Hezly Rivera and Frederick Richard, both carrying Olympic medals into the competition, are among the athletes named to American rosters for the 2026 World Gymnastics Championships, scheduled to take place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Among the dozen American athletes taking part in the Netherlands competition, one of the youngest has drawn a notable level of attention from observers. At 16, Charleigh Bullock is competing at the first-year senior elite level and has drawn notice from across the gymnastics community throughout the current season.
Raised in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Bullock works under Tatiana Perskaia at Capital Gymnastics — a coach who previously competed at the elite level for Ukraine before transitioning into training.
Five gold medals collected at the Junior Pan American Games and a bronze at the Junior World Championships all preceded this athlete's 16th birthday. Throughout 2025, her performances on the uneven bars — the apparatus where she has built her competitive reputation — produced a clean domestic record with no defeats.
At February's Winter Cup — her opening appearance on the senior elite circuit — Bullock took gold on the uneven bars and stepped onto the all-around podium with a silver medal. Two individual silver medals — one in the all-around competition, another on the uneven bars — came her way at Italy's City of Jesolo Trophy, where her contribution also formed part of Team USA's gold-medal effort.
Months after that, the Pan American Championships brought her a gold medal in the team event and a silver in the all-around. At her debut senior national championships, Bullock finished with bronze medals in both the all-around and on the uneven bars. Her performances extended to the balance beam and floor exercise, where she placed inside the top five in both events.
A roster spot on the senior U.S. National Team came through for Bullock, opening the door to a berth at the World Team Selection Event. Across every apparatus, the competitor recorded execution scores without fault, and that performance secured one of two automatic spots on the 2026 World team — a placement that came at the expense of two-time U.S. Champion Hezly Rivera.
Bullock's work across the season has carried a consistent, deliberate quality — distinct from the athleticism Rivera brings to the floor, the throwing power Esponda produces, or the technical complexity Pease handles. Securing the second automatic qualifying position ahead of Rivera left her visibly taken aback, and she described the moment as one she had not anticipated at all.
Speaking with a prominent news outlet that September, she described her reaction to the result as one of complete disbelief. At the U.S. national championships in August, Bullock noted that the outcome had taken her by surprise, while also expressing confidence that she had the ability to perform at that level.
Bullock and the rest of the Team USA roster are scheduled to open their Rotterdam campaign in the qualifying round on October 18. At 16, the athlete enters the competition with a chance to contribute to Team USA's pursuit of an eighth straight world team championship, while also standing as a plausible contender for an individual medal on the uneven bars.
