Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships

The Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships[1][2] are the world championships for the sport of rhythmic gymnastics. The tournament is promoted and organized by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). 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 (in collaboration with the IOC and the federation of the country organising the Games).[3] 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, Israel and Spain. The only non-European nations to successfully achieve medal positions at the World Championships are Japan, China, North Korea and South Korea. Only five individual gymnasts (Sun Duk Jo, Myong Sim Choi, Mitsuru Hiraguchi, Son Yeon-jae, Kaho Minagawa) and three groups (Japan, North Korea and China) from outside Europe have won medals at the World Championships.[4]