A. U.S. Xfinity National Gymnastics Championships
The U.S. National Gymnastics Championships are finally here, and this year, there's much more at stake. Not only will the national team be selected, but also the 2023 World Championships and Pan American Games teams.
Everything you need to know can be found here.
B. China, Great Britain, France, and Switzerland name their World Championships Teams
China
If you've been following men's gymnastics internationally for any amount of time, you may be surprised to see some big names missing from these teams. For China, the Asian Games are taking place simultaneously with the World Championships, and China has prioritized sending many of its top athletes like Zhang Boheng to the Asian Games.
It's possible that they chose this route as they are already pre-qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games, and thus, they wanted a strong showing for the home competition in Hangzhou. The Asian Games were supposed to be held in 2022 but were postponed to 2023 due to rising COVID-19 cases in the area.
The Asian Games Team set to compete in Hangzhou is:
Zhang Boheng,
Zou Jingyuan,
Xiao Ruoteng,
Lin Chaopan,
Lan Xingyu
The World Championships Team set to compete in Antwerp is:
Sun Wei,
Shi Cong,
Liu Yang,
You Hao,
Su Weide,
Yang Jiaxing
Great Britain
Two of Great Britain's top athletes, Joe Fraser and Giarnni Regini-Moran have been struggling with injuries and did not try to make the British team for the World Championships. Veteran, James Hall (84.350) won the all-around at the world trial ahead of Jake Jarman (84.100). Both athletes were selected for the team alongside Olympic Champion, Max Whitlock, World Medalist, Courtney Tulloch, and newcomer, Harry Hepworth. This will be the first major competition for three-time Olympic Champion, Max Whitlock since the Tokyo Olympic Games.
France
Having failed to qualify a team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, France has opted to send a comparatively less experienced team to try and qualify for its home Olympics. Zona, the most experienced of the five, hasn't made a world championships team since 2015. Should France not meet the benchmark to qualify a team, Osberger is the most likely athlete to qualify an individual spot from the World Championships on floor.
Switzerland
Two-time Olympian, Christian Baumann will lead the Swiss team in their bid to qualify a team to the Olympic Games. It's a bit surprising to see Florian Langenegger left off of the team. Nonetheless, the Swiss Federation has announced the following athletes to represent them at the World Championships.
Christian Baumann,
Benjamin Gischard,
Luca Giubellini,
Noe Seifert
Taha Serhani
C. Brazilian Nationals
With the absences of Caio Souza, Yuri Guimaraes took the all-around title with a combined two-day score of 160.250.
1. Yuri Guimarães 160.250 (78.900, 81.350)
2. Patrick Sampaio 158.350 (79.050, 79.300)
3. Tomas Rodrigues 157.500 (80.300, 77.200)
Olympic medalist and world champion, Arthur Mariano took the floor and high bar titles. Olympic champion, Artur Zanetti took home gold on his signature event, still rings. Diogo Soares, Yuri Guimarães 28.375, and Tomas Rodrigues took home titles on pommel horse, vault, and parallel bars respectively.
Full results can be found here.
Article by: Kensley Behel
I am floored China is giving up all of those nearly guaranteed World Championship medals. I understand how much depth they have, but hope they aren't underestimating how much several counties have worked on building up their teams the past two years - they are risking not getting on the podium in the team final., even with Russia out.