Great Britain’s male and female Artistic Gymnastics teams will enter a home World Championships knowing that Olympic qualification is on the line. The top three teams in both competitions will earn a place in the men’s and women’s events at the Olympic Games, which will also come with five individual spots.
Held at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, which is better known for its music concerts, hosting Beyoncé, Bieber, and even a Beatle, it is the world’s very best in Artistic Gymnastics that will be hoping to attract the Scousers to the arena. Taking place from 29 October to 6 November, the team events are key for the Olympics. The Men’s event starts on 31 October with qualification, with the final on 2 November, while the Women’s event has qualification on 29 and 30 October and the final on 1 November.
The British team came fourth in the Olympics, with three of those four returning. Joe Fraser was also part of the British team that won silver at the European Championships in Glasgow in 2018, before winning World gold in the Parallel Bars in Stuttgart in 2019. In 2021, he won European bronze in Basel on the Pommel Horse, but 2022 has been his best year yet. In the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham he won three gold medals, being part of the victorious English team and winning individual gongs in the Pommel Horse and Parallel Bars, while at the European Championships in Munich he also won three golds, with the British team coming first and Fraser also becoming individual All-Around and Parallel Bars champion. James Hall also returns from Tokyo and he brings an impressive medal haul. Getting individual all-around European bronze at Cluj-Napoca in 2017, he was part of the victorious English team at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast and also won individual silvers in the All-around and Horizontal Bar. He was also in the silver medal-winning team at Glasgow 2018, and the victorious English team at Birmingham 2022, where he also picked up a silver in the individual all-around. Furthermore, he was on the victorious British team at Munich 2022. Giarnni Regini-Moran also went to Tokyo, and has a big medal haul. At the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, he won three golds in the All-Around, Floor, and Vault, and two bronzes in the Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar. At the European Games in Minsk in 2019 he won a silver on the Floor, and at Basel 2021 took home a bronze in the Vault. 2022 was his best year yet, also winning a team gold at Birmingham as well as silvers in the Vault and Parallel Bars and a bronze on the Floor competition, while in Munich he won team gold and a bronze on the Parallel Bars. Max Whitlock is the only member of our Tokyo team not to return, and has been on an extended break since the Games, but is at the championships as an ambassador. The other two members of our men’s team include Jake Jarman who has had an impressive 2022: winning four golds at Birmingham, with the team gold joining the All-Around, Floor, and Vault victories, with a team gold and a Vault gold in Munich sitting pretty alongside a Floor bronze. The final member is Courtney Tulloch, who was part of the British team that won European silver at Bern in 2016, won silver on the Rings at Cluj-Napoca 2017, and won team and Rings gold at Gold Coast 2018, as well as a silver on the Vault. He also was part of the runner-up British team at Glasgow 2018 and won bronze on the Rings, while at Birmingham 2022 defended his Team and Rings titles, also being part of the British team that won gold at Munich 2022 and winning a bronze on the Rings. He also has a gold and a bronze in the FIG Apparatus World Cup and two silvers and a bronze in the World Challenge Cup.
So this team is used to competing together then, and it is the exact team as the one that won gold in the Commonwealth Games and European Championships this year. In 2020, GB finished fourth, behind the ROC, Japan, and China, but can target a medal finish this time with no Russians present and a home crowd.
Over to the women’s side, where three of our bronze winning Tokyo team return. Jennifer Gadirova first made her name as part of the British team that won silver at the Junior World Championships in Győr in 2019, and was on the British team that won bronze in Tokyo. She was also on the British team that won silver at Munich 2022, and has a World Challenge Cup bronze to her name. Her twin sister Jessica Gadirova was also on the British team that won bronze in Tokyo, while at Basel 2021 she won Floor gold and All-Around bronze, while in Munich 2022 she was also part of the silver medal-winning team and won Floor gold. Finally, Alice Kinsella won gold on the Balance Beam at Gold Coast 2018 and was part of the silver-winning English team, while at the 2019 European Championships in Szczecin she won Balance Beam gold. Part of the Tokyo winning bronze team, at Birmingham 2022 she was part of the champion English team and also won an individual gold on the Floor. At Munich 2022 she picked up two silvers, in the All-Around and the Team event. Amelie Morgan has left international gymnastics, instead competing in the American college system and so does not return. The two other Brits include Ondine Anchampong, who has had a good 2022, winning team gold and All-Around and Floor silver in Birmingham, as well as team and Balance Beam silver in Munich, to go nicely with her Apparatus World Cup silver and World Challenge Cup bronze, and Georgia-Mae Fenton, who won Uneven Bars gold and team silver at Gold Coast 2018, team and Uneven Bars gold at Birmingham 2022, and team silver at Munich 2022, and also has a World Challenge Cup silver.
The team was behind the ROC and United States in Tokyo, with Italy (fourth in Tokyo) getting ahead of them in Munich: this is the exact same team that went to Munich. In both genders, the top eight teams will qualify for the final (an absolute minimum for our teams) and the top three will get a medal and the Olympic place. It’s definitely doable, and it’s watchable on BBC Sport.
GB Games 