SOFIA, Bulgaria (September 12, 2022) – Olympians Evita Griskenas (Orland Park, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center) and Lili Mizuno (Northbrook, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center) and the U.S. Senior National Group will take on the best gymnasts in the sport on the year’s biggest stage, as the 2022 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships get under way Wednesday at Arena Armeec in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In addition to claiming numerous top-ten all-around finishes in international competition this season, Griskenas and Mizuno each garnered apparatus bronze during the Portimao World Challenge Cup event finals in May, and Griskenas also topped the podium in the team and all-around competitions at the Pan American Championships in July. This week, the pair of standout veterans will turn their attention to the World Championships, where they’ll compete with Group C on hoop and ball Wednesday at 7:45 a.m. ET and on clubs and ribbon Thursday at 10:10 a.m. ET.

Apparatus finals will conclude each day with the top-8 gymnasts on each event advancing to the medal round. At the conclusion of the first two days of competition, the top-18 athletes – based on the combined total of their three best apparatus scores during qualifications – will advance to Saturday’s individual all-around final. Gymnasts ranked 10-18 will take the floor at 7:45 a.m. ET followed by those ranked 1-9 at 10:15 a.m. ET. Only two gymnasts per federation may qualify to any final.

The U.S. Senior National Group, which trains at North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, will feature Gergana Petkova (Barrington, Ill.), Katrine Sakhnov (Glencoe, Ill.), Karolina Saverino (Elk Grove Village, Ill.), Hana Starkman (Deerfield, Ill.) and Emily Wilson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) for this event. The quintet posted season-high marks on both apparatus combinations at the Cluj-Napoca World Challenge Cup last month in Romania. In July, the group captured a bronze-medal sweep at the Pan American Championships.

The group all-around competition will kick off two days of group performances Friday. U.S. group members will compete with Group A at 7:30 a.m. ET. The top-8 groups in each event – five hoops and three ribbons and two balls – will advance to Sunday’s apparatus finals, which are slated to begin at 8 a.m. ET and 8:48 a.m. ET, respectively.

The top-three individual and group all-around finishers will secure their country a quota spot for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. U.S. gymnasts will also have the opportunity to qualify for the next Olympics at the 2023 World Championships and 2024 Pan American Championships.

Fans can follow the action and access live results on the International Gymnastics Federation’s dedicated event site. More information can be found here on usagym.org