2025 CGA Jr. World Championships Recap
By Luke Wilcox
LINCOLN, Neb. The FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships took place between November 20–24 in Manila, Philippines this year, marking the third time this competition has been held, and first time since it was held in Antalya, Turkey in 2023. This competition featured two members of the class of 2029: Nathan Roman (University of Oklahoma, USA) and Ritam Malik (Penn State University, AUS) both incoming freshmen at their NCAA institution, and a member of the class of 2030: Dante Reive (USA), who had just signed his National Letter of Intent with the University of Oklahoma only a few days before he departed for Manila.
The competition started on Thursday November 20th with the Boy’s Individual Qualifications and Team Final. Both Roman (OU), Reive (OU), and the last member of team USA Danila Leykin, started the competition on Pommel Horse, while Malik (PSU) and the rest of team Australia started the competition on the Horizontal Bar. In an extremely competitive ‘three athletes compete and the top two scores count’ format, the margin for error was extremely thin. Roman had a very consistent day, landing scores high enough for team USA to count on all six of the events. Roman finished the qualifying day with a 13.500 on the Floor Exercise, and a 79.397 in the All Around, landing him 8th and 9th respectively and earning a spot in the finals for both events. Reive performed very well on the Floor Exercise, Still Rings, and Vault, earning the highest score of the day on Still Rings; 13.933 and qualifying into finals in 1st place. Malik led team Australia on both Vault and Parallel Bars scoring a team high of 13.100 and 12.933 respectively. Malik also contributed to Australia’s team score on the Floor Exercise and Pommel Horse during qualifying. Malik’s 12.933 on Parallel Bars included a very impressive 9.033 execution score and a stuck dismount marking his highest placement in the qualifying day in 19th place. Team USA finished this nail biting competition in a very respectable third place, earning the bronze medal finishing only 0.100 away from Japan (silver) and 0.766 away from China (gold).
During the All Around final on Saturday, Leykin started on the Floor Exercise while Roman began his competition on the Still Rings. Both athletes performed consistent routines showing great poise and focus throughout the competition. Roman had his lowest score of the day on Still Rings earning a 12.400 for his performance. His day was highlighted with a strong 13.600 on the Parallel Bars. Roman finished his competition off with an impressive 12.666 on the Pommel Horse, tailing his final All Around score to a 77.531 and placing 11th in the world. Leykin highlighted his performance with the highest Highbar score of the day (14.133) helping him earn a 4th place finish in the All Around.
Apparatus finals took place on both Sunday the 23rd and Monday the 24th for the men. On Sunday both Roman and Leykin took to the Floor Exercise. Roman competed an impressive 5.2 Difficulty routine, but unfortunately a few errors led to his lowest Floor score of the competition of a 12.733 earning a 7th place finish. On the other hand Reive took to the Still Rings with a target on his back as he was the highest qualifier in day one. Reive had the 4th highest difficult score out of all finalists with a 4.6 D-score. Reive executed his iron crosses and maltese holds with beautiful extension and open wrists showcasing his strength and style. His routine was capped off with an impressive double twisting double back tucked with a stuck landing earning a 13.866 and the gold medal for team USA! The competition was capped off on Monday with two more stellar performances from Leykin on the Parallel Bars and the Horizontal Bar earning a 13.600 (bronze) and a 14.233 (silver) respectively.