© Ricardo Bufolin

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 9, 2022 – The 2022 Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships kick off Thursday at the Milli Gimnastika Arenasi in Baku, Azerbaijan. More than 120 athletes spanning 17 countries are set to compete, including 14 members of Team USA: a men’s pair, a women’s pair, a men’s group and two women’s groups.

Individual event titles for the balance, dynamic and combined exercises are up for grabs in each division. A team title will also be awarded with the winner determined by a cumulative point system. Points will be accrued throughout the qualification round based on the results of each exercise.

Qualifications get underway Thursday with the women’s and men’s pair balance and dynamic exercises. Men’s group balance and women’s group dynamic qualifications will also take place Thursday with the men’s group dynamic and women’s group balance exercises to follow Friday. The team title will be decided Friday following the conclusion of qualifications.

Combined champions for all divisions will also be crowned Friday from among the finalists, which will be determined by their tallied qualification scores in both balance and dynamic. Finalists for the balance and dynamic titles will be determined based on their qualification scores on that particular exercise. World champions will be decided Saturday in the women’s pair balance, men’s pair dynamic, women’s group balance and men’s group balance divisions. Finals for the women’s pair, men’s group and women’s group dynamic exercises and the men’s pair balance exercise will be held Sunday.

All finals will be livestreamed on the International Gymnastics Federation’s YouTube channel. Live scores throughout the four-day event will be available here.

U.S. team members are listed below alphabetically by division.

Men’s Pair

  • Angel Felix, Moreno Valley, Calif., and Braiden McDougall, Riverside, Calif., both from Realis Gymnastics Academy

Women’s Pair

  • Katie Borcherding of Pacific, Mo., and Cierra McKown of Riverside, Calif., both from Realis Gymnastics Academy

Men’s Group

  • Ethan Chang, Sam Lacy and Cade Shields of Columbia, Md., and Dorian White of Castro Valley, Calif., all from Emilia’s Acro Gymnastics and Cheer

Women’s Group

  • Victoria Blante of Hayward, Calif., Eily Corbett of Danville, Calif., and Cassidy Cu of Castro Valley, Calif., all from WestCoast Training Center
  • Isabel Chang of Columbia, Md., Sydney Martin of Glenwood, Md., and Maria Wooden of Derwood, Md., all from Emilia’s Acro Gymnastics and Cheer