Onofriychuk has advanced to three World Championships finals in rhythmic gymnastics
Ukrainian gymnast Taisiia Onofriichuk secured a spot in three finals following two days of qualifying at the 2026 World Championships. She will compete for medals in the individual all-around, as well as in the hoop and clubs events.
The qualifying rounds proved challenging for the Ukrainian athlete, but she successfully advanced and will continue competing in the tournament’s final stage.
A Tough Qualifying Round for Ukraine
The start of the World Championships went quite well for Taisiya Onofriychuk, as she began her performance with her signature hoop routine. Performing her familiar routine to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” she scored 28.65 points, including an outstanding artistic score of 8.2—one of the highest among all competitors. After two days of competition, the leader of Ukrainian rhythmic gymnastics placed seventh in the preliminary round and advanced to the top eight, who will compete for World Championship medals in the individual finals.
However, things began to get difficult for Onofriychuk from there on. Historically, her least consistent apparatus has been the ball, which she changed three times this season. And with her updated routine, she suffered a series of setbacks, dropping the ball and scoring a very low 25.8 points. This result knocked her out of the top ten after the first day and increased the pressure on the Ukrainian athlete.
But on the second day, she managed to start just as triumphantly as she had on the first. Her first routine on Thursday was the clubs routine set to “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now),” which Taisiia Onofriichuk performed brilliantly, avoiding any major mistakes. Although she was not awarded difficulty points on one element due to a lack of work with the clubs, this did not prevent her from scoring 28.25 points and placing eighth in this event. This secured her a spot in the World Championships final and gave her the chance to correct the mistakes she made in the qualifying round.
After such a confident performance, it seemed that Taisiya Onofriychuk would be able to secure another spot in the ribbon final. But the tricky apparatus (the ribbon is the easiest of the four implements, so it’s the easiest to make a mistake with) proved too much for the Ukrainian: her updated routine set to a variation on *Carmen* did not provide a successful end to the day. First, Onofriychuk made a mistake on one of the elements, and then she dropped the ribbon. As a result, she scored only 26.25 points, which will not allow her to defend her title as the World Championship bronze medalist in the ribbon event.
In the all-around standings, due to two failed routines, Onofrychuk finished in an unexpectedly low 12th place for her. She will compete in the all-around final, where the first three Olympic qualifying spots will be awarded to the tournament’s medalists, but with one major caveat: Onofriychuk will compete in the weaker group (qualifiers ranked 10th through 18th), so she will have to wait after her performance to see how her main competitors fare in their heats.
Another Ukrainian, Polina Karika, also competed in the qualifying round. She failed to qualify for either the top 18 in the all-around or the finals in the individual events. She came closest in the hoop and ball events (17th place), as well as in the all-around (23rd place).
2026 World Championship Finalists
All-Around: Daria Varfolomeev (Germany), Stiliana Nikolova (Bulgaria), Maria Borisova (-), Sofia Ilteryakova (-), Sofia Rafaelli (Italy), Megan Chu (USA), Alina Garnasko (-), Akmaral Yerekesheva (Kazakhstan), Zilu Wang (China), Ci Wang (China), Rin Kiz (USA), Taisiya Onofrychuk (Ukraine), Daniela Munitz (Israel), Meital Maayan Sumkin (Israel), Tara Dragash (Italy), Barbara Domingos (Brazil)
Hoop: Sofia Raffaelli (Italy), Stiliana Nikolova (Bulgaria), Daniela Munitz (Israel), Daria Varfolomeev (Germany), Takhmina Ikromova (Uzbekistan), Maria Borisova (-), Taisiya Onofriychuk (Ukraine), Megan Chu (USA)
Ball: Daria Varfolomeev (Germany), Sofia Rafaelli (Italy), Tara Dragash (Italy), Maria Borisova (-), Alina Garnasko (-), Zilu Wang (China), Sofia Ilteryakova (-), Vera Tugolukova (Cyprus)
Maces: Sofia Ilteryakova (-), Stiliana Nikolova (Bulgaria), Maria Borisova (-), Akmaral Yerekesheva (Kazakhstan), Ci Wang (China), Rin Kiz (USA), Taisiya Onofriychuk (Ukraine)
Ribbon: Daria Varfolomeev (Germany), Maria Borisova (-), Alina Garnasko (-), Akmaral Yerekesheva (Kazakhstan), Stiliana Nikolova (Bulgaria), Sofia Ilteryakova (-), Megan Chu (USA), Qi Wang (China)
Schedule of events featuring Taisiya Onofriychuk
July 14, 5:00 p.m. Individual All-Around. Final. First heat (qualifying positions 10–18)
July 16, 1:10 p.m. Individual finals. Hoop
July 16, 4:10 p.m. Individual finals. Clubs
This was reported by Suspilne Sport.
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