The 2015 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships were held in Stuttgart, Germany, in September 2015. They were also the first Olympic qualification event for Rio.
Individual events
Russian gymnasts took gold and silver in every individual event, and their combined scores won the team title. Yana Kudryavtseva won her third consecutive all-around title, the youngest gymnast to do so. She was nursing a leg injury and withdrew from hoop qualification, which made the race for the two Russian all-around places more open. In the end she and Margarita Mamun qualified ahead of the younger Aleksandra Soldatova, who still topped hoop qualification.
In the finals Kudryavtseva won every title she contested, and Mamun won hoop. Soldatova took silver medals.
Groups
Italy’s group won a group final, the only gold that did not go to Russia, which is why the championships were remembered as almost, but not quite, a Russian sweep.
Why it matters
Stuttgart set the order for the Olympic year: Kudryavtseva and Mamun as the favourites, with Russia’s depth behind them.
