So Far In 2025! World Cup & International Round Up

While the gymnastics world has been hyper focused on the NCAA gymnastics season, elite gymnastics is just starting to heat up in 2025! Here’s a recap of the major international assignments that have taken place so far this year! 

Pommel Kings 

Team USA has two pommel horse stars that have been upping their game this year! Illinois’ Brandon Dang and Air Force’s Patty Hoopes both competed at the Baku and Antalya World Cup. In Baku, the duo finished first and second, with Dang coming away with gold. In Antalya, they both finished just off the podium in the final. In college, these two are one of three athletes to break the 15-point barrier. They are certainly building momentum and will be big names in the conversation for the World Championships in the fall. The international assignments do not stop there for these pommel workers, both Dang and Hoopes will be back in action at the Cairo World Cup April 25-28 in Egypt.

Not Done Yet!

After competing in eight consecutive Olympic Games, 49-year-old Oksana Chusovitina missed on qualifying to her ninth games in Paris. Many fans believed Chusovitina would retire following 2024, but in her usual style she’s not hopping off the mat just yet. Chusovitina made her 2025 debut at the Cottbus World Cup where she won bronze on vault. This marked her 16th medal of her 21 appearances at this event. She then competed at the Baku World Cup where she took the gold on vault. In an interview with Olympics.com, Chusovitina confirmed that the journey does not end in 2025. “My number one goal is to get to Los Angeles,” she says, “But there is so much time before then, so I’m not thinking that far ahead. I go step-by-step, from one competition to the next because there are other activities besides gymnastics.”

New Skill Alert 

If there is one thing Chinese gymnastics brings, it’s unique bar workers with HUGE skills. Newcomer Yang Fanyuwei is no exception. At the Antalya World Cup, Fanyuwei made headlines by performing a brand new skill, a Jaeger with a full twist in a lay out position. Since she was the first athlete to successfully perform the skill in international competition, it’s now named “The Fanyuwei.” Many fans may remember Olympic Champion Sunisa Lee training the same skill in 2024. However, Lee never successfully completed the skill in international competition, thus never getting it named after her. At her maximum level of difficulty, Fanyuwei can reach a difficulty score of 6.8! She has made herself an early contender for uneven bar champion at the World Championships this fall.

New Faces On the Rise 

With a new Olympic cycle, comes new American stars. Claire Pease and Jayla Hang were both in action at the Antalya World Cup. Hang took home gold on the vault, executing a powerful double-twisting Yurchenko. While vault was the only event she won a medal on, she qualified to all four event finals, and will be looking to build for later in the season. Pease DOMINATED the competition. She finished second on vault behind Hang. She also finished second bars with a 14.233 and a 6.2 D score. Pease originally missed out on qualifying to the beam final, but after a late withdrawal she was added and won gold! She finished her week winning silver on floor. On the men’s side, Taylor Burkhart won gold on floor. We cannot wait to see all of these amazing athletes at the Xfinity U.S. Championships in August!

DTB 

Team USA won team gold at the DTB Pokal Mixed Cup! The Team included Nola Matthews, Simone Rose, Ashlee Sullivan, Riley Loos, Kiran Mandava and Alex Nitache. Sullivan competed in the All-Around and posted a score of 54.550, which was an entire point higher than the score she posted in her Winter Cup win. She earned a 13.750 on floor, debuting a brand new double twisting-double back on floor! For more on Sullivan, check out our feature on her right here!

Stay tuned for more international competitions in April! And watch the upcoming women’s selection camp LIVE on Sunday!

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