Watching gymnastics world championships? Here's how scoring, qualifying, finals work
Nancy Armour, USA TODAYSat, October 17, 2026 at 10:37 AM UTC
Watching the gymnastics world championships? Nancy Armour explains how D scores, E scores, qualifying and team finals work.
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — The world gymnastics championships — heck, any major international gymnastics championships — ought to count as an endurance event.
Worlds begin Oct. 17 and run through Oct. 25 here in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. And that doesn't count the three days when gymnasts get to work on the competition floor before the event begins. Here's a refresher on how scoring in gymnastics work and how the worlds format works.
How does gymnastics scoring work?
Every gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution, also known as the E score. Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus. Expect to see scores range from the mid-13s to the 15s for the top competitors at worlds, and note that vault scores will always be higher because it’s a single skill.
What is a D score in gymnastics?
Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine.
What is an E score in gymnastics?
The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there.
How does qualifying work at worlds?
Every gymnast goes through qualifying, regardless if they're competing individually, as part of a team, doing every event or just one or two.
Countries in the team competition will put four of their five gymnasts up on each event in qualifying and can drop their lowest score. You’ll sometimes hear this referred to as “5-4-3.”
How do gymnastics team finals work?
When qualifying is complete, the top eight teams advance to the finals. So, too, the top 24 all-around gymnasts, with a limit of two per country. The top eight gymnasts on each apparatus advance to the event finals, again with a two-per-country limit.
Scoring starts over for all of the finals.
There's also a change in how scoring is done for the team final. Countries put up three gymnasts on each event, and all three scores count. You'll hear this referred to as three-up, three-count. If you have to count a fall, your chances of winning get slimmer. If you have to count two or three, you can probably forget about the podium.
There's an added bonus for the medalists in the team competition at these world championships: The top three all qualify for LA28. The remaining nine teams in the Olympic field will have to wait to qualify until next year's world championships.
What is world gymnastics championships schedule?
All times Eastern.
Oct. 17: Men's qualification
Oct. 18: Men's and women's qualification
Oct. 19: Women's qualification
Oct. 20: Men's team final (1:30-4:30 p.m.)
Oct. 21: Women's team final (1:30-4 p.m.)
Oct. 22: Men's all-around final (1:30-4 p.m.)
Oct. 23: Women's all-around final (1:30-4 p.m.)
Oct. 24: Event finals (8 a.m.-noon)
Oct. 25: Event finals (9 a.m.-1 p.m.)
Where can I watch gymnastics world championships?
EuroVision Sport is live streaming qualification. Peacock picks up live streaming Oct. 20-25 for the finals.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Watching gymnastics world championships? Here's how scoring, qualifying, finals work
Source: Sports
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