1997 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships


XXI World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Berlin, Germany on 23–26 October, 1997.
159 gymnasts from 50 countries competed. Reigning World champion Kateryna Serebrianska did not compete. The reason given for this was that her mother, who was also her coach, had fallen seriously ill with a heart condition, though Sovetsky Sport ran an article claiming that it was because her mother was not chosen to be a judge at the competition. Instead, Olena Vitrychenko's mother was selected.
Vitrychenko was second in the preliminary round to Natalia Lipkovskaya but went on to win the competition in the final, earning perfect 10 scores for two of her routines. She also won three of the event finals. Lipkovskaya won the silver medal and medaled in all four apparatus finals, including winning hoop. The bronze medalist was Yana Batyrshina, who tied Vitrychenko for gold on rope and also won silver with clubs. Eva Serrano won two bronze medals in the event finals, and Tatiana Popova tied Lipkovskaya for bronze with clubs.

Participants

The following countries sent competitors: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, The United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan and Yugoslavia.

Individual entrants