Russian gymnasts are back at the World Championships » Angelina Melnikova, the first in individual all-around and vaulting in the competition in Jakarta

Gymnasts from Russia have returned to the World Championships after a four-year hiatus caused by the country's athletes being banned from competing following the war with Ukraine. Angelina Melnikova, Liudmila Roshchina, Anna Kalmykova and Leila Vasileva are the four Russians who entered the World Championships qualifiers in Jakarta under the neutral flag on Tuesday.

Angelina Melnikova, Olympic team champion in Tokyo, world gold medalist in individual compound in 2021 and four-time European champion, withdrew this year from the race for a seat in the Regional Parliament of Russia, from Voronezh, to continue her sports career. Had she been elected, her status as a neutral athlete would have been in jeopardy.

• To receive neutral status, athletes must not support Russia's war against Ukraine, nor must they have connections to the military environment in their country.

• The conflict, along with the behavior of athletes such as Ivan Kuliak, who wore a “Z” on his chest in support of the war while sharing the World Cup podium with a Ukrainian athlete, led the FIG to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competition starting in March 2022.

• In July 2023, the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions with neutral status, starting on January 1, 2024.

• However, Russia did not accept the terms. Therefore, the World Cup and European Championships competitions were held without the participation of Russia, and when the list of participants for Paris 2024 was finalized, no Russian representative was included.

Angelina Melnikova, registered with an army club in Russia, returned to international competition in September 2025 after a four-year break at the World Cup in Paris.

Now, in Jakarta, she ticked off her second international pageant. The Russian achieved the best individual composite score in the qualifications, 54.566, although she had misses on beam and floor. The 2021 all-around world champion beat Japan's Aiko Sugihara (54.099) and Algeria's Kaylia Nemour (53.865).

Angelina Melnikova: “I'm angry, but also happy”

Angelina Melnikova on the ground PHOTO Imago Images

“I'm a little upset about the mistake on the beam, I'm tired of falling all the time, and the way I performed on the floor. I dreamed and I really want to become world champion on the floor, but I'm not going to achieve it at this edition”, said the Russian woman in the mixed area.

Even if she did not catch the floor and beam finals, she will be present in the jumps, where she qualified with the best average, and in the parallel bars, where she qualified with the third grade.

“I'm happy with how my jumps and parallel bars turned out. I had some emotions, because I didn't do the second jump that I performed here in Tokyo. I realized, after participating in the World Cup in Paris, that if I want a medal I have to do this jump”, Angelina pointed out.

Angelina Melnikova at the jumps PHOTO Imago Images

She revealed that she has some medical issues. “My right knee hurts a lot, but the bandage I'm wearing helps me. It's harder on the landings, but now's not the time to think about it. After the World Championships I'll go to the doctor,” she emphasized.

Returning to the atmosphere of the World Championships, Angelina Melnikova also said: “I really like the people in Indonesia, they are very friendly. It's a bit humid and the magnesium doesn't sit properly because of the humidity, but I like it here.”

In addition to her, Liudmila Roshchina (individual compound), Anna Kalmykova (jumps) and Leila Vasileva (parallels) will also be present in the finals.

Gymnasts from Russia qualified for the finals

• Individual comput Angelina Melnikova, Lyudmila Roshchina

• Jumps: Angelina Melnikova, Anna Kalmykova

• Parallels: Angelina Melnikova, Leila Vasileva

Russian gymnasts, different perspectives

There were gymnasts from Russia who did not receive the status of a neutral athlete, such as the case of Viktoria Listunova, Melnikova's colleague in the Tokyo Olympic champion team.

She participated in pro-war rallies, which placed her at the top of a list published by Ukraine highlighting athletes from various sports who supported the war, leading to her application being rejected.

Other Russian gymnasts initially refused to apply for neutral athlete status, such as David Belyavskiy. “I decided that, as long as we do not perform under the Russian flag, I will not participate in international competitions. I will watch the Worlds in Jakarta, because our athletes will compete there, I will encourage them, I will worry about them, I want to see how they develop at the international level. It's an important step, both for them personally and for our team”, said the Olympic champion with the Tokyo team, according to TASS.

In the men's category, Russia has Daniel Marinov (individual compound, vault, fixed bar) and Mukhammadzhon Iakubov (vault) qualified for the finals.