Calculator follows the FIG 2025-2028 Code of Points and includes a database of 790+ skills.
Contender 1: Japan — Two Olympic All-Around Champions
Japan's five-man squad includes Daiki Hashimoto and Shinnosuke Oka. Fielding two world-class all-arounders is Japan's biggest asset.
All-around depth
Hashimoto won a r">third straight world all-around title in 2025
, while Oka — the Paris 2024 all-around champion — beat Hashimoto to win the 2026 NHK Trophy. Both have high D-scores with few weak apparatus.
