The world’s best gymnasts gather in Jakarta for the 2025 World Championships

This children’s article, The world’s best gymnasts gather in Jakarta for the 2025 World Championships, has been written for native English speakers and learners of English as a second or foreign language. It can help children build vocabulary, learn about the history and excitement of gymnastics, and discover how this amazing sport has developed over time. Written by Mark Pulley, a teacher and writer who creates fun and informative news articles for English learners.

The biggest gymnastics event of the year

The world’s best gymnasts have arrived in Jakarta, Indonesia for the 53rd World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, taking place from the 19th to the 25th of October. This huge competition features over 430 athletes from 75 countries, all performing flips, twists, and tumbles in the hope of winning gold.

This year is special because it’s the first time that the championships have been held in South-East Asia. Fans across Indonesia are thrilled to welcome the world’s top athletes, and organisers hope the event will inspire more young people to try gymnastics themselves.

A sport with ancient roots

Gymnastics might look modern, but its roots stretch all the way back to ancient Greece. The word “gymnastics” comes from the Greek word gymnazein, meaning “to exercise”. The philosopher Plato believed that gymnastics helped people train both their bodies and their minds.

The sport began to take shape in the 1800s thanks to Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, a German teacher who invented equipment like the parallel bars and horizontal bar. His ideas spread around the world and helped shape the sport we now see at the Olympic Games.

Gymnastics became part of the modern Olympics in 1896, with women joining the programme in 1952. Over the years, gymnasts such as Nadia Comaneci, who scored the first ever “perfect 10” in 1976, have made history and inspired millions.

What are the main gymnastics events?

Gymnastics is divided into different types, but the most famous is artistic gymnastics — the kind you see at the Olympics and World Championships.

Women compete in four events:

• Vault
• Uneven bars
• Beam
• Floor exercise

Men compete in six events:

• Floor
• Pommel horse
• Rings
• Vault
• Parallel bars
• Horizontal bar

Each routine is judged for both difficulty and execution, meaning athletes must be strong, flexible, and incredibly precise.

The spirit of the sport

Gymnastics is about more than medals. It’s a sport that builds discipline, focus, and creativity. The theme for this year’s championships is “Move to Inspire”, which reminds everyone, from professionals to beginners, that movement can bring people together.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), founded in 1881, runs the event and hopes to make gymnastics more popular around the world. With every leap, spin, and landing, these gymnasts prove just how powerful the human body can be!

Article vocabulary list

• Gymnastics – a sport that involves exercises showing strength, balance, and flexibility
• Championships – a major competition to find the best in a sport
• Apparatus – the equipment used in gymnastics, like bars, beams, and rings
• Execution – how well a gymnast performs their routine
• Philosopher – a person who studies ideas about knowledge, truth, and life
• Inspire – to make someone want to do or create something
• Routine – a set of moves performed in a specific order
• Discipline – the ability to control yourself and stay focused
• Contender – someone who has a good chance of winning
• Precision – being exact or very accurate

Comprehension questions

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