LIVERPOOL, Great Britain (October 29, 2022) – The U.S. women’s team of Skye Blakely, Jade Carey, Jordan Chiles, Shilese Jones and Leanne Wong (Overland Park, Kan./University of Florida/Great American Gymnastics Express) led off World Championships qualifications Saturday at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena with a scoresheet-topping 167.263. After the first two of 10 qualifying subdivisions, the Americans also hold the top-two spots in all individual categories except uneven bars.

Team and individual finalists will be determined based on performances during the two-day qualification round. During the opening session, the U.S. outscored second-place Belgium (156.053) by more than ten points. Spain (149.162) is third. All will have to wait to see how 20 additional teams fare Sunday.

In individual competition, which enforces a two-gymnast-per-country limit during the medal round, Jones (Auburn, Wash./Ascend Gymnastics Center) paced the all-around field with a cumulative 55.766. Olympic all-around finalist Carey (Phoenix, Ariz./Oregon State University) sits second with a 55.132. The top-24 competitors will advance to Thursday’s all-around final.

Qualifications will also determine the lineups for next weekend’s apparatus finals with the eight highest-scoring gymnasts set to move on in each event. Carey’s 14.483 on vault set the tone on opening night. After earning gold at last year’s Tokyo Olympic Games, she is also positioned to advance on floor exercise (14.066) where she was bested Saturday only by teammate Chiles (Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre) who delivered a session-leading 14.100. Chiles earned the day’s second-highest score on vault with a 14.316, and her 14.066 on uneven bars slotted in third behind Belgium’s Nina Derwael (14.700) and Jones (14.566). Blakely (Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics) led the way on balance beam with a 13.733. Jones was second with a 13.200.

The women’s team champion will be crowned Tuesday. The competition will stream live on Peacock, beginning at 2:15 p.m. ET. The men’s competition kicks off with qualifications Monday. The U.S. will take the floor with Subdivision 1 at 5:30 a.m. ET.

Stay up to date on all of the action from the 2022 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships by visiting usagym.org/worlds and following USA Gymnastics’ official social media channels.