American teenagers Claire Pease and Reese Esponda finished first and second on floor at the World Gymnastics Championships on Sunday, October 25, 2026, in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the final day of competition.
Pease won floor gold with 13.866 and Esponda won silver with 13.566, while Maiana Prat of France was third with 13.466. Both gymnasts are 17 years old; it was Pease’s first World title in her debut senior Championships and Esponda’s first individual World medal.
Pease finished the championships with three medals: floor gold, vault silver and team silver. Esponda finished with two silvers: floor and team. Skye Blakely, the 2026 World all-around champion, finished sixth in the beam final on the same day with 13.633 after hitting all 14 of her routines across the week, taking her haul to four medals and her career World total to six.
The US women won seven medals, with eight US medals overall including Frederick Richard’s men’s gold. Their team silver ended a 15-year world team winning streak, with China winning team gold 165.764 to the USA’s 165.531. The top three teams — China, USA and Japan — earned qualification spots for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Hezly Rivera missed these Worlds with a left ankle injury, Suni Lee has resumed training for a return next year, and Simone Biles is still weighing a Los Angeles 2028 return.
Read also: Booker scores 43 as Suns beat Warriors and Celtics beat Knicks 107-103
Bhudev Bhagaliya is an experienced and senior journalist who has carved a distinct niche for himself in the world of Hindi journalism through his profound understanding and precise writing style. With over two decades of experience in the field of journalism, he has held key responsibilities at Dainik Hindustan for 12 years and at Amar Ujala for one year. Currently, he serves as the Content Editor for the Jagrook Youth News newspaper and portal, where he plays a crucial role in ensuring the quality and credibility of the news content. Bhudev Bhagaliya consistently writes about issues that help raise awareness within society and among the younger generation.