Pease and Esponda Go 1-2 on Floor to Cap World Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam

Claire Pease of the United States won gold on floor exercise on the last day of the 2026 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam on Sunday, scoring 13.866 as the eighth and final gymnast in the final. Reese Esponda, also American, took silver with 13.566, giving the Americans a 1-2 finish to close the women's competition. Maiana Prat of France took bronze with 13.466.

A 1-2 finish on floor

Pease was competing at her first World Championships, and she saved her best for the last routine of the final. Her 13.866 was the top score, ahead of her teammate.

Esponda, also 17 and also in her first worlds, had posted the best floor score in qualifying last week, and she turned that form into silver on Sunday. Prat finished third, a tenth behind Esponda.

"I really controlled my power and settled into the podium landings," Pease said, in comments reported by NBC Sports.

Esponda said: "I'm just really proud of my fight. I worked really hard. In team final, I didn't have my best routine, so I put my best foot forward, and I was trying to work on all my landings, and I think I did a lot better today."

A first in 15 years

Pease is the youngest American to win an individual world title since 2017, when Morgan Hurd won the all-around, and the first American to win individual gold in her first worlds since Hurd. She had already earned silver medals in the team event and on vault in Rotterdam.

Her win also completed a rare set. Three different Americans won individual world titles at these championships for the first time in 15 years, after Skye Blakely won the all-around on Friday and Frederick Richard won men's floor on Saturday. The last such year was 2011.

The United States medal count

The United States finished with the most total medals, eight, and tied for the most golds with China, with three. The U.S. women won seven medals, including Blakely's all-around gold, but their 15-year team winning streak was snapped, finishing second to China.

U.S. women's technical lead Chellsie Memmel said: "I feel like we've done a very good job. I really couldn't have asked for more from them. They went out and gave it their all every single time they were on the floor, and we've got quite a few medals that we're going home with."

The other finals on the last day

In the women's beam final the same day, Kaylia Nemour of Algeria won gold with 14.566. Nemour used an execution score of 8.266 to break a tie with Zhang Qingying of China, who also scored 14.566 and took silver. Flavia Saraiva of Brazil took bronze with 14.300, and Blakely was sixth with 13.633.

Blakely finished with four medals, gold in the all-around, silver in the team competition, and bronze on vault and on uneven bars. She led all women at the championships and was the only woman to qualify for four individual event finals. She is the fourth U.S. woman to win at least four medals at a single worlds, joining Simone Biles, Nastia Liukin and Rebecca Bross.

In the men's horizontal bar final, Tang Chia-hung of Taiwan won gold with 14.966, beating Shinnosuke Oka of Japan by 0.166, with Sergei Nadin taking bronze. There were no U.S. men in that final.