University of Florida junior Skye Blakely won the all-around gold medal Friday at the 2026 World Gymnastics Championships at Rotterdam Ahoy in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Florida Gators women’s gymnast finished with a winning total of 55.733. Blakely became the first gymnast to compete in NCAA gymnastics and win a world all-around title in the same calendar year.
Liudmila Roshchina of Russia won silver with 55.199, and Qinqin Ke of China took bronze with 55.032. United States gymnast Claire Pease finished seventh with 54.232. Blakely entered the final as the second-highest qualifier.
Blakely Builds Winning Total Across Four Events
Blakely opened the final with a 14.200 on vault, then scored 14.400 on uneven bars and 14.200 on balance beam. She finished with a 12.933 on floor exercise. Her four-event total secured the world all-around title.
The vault score ranked second among the finalists, while the uneven bars and balance beam scores each ranked third. The championship came in Blakely’s first World Championships all-around final. It also added an individual world title to her record of helping the United States win team gold in 2022 and 2023 and team silver in 2026.
Title Caps Blakely’s Comeback
Blakely’s all-around gold marked another milestone in her return from a right Achilles tendon injury suffered during podium training at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. The injury kept her from competing for a place on the United States team for the Paris Olympics. Blakely returned to competition as a Florida gymnast on Jan. 10, 2025, making her collegiate debut on uneven bars.
While competing for the Florida Gators, Blakely continued building toward an elite return. She earned silver on uneven bars at the August 2026 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships and secured her sixth consecutive U.S. senior national team berth. The 2026 World Championships are her fourth senior World Championships appearance.
Florida Connection to World All-Around History
Blakely and Florida graduate Leanne Wong are the only gymnasts to medal in the world all-around final during the same calendar year they competed in NCAA gymnastics. Wong won world all-around silver in 2025. Blakely is also the only member of the 2026 United States World Team identified as an NCAA and World Championships double.
Blakely is the only gymnast at the 2026 championships to qualify for the individual finals in the all-around, vault, uneven bars and balance beam. Her previous world team results include gold medals with the United States in 2022 and 2023 and silver in 2026. She also has qualified for the vault, uneven bars and balance beam finals at this year’s championships.
More Finals Scheduled
Blakely is scheduled to compete in the vault and uneven bars finals Saturday, Oct. 24. Those finals are set for 8 a.m. Eastern time and will stream on Peacock. She is scheduled to compete in the balance beam final Sunday, Oct. 25, at 8 a.m. Eastern time, with the floor exercise final also scheduled for that session.
NBC is scheduled to air a tape-delayed broadcast Sunday at noon. The remaining finals give Blakely three more opportunities to compete at the 2026 World Gymnastics Championships. Her all-around title is already the biggest individual result identified in the supplied record of her elite career.
FSB Take
Blakely’s world all-around gold gives the University of Florida a major international achievement from one of its current women’s gymnasts. The result also establishes a verified NCAA and world all-around milestone while following her return from a right Achilles tendon injury. Her remaining vault, uneven bars and balance beam finals will extend her 2026 World Championships competition.
Source: Original report