MOSCOW: Russian athletes will compete at the 2026 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Germany as a national team under the country’...
MOSCOW: Russian athletes will compete at the 2026 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Germany as a national team under the country’s national colors, the Russian Gymnastics Federation (FGR) announced to TASS.
"The Russian national rhythmic gymnastics team will take part in the World Championships as the full-fledged Russian national team," the statement reads
"Official protocol and communications documents of the competition state that the athletes will be represented as Russia," according to the statement.
"The use of World Gymnastics symbols in the arena is related to the transitional period provided for individual competitions. This does not mean a return to a neutral status, which was cancelled by the decision of the Executive Committee of World Gymnastics on May 17, 2026," the statement added.
"The transitional procedure can be applied to competitions distributed before the May decision of the World Gymnastics Executive Committee, if there are officially confirmed restrictions on the use of national symbols by the state authorities of the host country. The World Cup in Germany is one of such competitions," the statement added.
Torsten Hartmann, spokesperson for the German Gymnastics Federation, told TASS earlier in the day that athletes representing Russia and Belarus would be competing at the 2026 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships in Germany this month without national symbols.
The 2026 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships will be held in Frankfurt, Germany, on August 12-16. The event will take place at the Frankfurt Arena with about 300 athletes anticipated to compete at the world championships, which is classified as one of the qualification events for the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Russia-World Gymnastics spat
On July 27, World Gymnastics ruled that restrictions against Russian athletes be lifted at the organization’s licensed tournaments, but stressed that some competitions may stipulate exceptions in case of restrictions from the authorities of the host countries.
On May 18, the Executive Committee of World Gymnastics decided to lift previously imposed restrictions on Russian athletes, allowing them to compete internationally under the Russian flag. European Gymnastics later informed TASS of the decision and stated it would decide on lifting restrictions by May 24, eventually following suit.
In December 2025, the IOC Executive Board issued recommendations allowing athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international competitions under national flags and anthems. The recommendation applied to both individual and team sports. Numerous international sports federations followed the proposal.
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