INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 4, 2015 – Five-time Pan Am Games gold medalist Laura Zeng of Libertyville, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, and two-time World all-around finalist Jazzy Kerber of Highland Park, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, will lead the U.S. Team when it takes to the floor on Sept. 7 at the 2015 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. The USA is also competing in group rhythmic gymnastics at Worlds. The 2015 World Championships are the first of two opportunities for qualification to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Joining Zeng and Kerber are Serena Lu of Staten Island, N.Y./Isadora, and Camilla Feeley of Deerfield, Ill./North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, who finished third and fourth, respectively, at the 2015 USA Gymnastics Championships. All times are local Stuttgart time, which is six hours ahead of the Eastern time zone.
The members of the U.S. senior group, who train at North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center, are: Kiana Eide of Northbrook, Ill.; Alisa Kano of Glencoe, Ill.; Natalie McGiffert of Northbrook, Ill.; Monica Rokhman of Northbrook, Ill.; Jennifer Rokhman of Northbrook, Ill.; and Kristen Shaldybin of Chicago. The USA won its first gold medal in group rhythmic gymnastics at the 2015 Pan Am Games.
For individual gymnastics, the USA is competing in Subdivision D in the qualification rounds, which also serve as the team competition. The U.S. Team schedule is:
- Sept. 7, 3:05 p.m., ball qualification
- Sept. 8, 11:05 a.m., hoop qualification
- Sept. 9, 10 a.m., clubs qualification
- Sept. 10, 3 p.m., ribbon qualification
The finals schedule is:
- Sept. 8, 8 p.m., hoop and ball
- Sept. 10, 8 p.m., clubs and ribbon
- Sept. 11, all-around, 4 p.m. (gymnasts ranked 13-24) and 7:30 p.m. (gymnasts ranked 1-12)
The competition schedule for group is:
- Sept. 11, all-around finals and event qualifications, 1 p.m. (USA)
- Sept. 12, 5 ribbons and 3 clubs/2 hoops finals, 1 p.m.
The format for individual rhythmic gymnastics has competition for team, all-around and the four events (hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon). Qualification rounds determine advancement to the all-around and individual event finals, with the team rankings determined at the conclusion of qualification rounds (Sept. 10). The team competition consists of 10 routines (two hoop, two ball, three clubs and three ribbon), and up to four gymnasts may perform the routines. Each gymnast may perform from one to four routines. The eight best scores are added together and determine the team score. The top 24 individual gymnasts in the all-around qualification rankings advance to the all-around finals on Sept. 11. For individual events, the top eight on each event from the qualification rounds qualify for the finals (Sept. 8 and 10). A maximum of two gymnasts per country advances to the finals. For group, competition is in both the all-around and events [5 ribbons and 3 pairs of clubs (six total)/2 hoops]. The all-around competition on Sept. 12 serves as the qualification round for the event finals. The event finals are on Sept. 13
In addition to determining the 2015 World champions and medalists, the top 15 athletes from the individual all-around final, with a max of two per country, in Stuttgart will earn a spot for their country at the Games. The top eight Groups will earn their countries’ berths for the competition in Rio. An additional two Groups may also earn their places based on the continental representation requirement, for a total of 10 Groups qualifying to the Games. The second opportunity to qualify for the 2016 Games is the Olympic Test-Event in April 2016. Individual rhythmic gymnasts will also qualify for the individual event competition at the 2017 World Games based on performances in Stuttgart.
USA Gymnastics will have results, photos and other information on the U.S. Team’s efforts in Stuttgart, along with access to live scoring and webcast at usagym.org. In addition, follow the U.S. Team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/USAGymnastics and on Twitter, @usagym or #FIGWorlds2015RG. Information on participating countries, the draw, live scoring, results, etc., is available on the website of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), fig-gymnastics.com.