Two competitions – three winners – Germany, Israel and Switzerland return home with gold medals

A dark gym, show lights and packed stands. These Team World Championships were not ordinary at all. The scene was set within the framework of the International German Gymnastics Festival.

With the Gymnastics Festival as a backdrop, access to the sports hall was only possible a few hours before the start of the competition on Saturday 31 May. This meant that the preparation of the floor and technical devices for the livestreaming had to be done in record time. Many thanks to the German Gymnastics Federation and its volunteers, as well as to Andreas Brauner and his assistants.

SENIOR TEAM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – 31 MAY

Germany opened Round 1

After a colourful opening show, the senior competition started with Germany’s first straight-line routine performed by Karina Peisker who demonstrated her flexibility and remarkable mastery of the gym wheel. Germany was followed by Switzerland, whose World Champion gymnast Simon Rufener pulled out all the stops in spiral to win the first round of the competition and earn four points for Switzerland. Japan and Austria were the third and fourth starters in the round, both with gymnasts in the vault discipline (Shuri Akasaka – JAP, Luisa Galvan – AUT).

First joker set by Switzerland in Round 2

In the second round, the first joker was set by Switzerland. Simon Rufener took the floor again, this time with his flawless and expressive straight-line exercise. However, the Swiss team were unlucky in their choice of joker round, as German prodigy Malte Schröder was due to compete in the same round. The audience were enthralled by Malte’s excellently performed and daring spiral routine that included several new elements rarely shown in competition. He was rewarded with a score of 17.00 points which made Germany the winner of the round.

Japan winner of Round 3

The third round was won by Japan. All-time star Aya Horiguchi animated the public to clap during her brilliant straight-line routine. Austria had put its joker on Malena Kernacs whose spiral routine earned second place in the round. Austria’s 3 points for second place were thus doubled to 6 important points in this round. Crowd favourite Johannes Stolper secured significant points for Team Germany with his entertaining straight-line routine, while Chiara Lenzo from Switzerland completed the round with spiral for Switzerland.

A decisive Round 4

With the competition open and two jokers still to be used, the fourth round turned out to be decisive. Germany put their joker on Malte Schröder’s vault and he lived up to expectations with an excellent double twisting straight back somersault. The highest score of the day (18.40) and the win of the round put Germany into the lead. Selina Memeti from Austria’s all-female team danced with the wheel and secured second place for Austria in this fourth round, followed by the most experienced competitor of these Team World Championships, Japan’s Yasuhiko Takahashi with his spiral exercise. An eye-catcher was once more his vertical spiral, where the wheel spins in one place on the floor. The round was completed by the second Swiss straight-line routine performed by Shannon Rüttimann.

No joker placed in Round 5

No joker was placed in round five, but the four winning points went to Switzerland’s vault, where Manuel Roth landed a double front somersault. Birgit Halwachs’ high difficulty spiral routine earned three points for Austria, while Lea Gmeiner secured took two points for Germany with her vault and Shiori Urikane earned one point for Japan in straight-line.

Competition still open before Round 6

Before the sixth and final active round of competition, the field was still open in this thriller of a competition. Three of the four teams still had a possibility of winning. Japan put their joker on their strongest gymnast in the vault discipline, Ryuichi Goto. He performed the same vault as Malte Schröder earlier in the competition, a double twisting straight back somersault. This secured the second highest score of the day (17.70) and secured eight points for Japan. Three points went to Austria’s Malena Kernacs for her beautiful straight-line routine, while Emma Gerlitz earned 2 points for Germany in spiral and Chiara Lenzo secured a final point for Switzerland in straight-line.

A virtual Round 7 confirmed the standings after the six active rounds

After six rounds of action, the competition was not quite over. For the first time, an innovative 7^th round was introduced to distribute a final round of points determined by the total scores of each team after the first six rounds. This resulted in an extra 4 points being awarded to Germany for being the team with the highest overall score, 3 points to Austria, 2 to Japan and 1 to Switzerland. This was also the final order: Gold for Germany, Silver for Austria and Bronze for Japan.

JUNIOR TEAM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – 1 JUNE

After a short night, the Junior Team World Championships followed on Sunday 1 June. Belgium was a first-time participant, while Israel was participating for the second time. The German and Swiss junior teams completed the field. The order of each round was decided in a draw: Belgium first, followed by Switzerland, Germany and Israel.

Israel successfully set their joker on their first competitor. Gali Yarsky won the Round 1 with her high-difficulty vault. The second round went to Switzerland where Junior Boys’ World Champion Timon Peter performed a superb straight-line routine. Round 3 was won by Germany with yet another excellent straight-line routine by Annika Wasmuth to secure the hosts eight points as they successfully set their joker on the Junior Girls’ World Champion. Round 4 went to Switzerland (Meret Stark, straight-line) and Round 5 was won by Israel with Bar Dubinsky’s beautiful spiral exercise.

Standings too close to call after 5 rounds

The excitement and close standings in the junior competition were tangible. After five rounds the teams were so close to each other that each country could still win. Switzerland exploited their joker opportunity well, with yet another brilliant straight-line routine performed by Elea Peter, topped only by Israel’s Roni Schusheim (also straight-line). The last round thus ended with six points to Switzerland and four to Israel.

Podium positions decided by the Virtual Round 7

The Junior title was decided by the virtual 7^th round. Switzerland earned 4 points by achieving the highest overall score, while Israel received 3 points for the second highest overall score. This meant that the public could listen to two national anthems with joint Gold for Israel and Switzerland, Bronze for Germany and a good fourth place for first-time participants Belgium.

EVENT SUMMARY

With no injuries, few mistakes or complaints, and exceptionally high-level performances across the board, the 2025 Team World Championships were a great success. The spectators were treated to a fair, exciting and very entertaining competition, well prepared by the German Gymnastics Federation and moderated by a professional speaker from MDR (Central German Broadcasting), Jeremias Diel.

Thanks and Appreciation

The IRV would like to thank all those who contributed to the success of the event, especially the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) represented by the Festival itself, the DTB Rhönrad & Cyr Technical Committee, and all the volunteers who were dedicated to the Team World Championships events. We know how much work and effort is necessary to make such events possible and we are extremely grateful to all those involved – THANK YOU ALL.

Looking forward to Göttingen 2026

We are now looking forward to a new event in cooperation with DTB Rhönradturnen & Cyr where we hope to meet many of the same athletes for the Individual Team World Championships next year in Göttingen.