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Russian Championships concluded this week (results). In the same week, the IOC provisionally lifted Russia’s suspension, meaning athletes from Russia will likely compete at LA 2028.
It was fitting, then, that these champs featured excellent performances from Anna Kalmykova and Lyudmila Roshchina, who must be ready to explode waiting to compete on the international stage.
Both have been kind of on the DL this quad, mostly because in the three years they’ve been active seniors, Russia has largely stayed home. And while both did well domestically and competed at worlds last year, they underperformed there, only making one final.
This year, each of them broke out of that shell, winning titles at two world cups. And here, Kalmykova did what we knew she’s capable of, scoring a 54.765 all-around in qualifications and winning the all-around with a 54.299. She took second in the bars final with a 14.300, won beam with a 13.666, and won silver on floor with a 13.433.
Roshchina finished second to Kalmykova with a 53.566. She also won vault silver with a 13.483, the bars title with a 14.633, beam silver with a 13.266, and floor gold with a 13.466.
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Both made the team for next month’s European Championships, along with Angelina Melnikova (who sat out with an injury), and Viktoria Listunova. Listunova faltered in the bars final, scoring a 13.566. She likely made this team based on her qualifications score, a massive 14.800.
Kalmykova and Roshchina pack a one-two punch as two all-arounders with event finals potential, so it will be great to see them on the international stage fully for the first time.
But there are gaps in Russia’s team. Based on these results, the team is strong on bars but lacks depth on beam and floor. The top beam routine at this competition came from Kalmykova, whose routine was hit, but was pretty timid:
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It’s telling, I think, that Russia has yet to name the fifth team member, as only a handful of senior athletes reached a 13 on any given event at nationals. The best option is likely Elizaveta Us, the next strongest athlete in a 5-3-3 situation.
Plus, Melnikova’s status is unclear — she said in an Instagram post that a leg injury flared up and that she’s sitting out to prioritize Euros. If she’s at full strength, Russia will rely on her to bring in solid scores.
Overall, this did not look like a national championships from one of the best nations in the sport. But who knows, maybe they’ll surprise me at Euros.
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The U.S. Classic will take place July 18, and the roster has been released. Big names include Skye Blakely, Charleigh Bullock, Jade Carey, Dulcy Caylor, Katelyn Ohashi, and Leanne Wong. Athletes need to earn a 52.500 in the all-around, a 39.600 on three apparatuses or a 26.800 on two apparatuses to qualify for nationals. More on this next week.
We have some Commonwealth Games rosters, too (h/t Reddit fam). The Comms will take place July 23–Aug. 2 in Glasgow, Scotland.
A few squads have been named for Euros (Aug 13–16), including Great Britain and France.
Speaking of the Brits, the Gadirova twins posted an update two months after their gym burned down. The gym is still rubble, and their commute to their new gym sounds hellish. They’re getting less training time, too.
Last thing from the UK — Gymcastic interviewed Becky Downie.
Laurie Hernandez, meanwhile, is thriving in her new career as a Broadway star.
Simone Biles was at Taylor Swift’s wedding, and she looked amazing:
Five at the IX: Katelyn Ohashi speaks ahead of U.S. Classic
Katelyn Ohashi chatted with the media about her comeback in advance of next week’s U.S. Classic. Here’s an excerpt from that conversation. Lightly edited for clarity and length.
Q. I think we’d all love to hear about your personal journey as you decided to return to elite gymnastics here in 2026.
I think the biggest thing for me was definitely making the move back home to Washington. It wasn’t too hard of a decision to make. I moved in January. I had been planning this in my head for a year anyways.
Gymnastics is just its own breed. As much as you try to be physically ready for the sport, there’s definitely some setbacks here and there. But I feel really mentally strong and physically getting there.
Q. American Classic was your first competition back. Tell us a little bit what that experience was like, how you felt about it, anything you learned from it.
It was definitely a very good baseline. So much has changed in elite gymnastics in the past 13 years, and even gymnastics in general. So it was a really good baseline to see where I was scoring-wise and what I need to get to qualify.
Also, just being there was so funny walking in, seeing the same judges that judged me 13 years ago. I thought it was hilarious. I was having a blast saying hi to everybody and some of the coaches that I’ve known previously, too. And then there are just a lot of new faces in the gymnastics world.
Jade is one of my really good friends. And we walk in and I’m like, this is so funny. She’s like, nothing about this is funny. And then I’m sitting there waving to everyone. I’m like, hi, hi, hi. She looks at me. She’s like, what are you doing? I don’t know.
I’m so new to the gymnastics world again. It’s funny. I just get to have fun.
Q. It’s so great just to see how you light up when you talk about that. How do you carry that into your performance now as an elite?
I think I learned a lot in college that I’m super grateful for, to be able to carry back into the elite world and just also really understand how different my journey is and has been. I don’t feel like it’s an end-all, be-all in this journey that I’m pursuing back in the elite world. I want to have fun with it; I want to see how far I can go with it and how far I can push myself. And so at the end of the day, I’m happy with where I’m at.
I guess, like Serena has said, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Although I’ve always said I’m not sure how much there is to gain either for me. I feel like I’ve had so much success in my career. And I think having fun and joy in it is just really the icing on top.
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Q. Is there anything specific that you’re looking to get out of U.S. Classic? Or is it just to continue on that journey?
Obviously, qualifying for championships would be the ultimate goal. And then seeing where we go from there. But at the end of the day, I think getting out there this year was really important to me. And I’ve done what I feel like I need to.
But feeling stronger on floor is definitely one of my goals, just so I can perform what I want to. And then trying some upgrades, shooting for next week. A three-week turnaround is honestly way shorter than you would imagine.
Q. Is there a specific time or moment or conversation that really sparked this comeback where you were just like, I’m like ready to go back?
It’s something I’ve been playing with for years now. I feel like I haven’t fully left the sport and just completely walked away from it. So it’s something that I had thought about and kind of dabbled with years ago and then just decided if I want to be serious about it, I feel like this is probably the last few years for my body just to be able to hold up. And so that was kind of riding on it.
I think LA28 is a beautiful thing to think about, with it being on home soil. I’ve lived in LA for the past 10 years, which is also really cool.
And I feel like the code of points has also been shifting more in the direction that my gymnastics favors. It’s kind of a melting pot of reasons.
Q. What were you missing, whether it was about gymnastics or competition? What was still left for you?
I have not been able to replicate the feeling of the joy, sensations, adrenaline that competing brings. I think the closest thing that I’ve ever gotten to was maybe a commercial I filmed where you kind of feel that. And I think I was craving that a little bit. Gymnastics obviously is very comfortable for me and easy to fall back onto.
It’s been challenging to fall back on a routine. I remember the first month, the first couple of weeks, I’m like, oh, I feel really good. I feel really strong. And then by week four, you’re like, okay I’m really, really tired. Am I sure about this? Having something to push through and giving myself discipline and a challenge is exciting.
Q. How are you feeling now going into a big arena environment?
I think it’ll definitely be a little bit more nerve wracking than I have just previously experienced. But I thrive in those types of settings where there is a big arena and more of an audience. So I’m actually super excited to be back in that environment. We’ll see how it goes. But yeah, I’m just going to have fun with it.
Q. Can you speak to LA and how UCLA has affected your gymnastics journey? And also, we’re seeing gymnasts stay in the sport longer and longer. Can you speak to that?
UCLA obviously has been a huge part of my journey. I think it was part of the reason why, or it’s probably the main reason why, I’m able to come back and still love gymnastics the way I do. So shout out to UCLA.
I think it would have been a different journey for me if I had gone anywhere else. Miss Val obviously was a big reason why UCLA was the way it was for me. And just to be able to compete there potentially in a few years is exciting to me.
In terms of seeing older gymnasts, last quad was probably the oldest quad we’ve ever seen for USA. It was exciting for me to know that 16 isn’t the deadline, which was something that I was always told. And if I was going to actually make an Olympic team, I would have been 19, which my body felt kind of already destroyed at that point. I felt like I was done when I was 16 and here I am at 29, still going. So there isn’t really a ceiling in age.
I think gymnastics training has gotten a lot smarter and I’m so thankful to be where I’m at where I have a lot of communication with my coaches, and I think we’re learning together how to go forward in this elite journey because college is obviously a lot different where I didn’t have to train so much. I’m ramping up in more training and trying to relearn skills. I have to get those numbers back in, but also trying to be as smart as I can be.
Q. Do you plan on adding any more events or do you just plan on sticking to beam and floor for now?
Right now, beam and floor. And then hopefully the plan is, when this season finishes, probably to buy a pair of grips and start swinging a bit and seeing how the body holds up. But I think for me, the most serious that I’m on is beam and floor. I want my body to be able to hold up for those events. And we’ll see how the other two hold up. If it’s not in the cards for me, we’ll see.
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