Valencia turns into the world epicentre of rhythmic gymnastics in five days, from 23rd to 27th August, with the arrival of gymnasts from 62 countries vying for one of nine world titles.
Individual wrestling, ensemble wrestling, team race, four singles finals titles – individual and two ensemble singles finals titles. The venue chosen to host the 40th World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship is Feria València Hall.
There will be more than gold, silver and bronze at the World Cup as 14 individual and five group quotas are set for Paris 2024 will be played at the event (the 14 strongest gymnasts in individual wrestling will receive Olympic quotas for Paris 2024, without Styliana Nikolova, Daria Vartholomeev and Sofia Rafaeli, as they received allocations back in Sofia last year, as well as the first five ensembles, without Bulgaria, Israel and Spain, which also they have already won quotas from the Championship in Sofia 2022).
The race is from August 23rd to August 27th. In the individual competition, Italian Sofia Raffaelli dominated the 2022 edition.
By winning five of six possible gold medals, he will return in a quest for more glory. So far, her 2023 season has included two World Cup all-around victories and a silver medal in all-around at the European Championship, where Bulgaria’s Boryana Kalein grabbed the absolute title.
In addition to Rafaeli and Calaine, other top contenders include the 2022 European all-around winner. Daria Atamanov from Israel, who had to withdraw just before the start of last year’s World Cup due to an injury, Styliana Nikolova from Bulgaria and Daria Vartholomeev from Germany.
The ensemble competition is shaping up to be a battle between Bulgaria and Israel, who finished first and second in the 2022 World Cup. and the European Championship in 2023, to Baku. Bulgaria is the current Olympic gold medalist.
There will be Italy, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, China, and Brazil in the battle for honours and the Olympic license. The hosts from Spain already have a quota with the ensembles but will also look for a percentage in the person of Alba Bautista and Polina Berezina.