Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships
The Rhythmic Gymnastics [World Championships] are the world championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. The tournament is promoted and organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique. It is one of the three tournaments in rhythmic gymnastics officially organized by FIG, as well as the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup and the gymnastics competitions at the Olympic Games. The first edition of the World Championships was held in 1963, a time when the sport was known as modern gymnastics. The current program of the World Championships contemplates both individual and group performances. In even non-Olympic years and the year before the Olympics, a team event is also contested. Two events are not competed at the World Championships anymore: individual rope and free hands.
Historically rhythmic gymnastics has been dominated by Eastern European countries, especially the Soviet Union and Bulgaria. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, there was originally a clear dominance of Bulgaria and post-Soviet countries at the World Championships, namely Russia, Ukraine and Belarus but with other nations emerging, for example Italy and Spain. The only non-European nations to successfully achieve medal positions at the World Championships are Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, Brazil and the United States. Only six individual gymnasts and four groups from outside Europe have won medals at the senior World Championships.
Medalists
Dominant nations include the Soviet Union and subsequent post-Soviet states, namely Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan, and Bulgaria.All-time medal table
Last updated after the 2025 World Championships.- At the 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan, in accordance with a ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency and a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, athletes from Russia were not permitted to use the Russian name, flag, or anthem. They instead participated under name and flag of the RGF.