Of the gymnasts Russia sent to the world championships, four have obtained the travel documents needed to compete, while others — among them all-around title-holder Angelina Melnikova — are still waiting on their paperwork to come through.

Plans called for Russia's athletic delegations to depart over the weekend ahead of the world championships, an event scheduled to open on Saturday, Oct. 17, at venues in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

As of Monday, Oct. 12, TASS reported that three male gymnasts — Daniel Marinov, Arseniy Dukhno, and Sergei Naidin — had each obtained travel documentation, whereas among the women's squad only Alena Glotova had cleared that same step by the same date. Beyond Melnikova, TASS reported that three additional athletes — Tokyo gold medallist Viktoria Listunova, along with Anna Kalmykova and Lyudmila Roshchina, both members of the squad that claimed the European women's title in August — have yet to receive their visas. Visa applications for men's squad members Ilya Zaika and Saveliy Seydin, along with the alternate athletes from both squads, remain outstanding.

According to an anonymous source relayed through TASS, the visas are expected to be processed on either Tuesday, Oct. 13, or Wednesday, Oct. 14. Funded and operated by the Russian government, TASS functions as the country's principal official wire service.

Melnikova noted on her Telegram channel — alongside gym footage of herself — that the day's activity had amounted to nothing more than athletes heading out for training sessions.

At these gymnastics world championships, nations can begin securing places at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with the three highest-placed countries each earning a berth. Both the women's and men's squads are positioned as potential podium contenders at team level, with an official's statement expressing anticipation of positive results.

Requests for comment directed at World Gymnastics and the host organisers of the world championships had yet to receive a reply at the time of publication.

Prolonged visa complications for athletes from Russia have left their standing at the Games unresolved, a situation that persisted even after the International Olympic Committee moved in July to conditionally lift a suspension connected to the conflict in Ukraine — a decision one participant in the broader debate contended runs counter to the principle that sport and culture should remain separate from questions of accountability over the military campaign. Kaja Kallas, who holds the EU's foreign policy portfolio, announced Monday, Oct. 12, that her office and the Commission would develop proposals aimed at maintaining Russia's exclusion from international athletic competition.

Since 2022, Russian athletes have faced widespread exclusion from international competition, though governing bodies in a number of sports have permitted them to take part under a neutral, independent designation over the past two years. The world gymnastics championships is set to become the first notable international competition in more than four years to field a complete Russian team, following the IOC's decision to lift its ban and permit the country's athletes to compete without restrictions.

Fencing, modern pentathlon, and rhythmic gymnastics each welcomed full Russian contingents at their respective world championships that summer, yet those three disciplines draw considerably less public attention than artistic gymnastics does.

Neutral status for Russian competitors at the world championships remained in place — even after World Gymnastics lifted its ban in May — because the host nation, the Netherlands, maintained a position of solidarity with Ukraine. Under the designation "WG2," the team from Russia will compete without displaying its national flag, playing its anthem, or using its national colours.