The FIG has released the nominative rosters every nation submitted for this month’s (!) world championships, so now it’s time for us to tear them to pieces. Not really. But also kind of.

Who’s on these nominative rosters? Who should be on the final team? Who actually is on the final team? What expectations should you have for those teams at worlds? I’ve got you covered.

For the nominative rosters, nations were able to submit six names (five team members and an alternate). In most cases, the person listed last on the nominative roster of six is the intended alternate, which I have noted in parentheses. But, these are only nominative rosters, so don’t freak. These things will change, and in some cases they really need to.

I have also included a peak scoring chart for each team using the same principles from the National Team Rankings (but occasionally reaching back further in time to get scores if necessary).

United States

Nominative: Simone Biles, Morgan Hurd, Riley McCusker, Grace McCallum, Kara Eaker (Shilese Jones)

Having already dispensed with the Jade Carey drama, let’s move on to what the actual, real-life US team could and should look like in Doha.

The gymnast benefiting the most from Carey’s self-removal is Grace McCallum. Without Carey, the US is left looking for a team final-worthy vault and floor score to supplement the main three. McCallum’s 14.000 on floor from Pan Ams and her perfectly acceptable DTY seem to set her up as the likely choice to fill that role. It’s not a given—others can get bigger vault scores and what happens on floor at the selection camp will be vital, but for right now, McCallum seems like the front runner, as is reflected in the nominative roster.

Kara Eaker’s abilities on beam have also kept her in the forefront of the conversation—this McCallum-Eaker team is probably also what I would select based on what we’ve seen so far. The complication: Biles, McCusker, and Hurd are all quite good on beam, so bringing an extra beam score from Eaker may not be viewed as the most pressing addition to the team, especially because she’s much more likely to go lower-mid-14s than into the 15s the way she did at that one elite qualifier. Eaker needs to be more than a tenth or two ahead of Hurd’s beam score at the selection camp to keep this spot.

Meanwhile, a vault lineup of Hurd, McCallum, Biles would score well, but isn’t a fully OMGWHAAAA vaulting team the way we’ve come to expect from the US. That’s why we’ll still have to keep on eye on whether Jordan Chiles is busting out her Amanar consistently (or even if Shilese Jones’ DTY proves a multi-tenth improvement over the others, that could be significant). If Chiles has that Amanar, I’d take that over a beam routine.

There’s also the Ragan Smith wildcard. If she got foot-replacement surgery since nationals, she’s capable of changing presumed lineups on beam and floor, which could upset both the McCallum and Eaker spots. Still, exactly nothing can be assumed in that regard right now.

UNITED STATES – 176.917

Simone Biles 15.600 14.850 15.200 14.750 Morgan Hurd 14.650 14.700 14.100 13.850 Grace McCallum 14.667 14.533 14.300 14.000 Riley McCusker 14.350 15.000 14.550 13.600 Kara Eaker 13.700 13.550 15.100 13.767 176.917 44.917 44.550 44.850 42.600

China

Semi-official: Du Siyu, Zhang Jin, Chen Yile, Liu Jinru, Liu Tingting (Luo Huan)

If China intends to bring Du Siyu to worlds over Luo Huan (both appear on the nominative, but Luo is listed last), I would count that as a mild surprise because Du hasn’t really been in the main group lately. Both gymnasts are capable of gigantic scores on bars, of course, but Du’s new advantage may be her difficulty. She added a Downie to the beginning of her routine to bring her D up to 6.4 at Chinese Individuals, which now compares quite favorably to Luo’s 6.0 from Asian Games.

Luo, however, has still recorded better overall scores this year than Du because of execution. Luo’s other argument is beam, where she can score quite well even if it’s a little scary. We’ll see if that comes into the decision at all. If China feels really good about Chen Yile, Liu Tingting, and Zhang Jin on beam, the team may not need to bring someone else with a beam score.

So, too many bars workers. #ChinaProblems

The rest of the team seems locked and necessary. China has very limited options for floor and needs all three of Liu Jinru, Chen Yile, and Zhang Jin to compete there as well as on vault. Liu Tingting has been starring on bars and beam for great scores since coming back, and that makes for a clear four team members

Neither Liu Jinru nor Zhang Jin bring a TF bars score, which is why the fifth member the team must guarantee a huge bars score and (perhaps) provide backup options on other events. It’s a risky team because China cannot afford any kind of injury to one of its VT/FX workers, but there isn’t really a safer option for selection. With such limited floor routine numbers, they have to go for risky.

CHINA – 170.733 Chen Yile 13.800 14.400 15.000 13.400 Du Siyu 13.300 14.400 13.400 12.750 Zhang Jin 14.550 12.450 14.500 13.300 Liu Tingting 13.650 14.850 14.600 0.000 Liu Jinru 14.400 12.150 10.350 13.533 170.733 42.750 43.650 44.100 40.233

Russia

Nominative: Irina Alexeeva, Lilia Akhaimova, Angelina Melnikova, Angelina Simakova, Aliya Mustafina (Daria Spiridonova)

I mean, it’s Russia, so we barely ever know what’s going on, but this team seems likely. It’s basically the same squad that performed so successfully in the Euros team final, except with Mustafina in place of Perebinosova. Mustafina, of course, can deliver her big bars score and hopefully will have a beam routine that the team can use—as long as she has decided to deign to succumb to the concept of an acro series.

It tells you everything you need to know about Russian beam that even with Mustafina’s acro series travails, I still trust her more than any other Russian on beam. Mustafina is always an upgrade (for us as a public, if nothing else), so this team seems like a solid call to me. In general.

Russia will miss the bars score from, say, Ilyankova. Or, say, Komova. Irina Alexeeva is good on bars and will keep Russia among the best-scoring teams there, but it’s not the same. Also, Spiridonova is the alternate? Valentina things? I didn’t even know that was still an option. Spiridonova has not been among the top scorers this year and hasn’t hit 14 on bars since 2017.

Like the Euros team, this group is loading up on vault and floor with its best possible roster on those events, bringing a good bars lineup but not the very best the nation has to offer, and then…beam is beam.

This beam team is scary, but no beam team Russia could come up with would be any less scary. I don’t absolutely hate this team, is what I’m trying to tell you, even if I also maintain that Komova was unnecessarily shunned from a squad she could absolutely have helped on bars and beam.

RUSSIA – 170.630 Irina Alexeeva 13.800 14.233 13.400 13.766 Angelina Melnikova 14.633 14.666 14.033 14.500 Aliya Mustafina 14.266 14.566 13.433 13.233 Angelina Simakova 14.833 14.000 13.366 13.933 Lilia Akahimova 14.500 12.866 12.100 13.900 170.630 43.966 43.465 40.866 42.333

France



Official: Melanie De Jesus Dos Santos, Marine Boyer, Louise Vanhille, Lorette Charpy, Juliette Bossu

France does not enjoy the same luxury of depth among its first-tier elite ranks that the other top countries do, which means that…the team is the team. There aren’t a lot of decisions to make, and when Coline Devillard went down with injury, the obvious choice to replace her was Louise Vanhille. Vanhille doesn’t have a clear event where she massively improves the TF score, but neither does anyone else, and Vanhille has useful backup 13.0s on multiple pieces.

The successful European Championship from the French created some buzz about a potential upset here to win a team medal. Without Devillard’s vaulting, that’s probably too much to ask against the big three, but do keep France in mind as a favorite to make the team final and a potential spoiler should things go just right.

FRANCE – 168.449 M De Jesus Dos Santos 14.666 14.500 13.600 14.200 Lorette Charpy 13.800 14.133 13.850 13.550 Marine Boyer 13.900 13.000 14.250 13.300 Juliette Bossu 0.000 14.600 0.000 0.000 Louise Vanhille 13.900 13.600 13.350 13.150 168.449 42.466 43.233 41.700 41.050

Brazil

Nominative: Lorrane Oliveira, Flavia Saraiva, Jade Barbosa, Rebeca Andrade, Thais Fidelis (Daniele Hypolito)

The main decision Brazil will have to make is whether to go with Lorrane Oliveira for her bars routine or Daniele Hypolito for her beam and floor.

Saraiva and Barbosa will contribute 3-4 events as needed to lead the team. Andrade is essential for vault and bars. Even Andrade’s comeback Yfull was a top-3 vault score for Brazil, and we know she’s capable of a lot more. Plus, she has the lone legitimate 13.9 on bars on the team. Fidelis is critical for floor, and you really want her on beam if the consistency is there. Overall, that’s an excellent group of four.

With those four, the question left to grapple with is—which routine are you most afraid of, Barbosa on beam, Fidelis on beam, or Saraiva on bars? If you’re afraid of bars (and I am), you want Oliveira as an option there, allowing Saraiva to take a break from her nemesis in TF. If you’re afraid of beam (and I am, but I’m afraid of everyone’s beam), you might want Hypolito as an option there. That’s the argument in Hypolito’s favor, but…does she actually bring anything that Saraiva, Barbosa, and Fidelis aren’t already covering?

Either way, this is a very good Brazilian team that I like to qualify to the team final.

BRAZIL – 168.049 Thais Fidelis 13.850 13.000 13.850 13.750 Flavia Saraiva 14.467 13.950 14.667 14.233 Rebeca Andrade 14.033 13.933 0.000 0.000 Jade Barbosa 14.333 13.850 13.600 13.333 Lorrane Oliveira 13.367 13.900 12.950 12.867 168.049 42.833 41.783 42.117 41.316

Japan

Semi-official: Nagi Kajita, Aiko Sugihara, Asuka Teramoto, Mai Murakami, Hitomi Hatakeda (Yuki Uchiyama)

Japan announced its worlds team 700 years early, as usual, but the withdrawal of Sae Miyakawa has disrupted things. Japan doesn’t have an obvious replacement for Miyakawa’s scores on vault and floor, and the next-best options for those events (Hatakeda on vault, Sugihara on floor) were already on the team anyway. It’s one of those situations where the team is mostly set with Murakami, Teramoto, Sugihara, and Hatakeda, and those four could very well cover everything in the team final.

For that fifth spot, it looks like the original alternate Nagi Kajita slots into the team and Yuki Uchiyama becomes the new alternate. The most likely event either would contribute is bars. Kajita has a Nabieva, and Uchiyama has gone 14 on bars this year but is inconsistent. So, we could see an additional bars routine from the fifth spot, but it’s not an obvious upgrade.

Where I’m really worried about the main four is beam, but I wouldn’t put Kagita or Uchiyama on beam in a team final over a Sugihara/Murakami/Teramoto lineup. Where is Natsumi Sasada when you need her? That’s my question.

JAPAN – 168.012 Asuka Teramoto 14.650 13.933 13.466 13.633 Mai Murakami 14.800 13.866 13.700 14.766 Hitomi Hatakeda 14.266 13.966 13.100 13.400 Aiko Sugihara 14.100 13.500 13.233 13.733 Nagi Kajita 14.100 13.566 12.900 13.266 168.012 43.716 41.765 40.399 42.132

I’ve spent much of the year discussing how this could be Japan’s time to supplant China and win a team medal. This could still happen—there’s so much good on this team—but the absence of Miyakawa’s vault takes the expectations for Japan’s scoring down a notch.

Canada

Official: Ellie Black, Brooklyn Moors, Shallon Olsen, Ana Padurariu, Laurie Denommée

So…we need to talk about this. The surprise on Canada’s worlds team is the inclusion of Laurie Denommée, who would have been considered a dark horse at best to make the team coming into 2018. The decision is most surprising to me because Denommée’s best event by far is floor, an apparatus on which this Canadian team should already feel more than comfortable because of Black, Moors, and Olsen. Floor isn’t really where Canada needs a boost.

But…what was a Canada to do? Presumed favorite for the team Isabela Onyshko has been struggling quite a bit lately and got outperformed on every event, even bars and beam, by Denommée at Szombathely a couple weeks ago. If you’re going by results, Denommée earned this spot and no one else did. Denommée is also healthy and brings possible routines on all four events. With the injuries and absences and “I’m not doing all the events yet” going around, that’s significant.

On the other hand…bars. Given this five, one of Olsen, Moors, or Denommée is going to have to provide a countable bars routine. Olsen is never called upon to do bars because it’s her weak event, Denommée has a sub-5 D score and has put up 9s and 10s at times this year, and while Moors has a ton of talent on bars, she always scores 11. I’m terrified about bars. I also think this team could have used another vault to go with Olsen and Black, but mostly bars.

The problem is that Onyshko could have been that third bars routine, but she hasn’t been hitting, and including both Onyshko and Padurariu on the same team would be risky for the leg events. Beyond Onyshko, there really isn’t another choice for bars, unless you suddenly want to bring Jessica Dowling to worlds, which I would totally support by the way.

I don’t see an obvious snub. Basically, this was the year of all years where Canada really, really needed Brittany Rogers to fill those vault and bars gaps. Because of course it was.

This is still a TF-capable squad, but things have to go right. The margin to eat a bars disaster is nonexistent.

CANADA – 167.332 Ellie Black 14.400 14.400 14.033 13.833 Shallon Olsen 14.800 12.700 12.333 13.800 Laurie Denommée 13.900 12.700 12.633 13.500 Brooklyn Moors 14.100 11.933 13.400 14.033 Ana Padurariu 0.000 13.966 13.867 0.000 167.332 43.300 41.066 41.300 41.666

Germany

Official: Kim Bui, Elisabeth Seitz, Leah Grießer, Sarah Voss, Sophie Scheder (Carina Kröll)

Paulina Schäfer has withdrawn from the worlds team because she’s currently not able to do her best events. As such, it makes more sense to bring Grießer, who can potentially deliver something close to a 13 on beam and floor.

With Grießer having to replace Schäfer, and with Seitz and Scheder also jusssstt coming back from injury, I have a ton of questions about whether this team will be able to perform at full strength at worlds. And just a ton of questions about beam. Euros is too fresh in the mind.

GERMANY – 165.049 Kim Bui 13.850 14.500 12.750 13.200 Sophie Scheder 13.450 14.500 12.350 12.566 Leah Grießer 12.966 13.350 13.150 13.300 Sarah Voss 14.433 12.750 13.800 12.600 Elisabeth Seitz 13.900 14.666 11.500 13.000 165.049 42.183 43.666 39.700 39.500

Great Britain

Official: Ellie Downie, Georgia-Mae Fenton, Kelly Simm, Alice Kinsella, Becky Downie

It wouldn’t be a British team if we weren’t left going, “But wha…I’m not…does…?” This year, most questions surround the status of Ellie Downie because we’ve seen her on only bars and beam so far in her return from injury.

If you look at the scores below, this team is absolutely stacked on bars—as we would expect—and is among the deeper beam squads GB has taken to a major event in a while. I’m not saying beam will be relaxing, but there are more than the usual 1.25 options.

Vault and floor, on the other hand, are worrying. With this group of five, Ellie will need to add back vault and floor for GB to have a great shot at making the team final because you don’t want Fenton having to count on vault and you want the boost of Ellie’s tumbling on floor. The status of those routines remains a mystery for now but will ultimately tell us a lot about whether this team makes sense or not.

Comeback status question marks are why I don’t really begrudge the inclusion of foundational all-around gymnast Kelly Simm (over someone like Lucy Stanhope who can deliver a bigger number on vault but doesn’t have the other scores) because Simm covers the bases and can provide a usable score on any and all events at any moment, rather than someone who’s just covering a single event and would leave the team at sea if there’s an injury.

GREAT BRITAIN – 164.682 Becky Downie 0.000 14.600 12.500 0.000 Ellie Downie 0.000 14.000 13.300 0.000 Kelly Simm 14.100 14.066 13.050 12.933 Georgia-Mae Fenton 13.550 14.600 13.150 13.200 Alice Kinsella 14.333 13.400 13.700 13.150 164.682 41.983 43.266 40.150 39.283

Hungary

Nominative: Nora Feher, Zsofia Kovacs, Dorina Böczögo, Boglarka Devai, Noemi Makra (Dalia Al-Salty)

The important lesson we learned at Euros was not to count out Hungary, even when Zsofia Kovacs is injured. Well, now Zsofia Kovacs is healthy again, so expectations should be even higher. Challenging the likes of typical European powers like Germany might be a step too far (unless we have another Euros), but I easily expect this Hungarian squad to best 2015’s 18th-place finish, the strongest recent showing for the Hungarian women as a team.

Dalia Al-Salty has replaced Sara Peter as the alternate on the latest roster update, which pretty much answers any questions we might have had about where Peter was a higher-scoring choice for the team. Looks like she’s out.

HUNGARY – 163.250 Zsofia Kovacs 13.800 13.900 13.900 13.000 Noemi Makra 13.200 13.600 12.200 12.800 Dorina Böczögo 13.600 13.400 13.200 13.300 Boglarka Devai 14.800 10.300 11.700 11.500 Nora Feher 12.850 13.750 13.600 12.650 163.250 42.200 41.250 40.700 39.100

Australia

Nominative: Emily Whitehead, Rianna Mizzen, Georgia-Rose Brown, Alexandra Eade, Kiara Munteanu (Talia Folino)

The absence of Georgia Godwin hurts. She has clearly emerged as Australia’s strongest gymnast in the last year or so, and you worry about the team’s 3-routine competitiveness without her. Whitehead and Eade were the only ones who scored higher than 12.750 on floor on either day of Australian Classic, and Brown was the only one named in the nominative roster who scored higher than 12.675 on beam. There must be another competitive routine on those events if Australia is to get back to challenging the perennial TF favorites, of which it used to be one.

Kiara Munteanu’s was the surprise inclusion on the nominative roster to me. She finished 7th AA at Australian Classic and was stuck in the low 12s on bars, beam, and floor. Absent on this list in Emma Nedov, newly returned from injury, who could boost what looks like a stress-worthy beam lineup. It’s just a nominative list, so we may see some changes. Including Folino in the main five may be another option to boost vault, though she did not compete at Australian Classic.

AUSTRALIA – 162.883 Emily Whitehead 14.350 13.650 13.100 13.250 Georgia-Rose Brown 13.775 14.000 13.300 13.100 Alexandra Eade 13.775 0.000 12.400 13.333 Kiara Munteanu 13.625 13.100 12.025 13.200 Rianna Mizzen 13.950 14.300 12.675 12.775 166.500 42.075 41.900 39.075 39.783

Netherlands

Semi-official: Vera Van Pol, Naomi Visser, Tisha Volleman, Kirsten Polderman, Sanne Wevers (Sanna Veerman)

The Netherlands has some replacing to do because both Celine van Gerner and Eythora Thorsdottir will be unavailable for worlds. That’s why, despite the Netherlands’ strong bronze-medal team performance at Euros, I’m not quite sold on TF prospects in Doha. There are still strong routines on this team: Wevers will have beam medal hopes of course, and Volleman and Van Pol can lead the way to a solid overall score, but expectations will be muted because of NED’s having to use a few replacement routines with which we’re just not all that familiar.

Polderman and Veerman both appear on the nominative roster, and I would favor Veerman because scores-wise, she has shown the higher potential over the last couple years and has a very believable bars routine that earned her silver behind Van Gerner at Dutch nationals. At the same time, Visser is the one who competed at Euros on vault and is probably most likely to be called upon to replace the routines Van Gerner would have provided, rather than one of the new members.

NETHERLANDS – 162.715 Kirsten Polderman 13.233 10.767 12.067 11.033 Sanne Wevers 0.000 13.733 14.750 0.000 Tisha Volleman 14.266 12.800 13.100 13.267 Naomi Visser 13.766 14.000 12.600 12.800 Vera van Pol 14.067 13.400 12.666 12.900 162.715 42.099 41.133 40.516 38.967

It’s interesting that Elisabeth Geurts never seems to be considered for competitions outside the Netherlands, as I’d want her possible vault score in the 14s.

Belgium

Official: Senna Deriks, Nina Derwael, Axelle Klinckaert, Maellyse Brassart, Rune Hermans (Julie Meyers)

Belgium’s team is Belgium’s team. If everyone is healthy and Hermans is back, this is the clear five. Occasionally, it’s the only five.

Belgium did exceptionally well at Euros to qualify third, ahead of both Great Britain and the Netherlands, even without Hermans. Ideally, Hermans adds multiple tenths to the team’s scoring potential on most events, particularly with what can be a high 13 on bars and another 13 on floor to help out Klinckaert. So if she’s back to competing, expectations for Belgium’s performance should be even higher at worlds than they were at Euros.

Thing still have to go just right, like Brassart getting a 13 on beam again, and other nations not running up the totals on vault to make Belgium’s fulls non-competitive, but this Belgian team is good and should have high expectations.

BELGIUM – 161.665 Axelle Klinckaert 13.850 13.300 12.333 13.400 Nina Derwael 13.650 15.350 13.600 12.866 Maellyse Brassart 13.700 13.000 13.066 12.633 Rune Hermans 0.000 13.450 12.800 0.000 Senna Deriks 13.350 13.050 11.350 11.900 161.665 41.200 42.100 39.466 38.899

Mexico

Official: Frida Esparza, Alexa Moreno, Nicolle Castro, Victoria Mata, Paulina Campos

I would recommend tempering expectations for Mexico because some of the scores noted below don’t look super worlds-realistic to me, but this is a surging Mexican side, probably the deepest group they’ve had post-Elsa Garcia. It’s a team that can expect to make the top 24 and advance to next year—even without a star like Ahtziri Sandoval.

MEXICO – 161.400 Paulina Campos 13.650 13.300 12.400 12.700 Victoria Mata 13.450 11.733 11.300 12.750 Alexa Moreno 14.467 12.867 12.900 13.200 Frida Esparza 13.933 13.900 13.567 13.333 Nicolle Castro 13.450 14.000 11.450 11.850 161.400 42.050 41.200 38.867 39.283

Italy

Nominative: Lara Mori, Martina Rizzelli, Sara Ricciardi, Caterina Cereghetti, Irene Lanza (Elisa Meneghini)

If you’re worried about Italy right now, correct.

Pretty much all of the best senior options are out with injury, the latest being Francesca Linari—who originally appeared on the nominative roster. There just aren’t many healthy, internationally competitive gymnasts to choose from right now despite Italy’s relatively hearty depth. Without Maggio, Basile, Carofiglio, Grisetti, and Busato, it’s tough to come up with a team.

The presence of Lara Mori is restorative. She could make the floor final again this year if things go well, but based on recent performances, expectations will be fairly low for this Italian team as a whole. I’d say finishing in the top 12 would count as a very solid result, and team final expectations probably have to wait until the glory of the 2019ers.

On the latest update to the nominative roster, Irene Lanza has replaced the injured Linari, with Meneghini still listed last in the alternate-ish position. We’ll see. Lanza hasn’t been close to teams for Italy in the past, but she has thrown up some useful bars numbers in Serie A, and those scores would currently be countable on every piece in the chart below. I’d still think you prefer Meneghini for floor, but only if she’s hitting floor.

(Scores from 2017 have been added for Rizzelli to provide a complete picture)

ITALY – 161.100 Sara Ricciardi 14.150 13.100 13.000 13.150 Caterina Cereghetti 13.600 13.100 12.500 12.500 Irene Lanza 13.950 13.600 12.800 12.700 Martina Rizzelli 13.600 13.500 0.000 0.000 Lara Mori 13.600 13.250 13.800 13.600 161.100 41.700 40.350 39.600 39.450

North Korea

Nominative: Jon Jang Mi, Kim Su Jong, Pyon Rye Yong, Ri Su Ryon, Kim Won Yong

As became apparent at the Asian Games, this North Korean team is quite good and is about one routine per event away from being truly exceptional.

The North Koreans probably don’t have the depth to make a huge push in the team standings this year, but qualifying in the top-24 and advancing to 2019 really should happen if they perform near the level of their Asian Games showing. Kim Su Jong is on track for NK’s best AA showing in more than a decade and certainly has the chops to make the final.

NORTH KOREA – 161.041 Pyon Rye Yong 14.300 0.000 12.750 12.450 Kim Su Jong 14.300 13.500 13.400 13.025 Ri Su Ryon 0.000 0.000 11.333 12.766 Jong Jang Mi 13.300 14.200 12.450 11.850 Kim Won Yong 13.500 13.100 13.750 12.400 161.041 42.100 40.800 39.900 38.241

Romania

Nominative: Carmen Ghiciuc, Laura Iacob, Nica Ivanus, Denisa Golgota, Maria Holbura

Being without Ocolisan for worlds stunts Romania’s scoring potential on vault quite a bit, but either way, we have to settle into the new normal for Romania, where the conversation is not about making the team final but about making the top 24 and qualifying to 2019. That’s the goal for this event. Getting Golgota into an event final would be bonus.

While things are certainly rough for Romania these days, advancing to 2019 is a more-than-manageable prospect and should happen. This team is certainly talented enough for that, but it can’t be taken for granted. A repeat of those 10s on bars from Euros would put the Romanians in a very precarious position without the depth of DTYs to save the overall score as they’ve had in the past.

ROMANIA – 158.499 Denisa Golgota 14.600 12.600 13.250 13.600 Carmen Ghiciuc 13.450 12.600 13.350 12.800 Laura Iacob 13.666 12.450 13.050 12.300 Maria Holbura 13.000 12.150 12.950 12.733 Nica Ivanus 13.633 10.500 12.800 12.900 158.499 41.899 37.650 39.650 39.300

Czech Republic

Nominative: Aneta Holasova, Lucie Jirikova, Dominika Ponilizova, Kristyna Brabcova, Eliska Firtova (Sabina Halova)

The Czech Republic is a borderline case to make the top 24 at worlds this year, but it could happen. It’s very reasonable to see CZE finishing in the lower 20s. That will be the goal for a team that’s much deeper and stronger than it has been in past years but doesn’t have individual threats.

The only possible change from the Euros team looks to be the inclusion of Firtova instead of Halova, but since Halova didn’t end up competing at Euros, it’s not much of a change. Mostly, the Czech Republic has a big four right now, and they’ll do the work.

CZECH REPUBLIC – 158.400 Dominika Ponizilova 14.050 12.650 13.150 12.200 Eliska Firtova 12.650 12.250 12.400 11.750 Kristyna Brabcova 13.100 0.000 13.100 12.950 Lucie Jirikova 13.500 12.500 12.600 12.800 Aneta Holasova 13.950 12.750 13.850 13.150 158.400 41.500 37.900 40.100 38.900

Spain

Nominative: Ana Perez, Cintia Rodriguez, Helena Bonilla, Laura Bechdeju, Paula Raya (Andrea Carmona)

For its worlds team, Spain appears to be mostly repeating the squad that successfully reached the team final at Euros, but reserving the possibility of using Laura Bechdeju on floor instead of Andrea Carmona. Beyond Perez and Rodriguez, Spain doesn’t have a raft of options for its third-best floor routine, essentially the lone missing piece on the team, so it’s basically just whoever is looking more mid-12 at the moment.

As for these scoring numbers, to me they understate Spain’s potential right now. Spain shouldn’t be in any danger of missing out on the top 24. I’d expect it to be a pretty comfortable road.

SPAIN – 158.166 Ana Perez 13.700 13.567 13.300 13.050 Paula Raya 13.266 13.000 11.550 12.000 Laura Bechdeju 0.000 0.000 0.000 12.000 Helena Bonilla 13.933 13.100 13.050 12.267 Cintia Rodriguez 13.133 12.900 13.033 12.900 158.166 40.899 39.667 39.383 38.217

Ukraine

Nominative: Diana Varinska, Angelina Radivilova, Valeria Osipova, Yana Fedorova, Alona Titarenko (Kateryna Shumeiko)

You’ll notice that many of these teams have a clear four gymnasts, and then the fifth athlete mostly seems like a bonus. That’s an advertisement for the four-member Olympic team format that I don’t appreciate in the slightest.

Ukraine is led by Varinska, will get useful routines from Osipova, Radivilova, and Fedorova, and then will decide if it needs to use Titarenko at all. She did not end up competing routines at Euros in that 5th-place finish that stoked a lot of optimism about Ukraine’s chances to make the top 24 here. Ukraine is definitely in my 24, and Varinska is a borderline but believable contender for an event final.

Other countries certainly have their ridiculous domestic scores, but Ukraine’s are so over the top that I feel like I need to make two charts, one with all scores and one that eliminates those insane scores.

UKRAINE – 166.433 Diana Varinska 13.933 14.650 14.750 14.033 Angelina Radivilova 13.600 12.150 14.467 14.400 Yana Fedorova 13.450 12.725 13.575 13.000 Valeria Osipova 14.025 11.950 13.667 13.650 Alona Titarenko 13.525 12.533 13.567 12.400 166.433 41.558 39.908 42.884 42.083

The one without domestic scores underrates Ukraine relative to other teams (whose domestic scores are still included), but it’s a closer approximation of what can happen at worlds.

UKRAINE – 158.000 Diana Varinska 13.933 14.650 13.700 13.367 Angelina Radivilova 13.600 12.150 12.600 12.500 Yana Fedorova 13.450 12.600 0.000 0.000 Valeria Osipova 14.000 11.950 12.500 12.400 Alona Titarenko 0.000 0.000 11.900 11.250 158.000 41.533 39.400 38.800 38.267

South Korea

Nominative: Kim Jury, Yun Narae, Ham Miju, Yeo Seojeong, Lee Eun Ju (Yang Semi)

South Korea’s secret weapon this year is Yeo Seojeong and her vaults. Making the vault final and contending for a medal is a realistic prospect for Yeo and will be one of two significant goals for the South Korean team this year, along with advancing to 2019 worlds as a squad.

Advacing as a team is doable for the South Koreans, another team that these scores might underestimate because they’re not poisoned by ridiculous domestic numbers. Right now, I have KOR in my 24, but it’s close.

SOUTH KOREA – 157.400 Ham Miju 13.700 0.000 0.000 12.500 Kim Jury 13.450 13.550 12.200 12.600 Lee Eunju 0.000 13.250 12.150 0.000 Yeo Seojeong 14.600 12.950 13.400 12.900 Yun Narae 13.600 12.550 12.100 11.850 157.400 41.900 39.750 37.750 38.000

Argentina

Nominative: Martina Dominici, Agustina Pisos, Ayelen Tarabini, Mayra Vacquie, Camila Klesa

Argentina is on an upswing this quadrennium thanks to the emergence of Martina Dominici, whose competitive scores on all four events make Argentina a much more threatening team prospect. Argentina’s hopes of making the top 24 will rest on her and veteran Tarabini showing up with high 12s. If they’re on, I like Argentina for the top 24, which would be a major improvement over recent quads, when Argentina wasn’t typically fielding a team that came close to qualification, or fielding a whole team at all.

ARGENTINA – 157.133

Ayelen Tarabini 13.633 12.800 13.067 12.467 Augustina Pisos 13.267 13.100 11.967 12.733 Camila Klesa 0.000 11.500 0.000 11.867 Martina Dominici 14.033 13.300 12.733 13.100 Mayra Vaquie 13.500 12.567 12.667 12.433 157.133 41.166 39.200 38.467 38.300

Switzerland

Official: Caterlina Barloggio, Ilaria Käslin, Leonie Meier, Stefanie Siegenthaler, Anina Wildi

No two ways about it, Switzerland will have a tough job this year at worlds without Giulia Steingruber. I’m a little worried. The sans-Steingruber team did OK at Euros, and a repeat of that performance would be enough to get by in Doha, but this team is depleted enough that it cannot cruise through and expect to make the top 24. It will take a good day and not counting any major mistakes.

An interesting factor will be the return of Barloggio. We haven’t seen her in 1000 years, but she recorded counting scores on UB/BB in Switzerland’s 16th-place finish at 2015 worlds and a counting UB score in Switzerland’s 19th-place finish in 2014. Those 16th and 19th finishes were both teams that included Steingruber, which is partially why I’m entertaining concerns about Switzerland being top 24 this year without her.

(Scores from 2017 have been added for Barloggio to provide a complete picture)

SWITZERLAND – 156.900 Ilaria Käslin 13.800 13.250 13.400 12.850 Caterina Barloggio 12.150 12.800 12.150 12.050 Stefanie Siegenthaler 13.450 13.300 12.650 11.900 Anina Wildi 13.750 12.500 11.750 12.300 Leonie Meier 13.800 12.633 12.400 12.600 156.900 41.350 39.350 38.450 37.750

Egypt

Nominative: Nancy Taman, Farah Salem, Farah Hussein, Mandy Mohamed

Egypt will be encouraged by its prospects heading into worlds this year, both because the new generation led by Farah Hussein has been recording very competitive scores at world cup events over the last year or so, and because of the continental participation rule. That rule ensures that a team from Africa will qualify to 2019 worlds (which could mean 25 teams advance instead of 24, if no African nations make the top 24).

As the current best team in Africa, and one of only two African nations bringing an eligible team, Egypt is well positioned to qualify a team to Stuttgart even if it doesn’t place in the top 24 here.

EGYPT – 154.600 Farah Hussein 13.450 13.000 13.450 12.000 Farah Salem 12.800 12.650 12.950 12.150 Nancy Taman 14.550 11.950 11.350 12.250 Mandy Mohamed 13.300 10.800 11.700 12.700 154.600 41.300 37.600 38.600 37.100

Finland

Nominative: Sani Mäkelä, Siiri Saukkonen, Enni Kettunen, Maija Leinonen, Helmi Murto (Rosanna Ojala)

Veteran Rosanna Ojala also appears on the nominative roster, someone who could deliver a bars score that outpaces the current team, so she should be entertained as a possible member of the five. But is it worth giving up scores on the other events?

Finland is probably on the outside of the top 24, but it’s close enough to keep an eye on and close enough to go for. This team did very well at Euros, and even if the top 24 doesn’t happen, the potential for the moral victory of finishing as the best Scandinavian side is very alive.

FINLAND – 153.199 Enni Kettunen 13.250 12.533 11.800 12.400 Maija Leinonen 0.000 12.533 12.850 0.000 Sani Makela 13.900 12.050 13.000 12.233 Viivi Nieminen 13.450 8.750 11.700 11.350 Helmi Murto 12.550 12.400 11.450 12.850 153.199 40.600 37.466 37.650 37.483

Turkey



Nominative: Goksu Uctas Sanli, Tutya Yilmaz, Demet Mutlu, Ilyada Sahin

Don’t forget about Turkey, another potential spoiler for the top 24 if the team manages a better performance than during Euros qualification. Turkey has some exceptional, if inconsistent, routines from Yilmaz and Uctas Sanli that can deliver the kind of scores that qualifying teams record, but depth is a question. Unlike Euros, I’d expect Turkey to use Sahin in Doha to put up a backup score, but there’s really very little safety net should one of the critical routines be a miss.

TURKEY – 153.000 Goksu Uctas Sanli 14.050 11.100 13.050 13.050 Demet Mutlu 13.600 12.550 11.900 12.600 Ilyada Sahin 12.600 11.450 11.100 11.050 Tutya Yilmaz 13.600 12.350 12.300 12.500 153.000 41.250 36.350 37.250 38.150

Colombia

Nominative: Dayana Ardila, Ginna Escobar, Angelica Mesa, Erla Vera Sanabria, Laura Pardo

In 2014, Colombia came so close to qualifying a team to the next year (25th place) and did so with many of the athletes expected to bring the scores on this year’s team, including Ginna Escobar and Dayana Ardila.

Those twowill contribute most of the counting routines again this year and might get very close again this year, especially because of vault and floor. It’s the tendency toward too many 11s on bars and beam that concerns me. In the latest update to the nominative roster, Laura Pardo replaced Melba Avendaño. Your ideal Colombian team has both of them, but if Pardo is available to compete, that’s an upgrade for Colombia.

COLOMBIA – 152.683 Laura Pardo 13.500 12.325 12.350 12.200 Dayana Ardila 13.950 11.700 12.400 12.900 Ginna Escobar 13.500 12.550 12.033 12.775 Angelica Mesa 0.000 10.100 11.667 12.200 Erla Vera Sanabria 13.400 11.333 12.533 12.033 152.683 40.950 36.575 37.283 37.875

Austria

Semi-official: Jasmin Mader, Bianca Frysak, Alissa Mörz, Elisa Hämmerle, Marlies Männersdorfer (Christina Meixner)

The big story for Austria is recent injuries to their two best gymnasts, Marlies Männersdorfer and Jasmin Mader. Männersdorfer got injured mid-Euros qualification, but is expected to be fine for worlds, while Mader had to pull out of a recent world cup event with a foot injury, also in the midst of competition.

Thankfully, both appear on Austria’s nominative roster, and you hope for Austria’s sake that they’re able to go because the scores would get really rough without them. Austria hasn’t yet confirmed who will be the alternate, but I’d take Mörz over Meixner because she’s more likely to provide a countable vault score and is an option for beam. But, both may be needed if Mader is unable to go.

AUSTRIA – 152.417 Jasmin Mader 13.550 13.100 11.900 12.500 Alissa Mörz 13.350 10.050 12.100 11.700 Marlies Männersdorfer 13.350 12.400 11.650 12.500 Bianca Frysak 12.700 12.550 12.100 11.767 Elisa Hämmerle 0.000 13.300 12.450 0.000 152.417 40.050 38.950 36.650 36.767

Norway

Nominative: Julie Søderstrøm, Julie Erichsen, Thea Nygaard, Sara Davidsen, Edel Fosse

Norway appears to be repeating the exact team that finished 21st at European Championships, electing not to go with Juliane Tøssebro who took silver on beam and gold on floor at the recent Norwegian Championships, but who finished 6th in the AA behind the selected group of five. Norway always gets pretty good beam scores at home but then shows up to worlds and the judges are like, “Mmmm…1.1” so I’m interested to see what happens this time.

NORWAY – 151.850 Julie Søderstrom 13.100 11.450 13.000 12.600 Julie Erichsen 12.850 12.000 12.150 11.950 Sara Davidsen 13.150 11.500 12.700 12.750 Edel Fosse 12.800 11.900 11.700 12.350 Thea Nygaard 12.900 12.600 12.050 13.000 151.850 39.150 36.500 37.850 38.350

Portugal

Nominative: Beatriz Dias, Filipa Martins, Mariana Pitrez, Mariana Marianito

Portugal surprised some of us with a 14th-place finish at Euros, ahead of the Czech Republic, Finland, and Turkey. It’s a performance that, if repeated, should put the Portuguese at least in the conversation for the top 24. Sending just four athletes, however, does mean there will be fewer options and less margin for error.

I also wonder if we’ll see Martins add back vault and floor. She has competed on only bars and beam lately, but she’s clearly POR’s best gymnast on all four pieces. They could really use those other scores, which could be decisive in the team quest for a borderline country like Portugal.

PORTUGAL – 151.850 Mariana Marianito 13.300 10.950 12.800 12.700 Mariana Pitrez 12.950 11.900 12.300 11.500 Beatriz Dias 13.400 11.300 12.350 12.400 Filipa Martins 13.150 13.600 12.700 12.250 151.850 39.850 36.800 37.850 37.350

Iceland

Official: Dominiqua Belanyi, Thelma Adalsteinsdottir, Sonja Olafsdottir, Agnes Suto-Tuuha, Margret Kristinsdottir

Iceland is still without Irina Sazonova, typically the nation’s best all-arounder, which reduces the team’s scoring potential quite a bit. Overall, expectations are muted for Iceland after a disappointing Euros that saw the team finish 22nd, but the return of Belanyi should boost the scoring potential on all four events. Suto-Tuuha was only able to do vault and bars at Euros as well, so if she’s on all four, Iceland should be far more 11y and far less 9.9y.

ICELAND – 151.549 Dominiqua Belanyi 12.966 12.533 12.050 12.150 Agnes Suto-Tuuha 13.550 11.900 11.300 12.500 Margret Kristinsdottir 12.600 11.450 12.800 12.700 Sonja Olafsdottir 12.700 10.600 11.700 11.700 Thelma Adalsteinsdottir 12.350 12.300 13.300 12.250 151.549 39.216 36.733 38.150 37.450

Slovenia

Nominative: Teja Belak, Tjasa Kysselef, Adela Sajn, Lucija Hribar

Praise be! Lucija Hribar has been added back to Slovenia’s roster in the latest nominative update, which gives Slovenia a much better chance of recording an at-least-respectable team total.

SLOVENIA – 150.849 Tjasa Kysselef 13.850 10.300 12.500 12.750 Tela Belak 14.250 11.733 13.000 0.000 Adela Sajn 0.000 0.000 12.433 11.650 Lucija Hribar 13.600 12.750 12.350 12.033 150.849 41.700 34.783 37.933 36.433

Poland

Nominative: Marta Pihan-Kulesza, Gabriela Janik, Wiktoria Lopuszanska, Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska

Poland is planning to bring the same group of four that competed so well at Euros, beating Portugal and the Czech Republic and challenging Romania. Repeating that performance, Poland can absolutely be in contention for the top 24.

It will, however, take a fully hit day from a team that does not have countable backup options to lean on if someone misses. Deeper teams benefit from the 4-up, 3-count format in qualification because they might have a fourth-best score that can still count if something happens. Poland is not one of those teams. The three best scores must be the three scores.

POLAND – 159.732 Gabriela Janik 14.200 13.300 13.333 13.600 Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska 13.367 9.733 14.450 12.300 Marta Pihan-Kulesza 13.200 12.833 13.450 13.300 Wiktoria Lopuszanska 13.533 12.066 11.850 11.600 159.732 41.100 38.199 41.233 39.200

I did a little “removing the domestic scores” experiment for Poland as well, and the difference was significant enough that I’m including both of them here for reference. As with Ukraine, the comparative truth with respect to the other countries is probably somewhere in the middle.

POLAND – 150.764 Gabriela Janik 13.900 12.350 12.400 12.200 Katarzyna Jurkowska-Kowalska 13.100 0.000 13.550 11.733 Marta Pihan-Kulesza 0.000 11.166 12.433 12.700 Wiktoria Lopuszanska 13.166 12.066 0.000 0.000 150.764 40.166 35.582 38.383 36.633

South Africa

Nominative: Caitlin Rooskrantz, Angela Maguire, Naveen Daries

South Africa is bringing just the three athletes, which is enough to get a team score at worlds now since only the best three scores count in qualification. Because of that format change, we should see a few more countries trying for team scores than we did in the past.

But, it’s so tough to get a solid total with all scores having to count, one of the main reasons Egypt is heavily favored to take the African qualifying spot.

SOUTH AFRICA – 150.250 Caitlin Rooskrantz 12.850 13.350 12.750 11.650 Naveen Daries 13.350 11.700 12.850 12.250 Angela Maguire 13.050 11.500 12.550 12.400 150.250 39.250 36.550 38.150 36.300

Taiwan

Nominative: Fang Ko Ching, Chuang Hsiu Ju, Ting Hua Tien, Wu Sing Fen, Lai Pin Ju (Fu Chih Yi)

Taiwan is intending to bring a full team, which should provide a leg up over some of these other lower-ranked contenders that will be more reliant on hitting all of the routines. Taiwan can throw in a weird beam 7 and not have to count it.

TAIWAN – 150.200 Fang Ko Ching 13.950 12.150 12.150 12.700 Chuang Hsiu Ju 13.150 12.000 11.800 11.200 Lai Pin Ju 13.000 11.450 13.000 12.400 Ting Hua Tien 12.300 12.050 10.250 11.550 Wu Wing Fen 13.300 8.450 10.700 11.050 150.200 40.400 36.200 36.950 36.650

Slovakia

Nominative: Chiara Bunce, Viktoria Vydurekova, Veronika Vlastiakova, Ema Kuklovska, Karolina Takacova

The injury to star Barbora Mokosova has made life very tough for Slovakia. The team is still diligently plugging away to try to show a full squad of five at worlds even without her, but I don’t see much chance of Slovakia scoring with the nations challenging the top 24 absent her scores.

SLOVAKIA – 148.516 Veronika Valastiakova 12.500 10.100 8.900 10.900 Karolina Takacova 12.500 12.650 12.800 11.300 Chiara Bunce 13.166 11.650 12.300 12.300 Ema Kuklovska 13.000 9.650 12.200 12.050 Viktoria Vydurekova 13.000 11.950 10.300 11.450 148.516 39.166 36.250 37.300 35.800

Malaysia

Nominative: Farah Ann Abdul Hadi, Yueh Tan Ing, Ang Tracie

Malaysia should be one of the better countries that’s bringing only three because these are three strong athletes capable of multiple 12s. It’s also worth hanging onto the small shred of hope that Hadi could make the AA final. If she repeats what she did at Asian Games, it’s a possibility.

MALAYSIA – 147.800 Farah Ann Abdul Hadi 13.550 13.200 12.300 12.800 Tan Ing Yueh 13.300 12.400 12.200 12.600 Ang Tracie 12.950 9.900 11.350 11.250 147.800 39.800 35.500 35.850 36.650

Greece

Official: Argyro Afrati, Ioanna Xoulogi, Evangelina Monokrousou, Vasiliki Millousi, Evangelina Plyta

I’m a bit disappointed to see new senior Evelina Magia relegated to alternate status here because she showed some really solid scores earlier in the year, definitely top-3 numbers in the nation on beam and floor.

Lately, Greece has struggled to get out of this lower tier of teams because, while there are very strong gymnasts here, most of them are one- and two-eventers, gymnasts who can maybe throw up something on a couple other events but don’t really have enough pieces to get Greece a competitive team score. I fear we’re in for another year of that.

GREECE – 146.281 Vasiliki Millousi 0.000 12.100 13.066 0.000 Evangelina Plyta 0.000 12.133 0.000 0.000 Evangelina Monokrousou 13.100 0.000 10.666 11.850 Ioanna Xoulogi 12.500 11.200 12.600 11.950 Argyro Afrati 13.466 10.266 0.000 11.650 146.281 39.066 35.433 36.332 35.450

Denmark

Nominative: Mette Hulgaard, Emilie Winther, Sofia Bjørnholdt, Victoria Kajø

The absence of Linnea Wang is troubling since she was the only one who went into the 11s on bars and 12s on floor on Denmark’s team at Euros. Denmark doesn’t have many other elites whom we’ve seen appear at competitions, so it’s going to be a team of four this year. Standard-bearer Mette Hulgaard will likely be called upon to get most of the scores once again and needs to be the best on each piece.

DENMARK – 144.881 Mette Hulgaard 12.900 13.133 11.600 12.450 Sofia Bjørnholdt 12.600 8.700 10.950 11.966 Emilie Winther 13.400 10.733 11.066 11.700 Victoria Kajø 12.633 10.400 12.100 12.500 144.881 38.933 34.266 34.766 36.916

Costa Rica

Nominative: Luciana Alvarado, Heika Del Sol Salas, Mariangeles Murillo, Arianna Castaneda

I’m pleased to see Costa Rica sending a group that can get a full score, even with an athlere to spare, the only Central American country to do so.

COSTA RICA – 143.050 Heika Salas 12.700 11.500 10.750 11.900 Luciana Alvarado 13.233 12.367 11.750 12.300 Arianna Castaneda 12.600 9.400 9.650 12.250 Mariangeles Murillo 12.467 8.933 12.300 11.600 143.050 38.533 33.267 34.800 36.450

Latvia

Nominative: Alina Vihrova, Anastasija Dubova, Alina Circene

It was Tugarinova and Ribalcenko that competed with Dubova at Euros, but they’ll be replaced by Vihrova and Circene at worlds. Theoretically, this is an upgrade. New senior Vihrova is Latvia’s best gymnast, but she hasn’t done the all-around in 2018, so it remains to be seen if Latvia will go for a team score or not.

LATVIA – 141.882 Anastasija Dubova 12.100 11.300 12.566 11.950 Elina Vihrova 12.850 12.700 12.300 12.900 Alina Circene 11,566 9.250 10.500 11.900 141.882 36.515 33.250 35.366 36.750

New Zealand

Nominative: Isabella Brett, Maia Fishwick, Charlotte Ryan, Caitlin Todd

No Courtney McGregor this year on New Zealand’s team, so it therefore doesn’t count. With four athletes, I do expect New Zealand to be able to put up enough routines to get a team score and successfully audition for the NCAA futures we need them to have.

NEW ZEALAND – 138.358 Isabella Brett 12.750 9.200 11.900 11.350 Caitlin Todd 13.033 0.000 0.000 0.000 Maia Fishwick 12.500 11.925 11.250 9.600 Charlotte Ryan 13.725 10.350 11.050 12.225 138.358 39.508 31.475 34.200 33.175

Jamaica

Nominative: Danusia Francis, Mackenzie Robinson, Kiara Richmon, Toni-Ann Williams

Pleasssssssse actually send this team. Please. Please.

I don’t have any scores to use for Williams because she hasn’t competed elite in the 2017-20 code, but Danusia and Toni-Ann are both capable of making the all-around final if things go just exactly right. If they both actually compete (along with one other person), don’t sleep on Jamaica’s team score. It could be better than many other countries that typically attend these events.

JAMAICA – 135.833 Danusia Francis 12.933 12.833 12.900 12.433 Mackenzie Robinson 11.833 10.067 11.300 11.267 Kiara Richmon 11.667 9.400 9.167 10.033 Toni-Ann Williams 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 135.833 36.433 32.300 33.367 33.733

Belarus

Nominative: Mariya Lastouskaya, Hanna Traukova, Aliaksandra Natsiazhenka

On the latest update of the nominative roster, Netsiazhenka has replaced Harodnaya. I have no results for Netsiazhenka, so I can’t put together a scoring chart, but it is encouraging progress to see a team of three seniors sent to worlds.

Serbia

Nominative: Aleksandra Rajcic, Jelena Stemenkovic, Andela Durdevic

I have occasional scores on a couple of events for these three athletes, but we’ll have to wait and see if they go for the all-around. Unfortunate is the absence of Serbia’s best gymnast, Tamara Mrdenovic, who often goes to world cups and whom we know has four event scores.

Sweden

Nominative: Marcela Torres, Jessica Castles, Jonna Adlerteg

The final team sending at least three athletes is Sweden, though it doesn’t look like they’re going for a team total because that would require Adlerteg doing all four events. It’s frustrating because Adlerteg has a huge bars score, Castles made the floor final at Euros and is very competitive on several events, and Torres always has a competitive AA score and 12s across the pieces.

If they were to bring one more all-arounder like Agnes Akerman or Alva Eriksson to deliver some high 11s or low 12s on VT/BB/FX to fill out the scores, I would entertain Sweden as a serious contender for the top 24. Alas…

The remaining nations are not going for team scores, but we do of course have Chusovitina as an event final and medal hope on vault. Theoretically, Dipa Karmakar is supposed to be at worlds, but the requisite Indian selection drama means we’re not really sure if she’ll end up going.

Mostly, these are nations with one special athlete who is being sent to be special (Rifda!), or where we’re just thrilled that they’re sending a representative at all (Cayman Islands! Syria!)

Uzbekistan

Nominative: Sabina Turobova, Oksana Chusovitina

India

Nominative: Aruna Budda Reddy, Dipa Karmakar

Kazakhstan

Nominative: Aida Bauyrzhanova, Yekaterina Chiukina

Azerbaijan

Nominative: Marina Nekrasova

Vietnam

Nominative: Tran Doan Quynh Nam, Tienna Nguyen

Peru

Nominative: Ana Karina Mendez

Israel

Nominative: Ofir Netzer, Meitar Lavy

Hong Kong

Nominative: Chan Tsz Sum Elizabeth, Ng Yan Yin

Chile

Nominative: Simona Castro

Ireland

Nominative: Meaghan Smith

Indonesia

Nominative: Rifda Irfanaluthfi

Cyprus

Nominative: Anastasia Theocharous

Bolivia

Nominative: Diana Vasquez

Algeria

Nominative: Jana Mouffok

Bulgaria

Nominative: Laney Madsen

Cayman Islands

Nominative: Reagan Rutty

Croatia

Nominative: Ana Derek

Georgia

Nominative: Anna Subbotina

Guatemala

Nominative: Ana Palacios

Jordan

Nominative: Ruba Aldaoud

Lithuania

Nominative: Agata Vostruchovaite

Philippines

Nominative: Corinne Bunagan

Qatar

Nominative: Jana El-Keky

Singapore

Nominative: Nadine Joy Nathan

Syria

Nominative: Areej Alkhayat