Part one of our Rotterdam World Championships preview, subdivision by subdivision. Are the U.S. women the team favorites after seven straight world titles, and what counts as a successful Worlds for Skye Blakely, Hezly Rivera, Claire Pease, Reese Esponda and Charleigh Bullock? We size up Japan's first real shot at a team medal in 60 years with Aiko Sugihara and breakout star Misa Nishiyama, ask whether Kaylia Nemour is the all-around favorite, preview the floor and bars finals, and run through Germany, Romania, Australia, Belgium, Italy, Mexico, Sweden, Belarus, Argentina, Ukraine and the individuals you shouldn't miss. Plus: the Worlds nominative roster scare and a Ukrainian report alleging Russian money behind the FIG.
Get every episode ad-free, live Q&A after every day of Worlds and hours of extra Rotterdam podcasts with Club Gym Nerd. Want a taste first? The Worlds Bundle gets you three months of Club Gym Nerd with no auto-renewal.
Our Worlds coverage is brought to you by Sand & Sea Travel. Use code GYMCASTICWORLDS.
Limited Time Offer – Make healthy eating simple. Get Huel today with my exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code GYMCASTIC at huel.com/GYMCASTIC. New Customers Only. Thank you to Huel for partnering and supporting our show!
Live shows: Rotterdam, Saturday October 24 after event finals, with Bart Deurloo and Eythora Thorsdottir. New York City, Friday December 4, with Katelyn Ohashi. Streaming and in-person tickets at gymcastic.com.
Win a full commissioned episode: you pick the topic, we talk about it for an hour and a half. Enter the raffle by October 9.
Worlds tools: 2026 World Championship Headquarters (schedule in your time zone and the new leaderboard), Worlds Roster Tracker and the Elite Score Explorer.
Chapters
00:00 Welcome + Full Commission raffle
00:57 Breaking news: the Worlds roster scare
02:05 Report: Russian money and the FIG
05:34 Worlds schedule and what's on the line
09:45 Live shows: NYC with Katelyn Ohashi and Rotterdam
11:09 Subdivision 1: Is Team USA the favorite?
20:48 Germany, Romania and Amanda Yap
29:39 Subdivision 2: Japan, Australia and Belgium
36:16 Floor preview
40:35 Updates: Worlds HQ leaderboard and the Worlds Bundle
43:45 Subdivisions 3 and 4: Italy, Mexico, Sweden and Belarus
49:15 Subdivision 5: Kaylia Nemour, Argentina and Ukraine
58:16 Bars preview
Part two (France, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Russia, Canada, China and a Man Break) is out next week. Our daily Rotterdam podcasts start October 15.
