Gymnastics Worlds 2026 Rotterdam: Schedule, Format & D-Score
A guide to Gymnastics Worlds 2026 in Rotterdam (Oct 17-25): schedule, how qualification and finals work, and the men's apparatus finals seen through D-score.
Note: This article reflects information available as of September 19, 2026. Dates and venue are based on official announcements, but session start times and the exact order of men's and women's events may change - always confirm with official sources.
The 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships (the 54th edition) will be held from October 17-25, 2026 at Rotterdam Ahoy in the
Netherlands. It is the first full Worlds of the new FIG 2025-2028 cycle to draw major attention in Japan, with nine days of competition from the men's team final to the apparatus finals. This guide covers the schedule and format of Worlds 2026, plus the key storylines of the men's six apparatus seen through the lens of the D-score (difficulty), written from the perspective of a former gymnast and D-score app developer.
Worlds 2026 Rotterdam: the essentials
Dates, venue and context
According to the event overview, Worlds 2026 runs October 17-25 at Rotterdam Ahoy. Held in a non-Olympic year, it is a full-format Worlds featuring team, all-around and apparatus events. Within the 2026 gymnastics calendar, it follows the Asian Games in Nagoya (September) and closes out the season.
If you want to check how a men's routine's D-score is built, the Gymnastics AI D-score calculator is a handy companion for watching along. It follows the FIG 2025-2028 Code of Points and includes a database of 790+ skills.
Rotterdam's third Worlds
This is Rotterdam's third time hosting Worlds, after 1987 and 2010. At the 2010 edition in the same Ahoy arena, Kohei Uchimura won his second straight all-around title.
Local previews note that London 2012 horizontal-bar champion Epke Zonderland serves as tournament director, and that tickets are sold only through official channels (event guide).
Item | Detail |
|---|---|
Event | 54th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships (Worlds 2026) |
Dates | October 17-25, 2026 |
Venue | Rotterdam Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands |
Events | Team, all-around and apparatus (men's 6 / women's 4) |
Rotterdam hosting | 3rd time (after 1987 and 2010) |
Worlds 2026 schedule: what to watch on each day
Qualification (Oct 17-19)
The championships open with qualification, where every team and gymnast rotates through the apparatus to set the fields for the team, all-around and apparatus finals. The event guide lists qualification on October 17-19.
Team finals (men Oct 20, women Oct 21)
The top eight teams advance to the team final - men on October 20 and women on October 21. Team competition uses a 3-up, 3-count format, so a single mistake can be decisive. For Japan's medal outl
ook, see our men's team title D-score preview.
All-around and apparatus finals (Oct 22-25)
The all-around finals fall on October 22-23, and the apparatus finals on October 24-25, where the top eight per apparatus fight it out with high-D-score routines. The table below shows the full picture.
Dates | Program |
|---|---|
Oct 17-19 | Qualification (men & women) |
Oct 20 | Men's team final |
Oct 21 | Women's team final |
Oct 22-23 | All-around finals (men & women) |
Oct 24-25 | Apparatus finals (men's 6 / women's 4) |
Schedule based on the local event guide and the event overview; confirm exact session times officially.
Format and the draw: from qualification to finals
How gymnasts reach each final
Three separate finals are set in qualification:
- Team final: top 8 nations by qualification team score.
- All-around final: top 24 gymnasts (max two per country).
- Apparatus finals: top 8 per apparatus (again max two per country).
The two-per-country rule makes line-up strategy crucial even for the strongest nations.
The draw and subdivisions
Qualification is split into subdivisions, and the drawing of lots decides which group and rotation each team competes in. Per Gymnastics Now, powerhouses including Japan, China and the USA are among the many nations that qualified.
D-score vs E-score basics
A gymnast's total is the sum of the D-score (difficulty) and the E-score (execution, judged down from 10.0). Winning an apparatus final means landing a high-D routine cleanly. For more, see our guide to the Code of Points, and try building routines yourself with Gymnastics AI.
The men's apparatus finals through D-score
Floor, pommel horse, rings
The men contest six apparatus: floor (FX), pommel horse (PH), rings (SR), vault (VT), parallel bars (PB) and horizontal bar (HB). Floor stacks D-score through twisting and multi-flip tumbling; pommel horse rewards uninterrupted circles and travels; rings tests strength holds and their stillness. See the characteristics of the six men's apparatus.
Vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar
Vault decides D-score in a single jump (two in the apparatus final), so takeoff, shape and landing are everything. Parallel bars build D-score through handstand work and release moves, while the high bar is defined by chaining release skills such as the Kovacs and Cassina. Knowing where each finalist earns their D-score makes watching far richer - our D-difficulty skills map is a useful reference.
Japan's five-man team: who to watch
All-around contenders: Hashimoto and Oka
Japan's men's squad - all listed among the 2026 national team - is Shinnosuke Oka (Tokushukai), Daiki Hashimoto (Nippon Life / Central Sports), Shohei Kawakami, Ryosuke Doi and Fusuke Maeda. Oka is the reigning all-around world-class star who won three golds at the Paris Olympics (team, all-around, high bar), while Hashimoto is the Tokyo Olympic all-around and high-bar champion. Their all-around duel is a headline storyline; see our team composition and D-score preview.
Specialists: Kawakami, Doi, Maeda
In the team final, each nation splits three gymnasts across three routines per apparatus. If Kawakami, Doi and Maeda can bring high-D routines on their strongest apparatus, they raise Japan's team ceiling - and could reach apparatus finals of their own.
Before you watch
Check official broadcast and ticket info
Detailed broadcast times had not been officially announced as of this writing; check the national federation and broadcasters. Tickets are sold only through official channels, with no official resale platform, per the event guide.
Read it as part of the season
As the 2026 calendar shows, the Asian Games in Nagoya (September) flow straight into Worlds (October) - a great lens for tracking who is peaking.
Summary
- Worlds 2026 runs Oct 17-25 at Rotterdam Ahoy (Rotterdam's third Worlds).
- Schedule: qualification (17-19), men's team final (20), women's team final (21), all-around finals (22-23), apparatus finals (24-25).
- Team, all-around and apparatus berths are set separately in qualification, with a two-per-country cap.
- Japan's men are Oka, Hashimoto, Kawakami, Doi and Maeda - watch the all-around and apparatus D-score battles.
- Confirm broadcast and ticket details officially and avoid unofficial resale.
To see how finalists build their D-scores, try the Gymnastics AI D-score calculator - free on iOS/Android and perfect for prepping before you watch.
