Rebeca Andrade Headlines Star-Studded Registration List for 2026 Rotterdam World Championships

The road to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics officially runs through the Netherlands. On Friday, September 18, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) published the preliminary nominative registration list for the 54th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, confirming that six-time Olympic medalist Rebeca Andrade will headline the October 17-25 event. The announcement sets the stage for one of the most highly anticipated global competitions of the current Olympic cycle, as federations begin deploying their premier athletes to secure early qualification advantages rather than resting them during the post-Paris window.[1]

Andrade will anchor a veteran Brazilian squad alongside her Paris 2024 Olympic teammates Flavia Saraiva and Lorrane Oliveira. The trio is already in peak form, having dominated the Szombathely World Challenge Cup in Hungary this past weekend. On Sunday, Saraiva captured gold on the balance beam with a score of 13.766, while Andrade secured silver with a 13.600, proving her gradual reintroduction of the apparatus is paying dividends. The Brazilian federation is clearly prioritizing immediate results, relying on their established core to navigate the intense pressure of the World Championship environment.[1][3]

The stakes at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena are the highest of the 2026 season. The World Championships serve as the first direct team qualifier for the LA 2028 Games, with the top three countries from the men’s and women’s team finals on October 20 and 21 punching their tickets to California. Twenty-four teams per gender will contest the preliminary rounds, leaving zero margin for error. Securing a berth this early in the cycle allows a national program to spend the next two years focusing entirely on individual apparatus development and pacing rather than chasing team qualification at subsequent, higher-stress events.[1]

Andrade’s path to Rotterdam began in June at the Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro, her first elite competition in 22 months. Competing solely on vault, she posted a massive 14.549 average in qualification—the highest score recorded in the world this year—before sticking a Yurchenko double full and a Lopez in the final to win gold with a 14.266 average. Her performance secured team silver for Brazil and guaranteed their spot in the Netherlands, instantly reestablishing her as the sport's premier vaulter and the centerpiece of Brazil's 2028 ambitions.[2][4][5]

"The Pan Ams gave me even more desire to come back and to know that I can be on top of the podium," Andrade told Olympics.com in August. "It lights that fire to want to train more." Her coach, Francisco Porath, has used the late summer to carefully rebuild her beam and floor routines ahead of the team qualification push, ensuring she peaks exactly when the Olympic berths are on the line. The strategic pacing reflects a mature approach to her comeback, prioritizing the Rotterdam team final over early-season all-around appearances.

The women’s field awaiting Brazil is the deepest assembled since the Paris Games. Following the FIG Executive Committee’s May 18 decision to lift the 2022 restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes, Russia is returning to the World stage. Their preliminary roster features reigning World All-Around champion Angelina Melnikova alongside Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Viktoriia Listunova and 2025 Junior World Uneven Bars champion Milana Kaiumova. The integration of the Russian athletes immediately alters the medal math for the team final, reintroducing a traditional powerhouse into the top tier of the qualification battle.[1][6]

Those established veterans will face a fierce challenge from a rising generation of apparatus specialists who have emerged in the current cycle. Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour enters Rotterdam having posted the highest four-apparatus all-around score of the season at the Mediterranean Games, while 16-year-old Ke Qinqin arrives fresh off a dominant victory at the Asian Championships this summer. Algeria is fielding a women's team at the World Championships for the first time in the federation's history, underscoring the shifting global landscape and the increasing parity across the sport's international footprint.[1]

The men’s competition promises an equally heavy clash of titans. Japan has registered a powerhouse squad led by reigning World All-Around champion Daiki Hashimoto and reigning Olympic All-Around champion Shinnosuke Oka. They are joined by 2025 Junior World Championships gold medalist Nao Ojima, signaling Japan's intent to lock down their LA 2028 qualification on the first attempt and avoid the pressure of the 2027 circuit. The Japanese men have jockeyed with China for global supremacy over the last several years, and their loaded roster indicates they are taking no chances in Rotterdam.[1]

National federations have until October 5 to finalize their five-athlete rosters, meaning the current lists remain subject to late injuries or strategic substitutions. But the early registrations confirm that the sport's premier names are bypassing a post-Olympic rest year in favor of securing their 2028 berths immediately. When the athletes march onto the floor at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena next month, the competition will serve as both a referendum on the sport's established hierarchy and the definitive starting gun for the road to Los Angeles.[1]