Illia Kovtun

This year’s world cup series continues with the third of four competitions in Baku this weekend, where several of the overall series leaders will hope to cement their spots in the standings.

The women’s field features many of the same athletes we’ve seen a few times this season, including top-ranked vault competitor Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan, who won a pair of bronze medals between Cottbus and Doha, and bars leader Anna Lashchevska of Ukraine, who has teammate Yelizaveta Hubareva right on her heels.

Others in Baku with success at the world cups this year are 2022 world medalist Coline Devillard of France, who took the vault title in Doha last weekend, Filipa Martins of Portugal, who won the bronze on beam in Cottbus, and Breanna Scott of Australia, who won bronze on floor in Doha. Japan has also been testing its depth this season, and has sent a fresh batch of competitors to Baku after winning a total of five medals from five different athletes at the first two meets. This time, we’ll see 2022 world championships competitor Sakaguchi Ayaka – a standout on vault, beam, and floor – alongside Mori Aoka, a top national competitor on bars who is returning to international competition for the first time since 2020. Italy is also back after skipping Doha, with world medalist and European champion Giorgia Villa leading two first-year seniors: Arianna Belardelli, the 2022 junior Mediterranean champion on vault and bars, and Viola Pierazzini, who won all-around, bars, and floor medals at Euros last summer.

The overall series pommel horse leader Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan and parallel bars/high bar leader Illia Kovtun of Ukraine headline the men’s field. Adem Asil, who currently leads on rings, is skipping this meet along with most of Turkey’s other top athletes so the program can spread the wealth among less experienced competitors, while Artem Dolgopyat, who currently leads on floor, suffered a partial ACL tear last weekend and will be scratching to focus on healing and preparing for Euros.

Finally, Artur Davtyan of Armenia – the 2022 world champion on vault who leads his event in the series rankings with a perfect score – will not attend, nor will any of his teammates, due to the ongoing border conflict between his country and Azerbaijan. The host country’s government currently bans Armenian nationals from entering, and while there have been exceptions for athletes in the past – including allowing Armenians to compete at the inaugural European Games in 2015 – the situation over the past few years has created a problem for Armenia’s gymnasts, causing them to miss out on qualifying events for the Olympic Games in 2021 and for world championships in 2022 as well as this year. It’s disappointing that a country that currently does not welcome a specific group of people to cross its borders can host one of the qualifying meets for the sport’s premier events, and I’m still holding out hope that this will change in the lead-up to Paris, especially as several Armenian athletes will hope to use the apparatus world cup route to qualify to the Games in 2024.

Among the top world cup circuit competitors this season expected to make appearances in Baku are Carlos Yulo of the Philippines, who won the bronze on p-bars in Cottbus before picking up the gold on floor, silver on p-bars, and bronze on rings in Doha; Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland, who won silver on pommels in Doha and is currently second in the overall rankings on that apparatus; Igor Radivilov of Ukraine, who won silver on vault in Doha; Matteo Levantesi of Italy, who won silver on p-bars in Cottbus; Tin Srbic of Croatia, who won silver on high bar in Doha; Shiao Yu-Jan of Taiwan, who won bronze on pommels in Doha; Nikita Simonov of Azerbaijan, who won bronze on rings in Doha; Shek Wai Hung of Hong Kong, who won bronze on vault in Cottbus; and Ahmed El Maraghy of Egypt, who won bronze on high bar in Doha.

The competition will begin with qualifications on March 9–10, while the finals will be held over the weekend. You should be able to stream all of the event – yes, including qualifications! – via Idman TV (check the listings on the website for local times each day), while Smart Scoring will bring us the live scores. A full list of all competitors who have registered is below.