After his Paris Olympics fame, Stephen Nedoroscik made a crucial choice to promote men’s gymnastics on national television. “I wanted to make that a point because the sport itself has been slowly dying… to make sure this sport not only is surviving but thriving,” the 25-year-old said, bringing the men’s gymnastics issue to the attention of a national audience.

While some have found Nedoroscik’s admission a bit over the top, the Olympic bronze medalist had every reason to make such a statement. As early as 2019, the FIG had announced that starting in 2025, all federations would have to reduce the delegation sizes for the World Championships. Hence, despite breaking a 16-year-old medal drought, Stephen Nedoroscik and his fellow gymnasts struggled to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“For 2025, all the federations are allowed to compete with a maximum of 3 male and 3 female gymnasts per NF but not more than 2 of these may compete on a single piece of apparatus,” said Art. 5.2.2 of the Technical Regulations for 2025 by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). However, years down the line, the FIG has shocked women’s and men’s gymnastics fans and athletes by walking back on its decision to limit the delegation size.

“In an online vote, the FIG Council has approved a proposal to increase the delegation size for the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships to four women and six men as in the previous cycle,” read the FIG’s most recent Official Communication. Fans welcomed the news with jubilation. “D**n, this is awesome! I didn’t expect the FIG to do anything about it. What a nice surprise!” one fan commented on Reddit.

Other gymnastics enthusiasts pressed similar enthusiasm. “Thank GOD that format was SO BAD,” commented another fan. It seemed the collective gymnastics community breathed a sigh of relief. Yet, why did fans dislike the now-canceled format change so much? Why did it influence gymnasts such as Nedoroscik and Frederick Richard to raise awareness?

How the proposed 2025 charges would’ve harmed both women’s and men’s gymnastics

Capping the women’s and men’s artistic gymnastics participant numbers from each delegation to just three had the potential to cause massive harm. Not only would those changes limit how many gymnasts each federation could send, but they’d also be in a dilemma picking out the best talents. In some cases, it would be impossible to cover enough ground with just six gymnasts in total.

This is why fans supported the FIG rolling back their judgment. “Thank goodness. A rare FIG win (though not really, because it should never have been changed),” commented one fan, albeit maintaining their skepticism. While men’s gymnastics would’ve suffered a bigger blow, WAG competitors, especially all-around competitors, would face huge hurdles.

With just two gymnasts per apparatus, federations would also have to prioritize between all-around and special gymnasts. Imagine if Stephen Nedoroscik couldn’t compete in the Olympics. Considering it was his pommel horse performance that earned Team USA their only individual men’s gymnastics medal, it would’ve been a massive blow.

This would’ve also hurt women’s all-around performances, as they have fewer apparatus than men at the World Championships. Yet, some curious fans were still going to see what would happen had FIG not changed their course. “Tbh, I was morbidly curious to see how feds would send and how smaller feds would approach this, but this is probably for the best, lol,” commented one fan.

Thankfully, most didn’t feel amused by the proposed changes. It could be possible that the FIG waited for public opinion and calls from athletes such as Stephen Nedoroscik to make the changes. However, the FIG didn’t clarify why they walked back their decision after five years of their official communication. Meanwhile, one fan also praised the 2025 World Championship host nation.

“I assume the hosts had to approve this change as well, so major props to Jakarta (Indonesia). A 67% increase in the number of athletes presents quite a few logistical challenges, and I’m very glad they were willing to take them on,” noted the gymnastics fan. However, once again, there is no clarity if the host nation was involved in the decision-making. Yet, what do you feel? Do you see the rule change as a positive change for women’s and men’s gymnastics? Tell us in the comments.