Watching gymnastics world championships? Here's how scoring, qualifying, finals work

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — The world gymnastics championships — heck, any major international gymnastics championships — ought to count as an endurance event.

Worlds begin Oct. 17 and run through Oct. 25 here in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. And that doesn’t count the three days when gymnasts get to work on the competition floor before the event begins. Here’s a refresher on how scoring in gymnastics work and how the worlds format works.

Every gymnastics routine gets two scores: One for difficulty, also known as the D score or start value, and one for execution, also known as the E score. Add the D and E scores together, and that’s your total for an apparatus. Expect to see scores range from the mid-13s to the 15s for the top competitors at worlds, and note that vault scores will always be higher because it’s a single skill.

Every gymnastics skill has a numerical value, and the D score is the sum total of the skills in a routine.

The execution score, or E score, reflects how well the skills were done. A gymnast starts with a 10.0, and deductions for flaws and form errors are taken from there.

Every gymnast goes through qualifying, regardless if they’re competing individually, as part of a team, doing every event or just one or two.

Countries in the team competition will put four of their five gymnasts up on each event in qualifying and can drop their lowest score. You’ll sometimes hear this referred to as “5-4-3.”

When qualifying is complete, the top eight teams advance to the finals. So, too, the top 24 all-around gymnasts, with a limit of two per country. The top eight gymnasts on each apparatus advance to the event finals, again with a two-per-country limit.

Scoring starts over for all of the finals.

There’s also a change in how scoring is done for the team final. Countries put up three gymnasts on each event, and all three scores count. You’ll hear this referred to as three-up, three-count. If you have to count a fall, your chances of winning get slimmer. If you have to count two or three, you can probably forget about the podium.

There’s an added bonus for the medalists in the team competition at these world championships: The top three all qualify for LA28. The remaining nine teams in the Olympic field will have to wait to qualify until next year’s world championships.

• Oct. 17: Men’s qualification

• Oct. 18: Men’s and women’s qualification

• Oct. 19: Women’s qualification

• Oct. 20: Men’s team final (1:30-4:30 p.m.)

• Oct. 21: Women’s team final (1:30-4 p.m.)

• Oct. 22: Men’s all-around final (1:30-4 p.m.)

• Oct. 23: Women’s all-around final (1:30-4 p.m.)

• Oct. 24: Event finals (8 a.m.-noon)

• Oct. 25: Event finals (9 a.m.-1 p.m.)

Oct. 18: Men’s and women’s qualification

Oct. 20: Men’s team final (1:30-4:30 p.m.)

Oct. 21: Women’s team final (1:30-4 p.m.)

Oct. 22: Men’s all-around final (1:30-4 p.m.)

Oct. 23: Women’s all-around final (1:30-4 p.m.)

Oct. 24: Event finals (8 a.m.-noon)

Oct. 25: Event finals (9 a.m.-1 p.m.)

EuroVision Sport is live streaming qualification. Peacock picks up live streaming Oct. 20-25 for the finals.