The podium training in Jakarta aimed to provide a smooth final tune-up before the world’s best gymnasts hit the stage. Instead, it has become a talking point of its own. From unexpectedly rigid vaults and floors to depth-distorting white mats, equipment issues have disrupted routines and sparked safety concerns. And as competition looms, athletes are already voicing their frustrations.

On October 20, Planet of Gymnastics shared an Instagram update about the podium practice troubles that the gymnasts are currently facing in Jakarta. The caption of the post read, “It’s being reported that many gymnasts (men and women) were struggling with the equipment in Jakarta at podium training, particularly on vault and floor. Floor and vault are hard, as in more rigid, less give/bounce.” 

The equipment is reportedly absorbing more force than it returns. That’s the opposite of what gymnasts train for. Less bounce increases the risk of injuries as it sends more shock back to the athletes’ joints, especially the knees, ankles, and lower back. This risk spikes during high-impact skills like double layouts or Yurchenko vaults, where gymnasts land from several meters in the air. And this also means that the athletes won’t be able to execute their optimal performance since the hardness would interfere with their airtime. But it’s not just the hard floors that troubled the athletes. 

The organizers used a white-topped floor in the Indonesian Arena, and the color contrast visibly bothered spotting and landings. Of course, this wasn’t the first time athletes had to face such issues at the International tournament. Take the Montreal Worlds 2017, for example. There were complaints about poor lighting in the arena, and the event witnessed four athletes getting injured – Kohei Uchimura, Ragan Smith, Larisa Iordache, and Vanessa Ferrari.

This time, even the American stars, Brody Malone and Joscelyn Roberson, stood against the equipment in Jakarta. 

Brody Malone and Joscelyn Roberson open up about their troubles at Jakarta Gymnastics 2025

GymCastic had a brief interview with Malone following his podium practice. And the one question they asked was about the white mats. And Malone was absolutely not a big fan of that. He said, “It’s really hard to spot the ground. I mean, when I was doing my high bar dismounts, I mean, I’m breaking out looking for the ground. I’m like, ‘Wow, where is it?’ And then it’s like, ‘Oh, there!’” Nevertheless, Malone was confident that he’d get over it in time with a bit more practice. He continued, “It’s just a lot different than spotting for something that I can actually see.” 

Even Joscelyn Roberson had her complaints. The one who won a silver medal at the 2023 Pan American Championships in vault claimed, “Vault has just been a learning curve since I’ve gotten here. I felt very confident in my vaults coming into Worlds, but they’ve just been a little different, so trying to work that out and try to get those back to normal.” But as far as the floors were concerned, Roberson was beaming with confidence, even though her sore ankles affected it a bit. She claimed that her floor practice sessions looked pretty strong. 

However, the podium practice will not directly correlate with the actual performance. Podium practice builds confidence rather than testing resilience. Yet in Jakarta, gymnasts are facing a challenge before the real competition even begins. It remains to be seen whether these equipment issues will fade into the background or decisively shape the competition.