What are the Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships?
The Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships are the senior continental championships of men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics in the Americas. The Pan American Gymnastics Union calls the event the “Campeonato Panamericano de Adultos Gimnasia Artística”, and the FIG’s event records call it the “Senior Pan American Championships”.[4][5]
The directives for the 2025 edition set three days of competition: a qualification day with the all-around awards, a day of apparatus finals and a day of team finals, for men and for women.[3] In 2024 and 2026 the senior championships were held together with the junior championships, in the same city and window.[2][1]
The union holds separate Pan American championships in the other FIG disciplines — rhythmic, trampoline, aerobic, acrobatic gymnastics and parkour — each with its own dates and host; its results archive lists them apart from artistic gymnastics.[2]
Who organizes the Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships?
The organiser is the Unión Panamericana de Gimnasia (UPAG), which uses the English name Pan American Gymnastics Union (PAGU), together with the host national federation. The directives for the 2025 edition issue the invitation from the Pan American Gymnastics Union “through the Gymnastics Federation of Panama” and describe the championship as an “official FIG and PAGU international event”.[3]
The FIG’s event records for the 2021 edition list the Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation (CBG) as local organiser, and classify the 2021 and 2022 editions as “Continental Championships (Group 2)”.[5][6] The rules are the FIG’s: the 2025 directives tie age eligibility to the 2025 FIG Technical Regulations and require every gymnast to hold an FIG licence.[3] UPAG publishes the directives for each edition; those for the 2026 junior and senior championships were issued in February 2026.[7]
When and where is it held?
The editions documented by UPAG and the FIG — 2021, 2022 and 2024 to 2026 — were held in May, June or July, three of them in Rio de Janeiro. The 2026 edition took place in Rio de Janeiro, in a junior and senior window of 13–22 June, and UPAG has published its results.[1][2] The 2025 senior edition was held at the Centro de Convenciones Atlapa in Panama City on 12–15 June 2025.[3] UPAG’s results archive lists the 2024 junior and senior championships in Santa Marta, Colombia, on 22–26 May 2024.[2]
The FIG’s records place the 2022 edition at Arena Carioca 1 of the Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro on 15–17 July 2022, and the 2021 edition at Arena Carioca on 4–6 June 2021.[6][5] No UPAG or FIG document for a 2023 senior edition could be retrieved. No edition after 2026 had been published on UPAG’s calendar on 4 October 2026.[1]
| Season | Pool / Format | Host cities |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | MAG + WAG; with junior championships | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 13–22 June 2026 |
| 2025 | MAG + WAG; team, all-around, apparatus | Panama City, Panama (Centro de Convenciones Atlapa), 12–15 June 2025 |
| 2024 | MAG + WAG; with junior championships | Santa Marta, Colombia, 22–26 May 2024 |
| 2022 | MAG + WAG | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Olympic Park, Arena Carioca 1), 15–17 July 2022 |
| 2021 | MAG + WAG | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Olympic Park, Arena Carioca), 4–6 June 2021 |
Senior editions 2021–2026 confirmed from UPAG and FIG documents, newest first; 2023 could not be confirmed from either. The format column gives the disciplines and whether juniors competed alongside.[2]
Since when do the Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships exist?
The year of the first Pan American artistic gymnastics championships could not be established from a source the union or the FIG publishes. The 2025 media book has no history section, and UPAG’s online results archive for artistic gymnastics begins with 2024.[4][2]
The founding of the union and the first edition of its championships are separate dates. The earliest edition retrieved from the FIG’s event records is the 2021 Senior Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro, which the FIG classes as a continental championship.[5] The 2026 edition was entered on UPAG’s calendar as the “Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Junior and Adult Championships”.[1]
How do athletes qualify?
There is no qualifying round: gymnasts are entered by their national federations. Under the 2025 directives, a federation could enter a team of three to five gymnasts per discipline, with at most one reserve, or one or two individual gymnasts.[3]
Every gymnast needed “a FIG license valid until the end of the event”, and age eligibility followed the 2025 FIG Technical Regulations, counted at 31 December 2025. Entries were made in three stages — provisional by 14 March, definitive by 14 April and nominative by 13 May 2025.[3] UPAG issues new directives for each edition.[7]
Why does it matter?
The measurable value is qualification for regional Games. The 2025 directives state that “This Championship will serve as qualifier event” for the “XXV Central American and Caribbean Games 2026”.[3]
Artistic gymnastics is on the programme of the Lima 2027 Pan American Games (23 July – 8 August 2027).[8] The Panam Sports qualification system for gymnastics at Lima 2027 and the FIG’s qualification system for Los Angeles 2028 could not be retrieved. Prize money was not published in the documents retrieved.
Who competes?
The field is drawn from UPAG’s member federations, with men’s and women’s teams and individual gymnasts. The 2025 senior edition in Panama City had 174 gymnasts — 95 men and 79 women — from 24 nations, according to the championship’s media book.[4]
Juniors compete in their own championships, which in 2024 and 2026 were held alongside the senior competition.[2][1] The number of nations at the 2026 edition was not given in the UPAG documents retrieved.
References
- Pan American Gymnastics Union — Calendar 2026. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Pan American Gymnastics Union — Results archive. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Pan American Gymnastics Union — Directives, 2025 Artistic Gymnastics Senior Pan American Championship, Panama City. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Pan American Gymnastics Union — Media book, Campeonato Panamericano de Adultos Gimnasia Artística 2025. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique — Event detail, 2021 Senior Pan American Championships, Rio de Janeiro. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique — Event detail, 2022 Senior Pan American Championships, Rio de Janeiro. Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Pan American Gymnastics Union — Documents (directives for the 2026 junior and senior artistic championships). Accessed 2026-10-04.
- Panam Sports — Lima 2027 Pan American Games. Accessed 2026-10-04.