Diverse Podiums in the All Around Gym Wheel Competitions and World Cyr Battle

The lights went down and the music turned up as the second day of the IRV Wheel Gymnastics World Championships began with a historic premiere: for the first time ever, a World Championship gold medal was awarded in a Cyr Wheel Battle.

And what a battle it was. Nineteen athletes took to the floor to showcase their best skills. Each competitor had 45 seconds to impress both the judges and the crowd. Alongside the scores of the three judges, audience reaction also counted towards the final result. In the preliminary rounds, only two athletes from each group of five advanced to the next stage.

The tension inside the arena was palpable as official announcer Charleen Florijn and moderators Ingrid Vukusic, former Austrian World Champion competitor in both Cyr Wheel and Gym Wheel, delivered the judges’ decisions. After the qualifying rounds, eight athletes advanced to the semi-finals, among them Julian Bentz, an outsider who, unlike most of his competitors, had not participated in this year’s World Championships.
With the lights back on and the music off, attention returned to the Gym Wheel all-around finals. Competitions in all three disciplines took place simultaneously, making it difficult for spectators to decide where to focus their attention. Highlights followed one after another: vaults featuring double twists, routines packed with maximum difficulty in straight line and spiral, and outstanding performances across all categories.
Among the juniors, Germany’s Maria Kaas delivered a flawless straight-line routine to score 17.25 points, closely followed by Israel’s Bar Dubinsky with 17.20. Another standout performance came from Germany’s Sophie Julius, whose exceptional spiral routine earned the highest score of the day: an incredible 18.35 points.

While the gymnasts enjoyed a short break, the audience was treated to the Cyr Wheel Battle semi-finals. In record time, spiral judge Ingrid Vukusic transformed into battle host and demonstrated her coin-flipping skills to determine the order of competition in the two 30-second battle rounds.
The semi-finals once again produced difficult decisions for the judges, while the enthusiastic crowd celebrated every performance. Ultimately, Germany’s reigning World Champion Hauke Narten and Japan’s last time’s World Champion Shigeki Kanai secured their places in the final. Spain’s Lea Toran Jenner and surprise contender Julian Bentz advanced to the bronze-medal battle.

Back on the Gym Wheel floor, it was time for the senior straight-line music routines, traditionally one of the highlights of every championship. Germany’s Karina Peisker transformed herself into a wheel gymnastics version of Lady Gaga, earning 17.075 points. Dutch gymnast Gabriel Lomans brilliantly incorporated Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake in his routine and scored an impressive 17.10 points. Switzerland’s Simon Rufener matched both the artistic quality and technical difficulty, receiving exactly the same score.

With scores extremely close throughout the competition, the fight for the all-around titles remained open until the very end. Before the medal winners were announced, the Cyr Wheel Battle finals took center stage. In the bronze-medal contest, Julian Bentz impressed with innovative wheel manipulation and parkour-inspired movements. However, the bronze medal ultimately went to Spain’s Lea Toran Jenner, who once again displayed her remarkable combination of technical skill, creativity, flexibility and control.

The gold-medal battle between Hauke Narten and Shigeki Kanai proved to be a thrilling showdown. After an intensely contested final, an additional deciding round was required. While Kanai was unable to execute his double bomb perfectly, Narten delivered a spectacular windshield wiper, securing victory and becoming the first-ever Cyr Wheel Battle World Champion.

Then it was finally time for the all-around medal ceremony.
Israel clearly dominated the junior categories. The nation claimed gold through Bar Dubinsky and bronze through Gali Yarsky in the girls’ competition, while Alon Havoinik captured gold in the boys’ category. Germany won the remaining junior medals, with Maria Kaas and Hendrik Oer taking silver and Maximilian Heinze earning bronze.

In the senior women’s competition, Germany’s Sophie Julius from Magdeburg claimed gold in her very first senior World Championship appearance. Her teammate Karina Peisker secured silver, while Austria’s Malena Kernacs completed the podium with bronze.
The senior men’s competition saw Switzerland’s Simon Rufener climb to the top step of the podium. The silver medal went to the Netherlands’ Gabriel Lomans, while Germany’s Johannes Stolper secured bronze.

The second day of competition delivered spectacular performances, a historic new discipline, and medal winners from across Europe and beyond—demonstrating once again the growing international strength and diversity of wheel gymnastics.