© Ricardo Bufolin

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 17, 2019 – Evita Griskenas of Orland Park, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, will compete in the ball final later today (12:05 p.m. ET) at the 2019 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships at the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku, Azerbaijan. She also is the second reserve athlete for the hoop final which precedes the ball final at 11:30 a.m. ET. U.S.-based fans can watch the hoop and ball finals live on the Olympic Channel, both on television and online. Qualifications continue Sept. 18-19 for clubs and ribbon, with the event finals on Sept. 19. The seven-day championships has competition in both individual and group rhythmic gymnastics, and berths to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, and the 2021 World Games in Birmingham, Ala., are on the line.

Griskenas clinched a spot in the ball final with her eighth-place ranking in qualification at 21.200. Laura Zeng of Libertyville, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, earned a 20.400 to finish 12th. For hoop, Griskenas posted a 21.000 for 10th, and Zeng was 14th at 20.700. Russia’s Dina Averina holds the top qualification score for both hoop at 23.650 and ball with 23.700.

At the halfway point of the all-around qualification, Averina has tallied a two-event score of 47.350 for the top spot, with a comfortable lead over Israel’s Linoy Ashram at 44.800. Bulgaria’s Boryana Kaleyn is third with 43.050. Griskenas is in eighth place with her 42.200, and Zeng is 11th at 41.100. The all-around final is on Sept. 20.

For the Olympic Games, the top 16, max two per country, in the final all-around rankings and the top five groups in the all-around, who have not already qualified, will qualify for Tokyo. For the 2021 World Games, the top 20 in the all-around final, as well as four wild cards from the qualification round, will earn berths to Birmingham.

In addition to Griskenas and Zeng, Camilla Feeley of Deerfield, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, will compete in both the clubs and ribbon events as part of the team competition. Group rhythmic gymnastics begins Sept. 21, and the U.S. group includes Isabelle Connor of Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Connie Du of Deerfield, Ill.; Yelyzaveta Merenzon of Buffalo Grove, Ill.; Elizaveta Pletneva of Deerfield, Ill./; Nicole Sladkov of Vernon Hills, Ill./; and Kristina Sobolevskaya of Chicago. All of them train at North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center.

All three will compete on Sept. 18 at 4:40 p.m., starting on clubs. The championships features finals in the all-around, with the top 24 from qualifications, and event finals, top eight from qualifications, with a max of two per country. There also is a team ranking based on the top eight of 10 scores from the qualification round (two hoop, two ball, three clubs and three ribbon routines). The group competition has the all-around and event finals (top eight per event).

The remaining competition schedule is below, and Baku is eight hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time.

Sept. 17, Finals, hoop and ball

  • 7:30 p.m. – Hoop final
  • 8:05 p.m. – Ball final

Sept. 18, Qualification rounds, clubs and ribbon

  • 12 p.m. – Group D
  • 1:55 p.m. – Group C
  • 4:40 p.m. – Group B (USA, 1, 2 and 3/clubs)
  • 6:55 p.m. – Group A

Sept. 19, Qualification rounds/Finals, clubs and ribbon

  • 9 a.m. – Group B (USA, 1, 2 and 3/ribbon)
  • 11:15 a.m. – Group A
  • 2:10 p.m. – Group D
  • 4:05 p.m. – Group C
  • 7:30 p.m. – Finals, clubs and ribbon

Sept. 20, Final, all-around

  • 2:30 p.m. – Group B (rank 13-24)
  • 5:30 p.m. – Group A (rank 1-12)

Sept. 21, Final, all-around; qualification, 5 balls, 3 hoops/2 pairs of clubs

  • 2:30 p.m. – Group A (USA, 5 balls; 3hoops/2 pairs of clubs)
  • 4:30 p.m. – Group B

Sept. 22. Final, 5 balls and 3 hoops/2 pairs of clubs

  • 2:30 p.m. – 5 Balls
  • 3:15 p.m. – 3 hoops/2 pairs of clubs

U.S. fans can watch the finals via a livestream and tape-delayed broadcast, with a simulcast, on OlympicChannel.com and the Olympic Channel, respectively. NBC Sports and the Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA will have coverage of the finals at FIG Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan. Fans can catch all the action in spectacular high definition via NBCSports.com/Live or through the NBC Sports app, which is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

Sept. 17 – 11:30 a.m. ET – Hoop, ball finals – Live/Olympic Channel TV, livestream
Sept. 19 – 11:30 a.m. ET – Clubs, ribbon finals – Live/Olympic Channel TV, livestream
Sept. 20 – 6:30 a.m. ET – Ind. all-around final – Livestream
Sept. 20 – 8 p.m. ET – Ind. all-around final – Tape-delayed Olympic Channel TV, livestream
Sept. 21 – 6:30 a.m. ET – Group all-around final – Livestream
Sept. 21 – 6 p.m. ET – Group all-around final – Tape-delayed Olympic Channel TV, livestream
Sept. 22 – 6:30 a.m. ET – Group event finals – Livestream
Sept. 22 – 10 p.m. ET – Group event finals – Tape-delayed Olympic Channel TV, livestream

The International Gymnastics Federation’s website has live results and other information.