Competitors for the World Cup in Stuttgart, Germany have been confirmed by DTB Pokal this afternoon.

The EnBW DTB-Pokal Stuttgart meet is the first of three competitions in the FIG’s World Cup series. To compete in a World Cup series event, athletes who placed in the top eight at the previous World Championships were invited to compete; if an athlete turns down her spot, the 9th place athlete receives an invite, and so on. The host country also receives invites.

This year will feature incredibly strong competition from top all-around finalists at the 2014 World Championships held in Nanning, China. Though the Americans and Chinese turned down their spots, five of the eight best at Worlds are set to appear in Stuttgart.

2014 silver all-around medalist Larisa Iordache of Romania headlines the field alongside Ellie Black of Canada, Kim Bui of Germany, Vanessa Ferrari of Italy, Lisa Katharina Hill of Germany, Jessica Lopez of Venezuela, Aliya Mustafina of Russia, Anamaria Ocolisan of Romania, and Alla Sosnitskaya of Russia.

In addition to the all-around competition, Stuttgart will also host a team challenge. The following terms are currently set to compete, though expect to see some last-minute changes. Most exciting is the (potential) return of Russia’s Ksenia Afanasyeva; we should also see the debut of former Russian gymnast Kristina Pravdina with her newly-adopted nation, Azerbaijan.

*This is essentially another German team, featuring three gymnasts from the southwestern region of the country in addition to Ecker, the reigning Austrian champion.

Article by Lauren Hopkins