GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It’s now a Gator quad at the 2023 FIG World Gymnastics Championships.
Freshman Anya Pilgrim of Germantown, Md., just arrived in Belgium Tuesday morning for the World Championships that begin Oct. 1 at the Antwerp Sportpaleis in Antwerp. Pilgrim is one of two competing for Barbados at this World Championships.
She is the fourth Gator in Belgium for the most important gymnastics competition of 2023.
Earlier this month, Skye Blakely and Leanne Wong were named to the five-member U.S. roster for the World Gymnastics Championships<https://x.com/USAGym/status/1704664339838292018?s=20>. Gator Kayla DiCello is the replacement athlete and is also in Belgium.
Quick Turnaround
Pilgrim’s opportunity came as a surprise. She got notice that she was one of two Barbados representative for the 2023 Worlds Saturday afternoon while she was preparing to head to The Swamp for the Florida-Charlotte football game.
“It was a complete surprise. I honestly forgot about how to qualify from Pan Am’s and placings since it was so far removed from that competition [Pan Am Championships<https://thegymter.net/2023/05/29/2023-pan-american-championships-results/>],” Pilgrim said. “I kind of forgot about it.”
After cheering the Gator football team to victory Saturday night, Sunday and Monday were devoted to packing and spending some time in the gym to run through her skills.
Pilgrim also notified her instructors that she’ll be in Belgium. In addition to training and competition in Belgium, she’ll also work in some study time as she’ll need to make up the Economics test she’ll miss this week.
“It still doesn’t feel real. It’s very sudden,” Pilgrim said Monday evening while waiting to board flight to Belgium. “But I’m really excited for the opportunity and very grateful as well.
Gators at World Championships
The 2024 Florida roster will have four who have competed at a World Championships. In addition to Pilgrim and Wong, Morgan Hurd (2017 & 2018) and Riley McCusker (2018) represented the U.S. in World Championships action. McCusker and Hurd won team gold in 2018. Hurd won the 2017 World Championships’ all-around title. DiCello, who announced following her 2023 freshman season that she would take a gap year to pursue a spot on the 2024 Olympic team<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/4/27/gymnastics-gators-freshman-dicello-announces-plan-to-train-for-us-olympic-team-042723.aspx>, joined Wong at the 2021 World Championships and won all-around bronze.
Blakely signed a national letter intent with Florida in November of 2022<https://x.com/skyeblakely_/status/1590477293239283713?s=20> and announced she’ll defer enrollment at UF until fall 2024 to pursue a berth on the 2024 U.S. Olympic team<https://www.instagram.com/p/CvQriUJJ3dl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==>. She joined Wong on the U.S. 2022 gold medal team at the World Championships.
World Championships’ schedule
Oct. 1-2 Women’s Team Qualifications.
U.S. competes Oct. 1 – 11:45 a.m. ET in Subdivision 2
Anya Pilgrim competes Oct. 2 – 10:15 a.m. in Subdivision 7
Oct. 4 Women’s Team Final – 1:30 p.m. ET
Oct. 6 Women’s All-Around Final – 1:30 p.m. ET
Oct. 7 Women’s Vault & Uneven Bars Final – 8 a.m. ET
Oct. 8 Women’s Balance Beam & Floor Exercise Final – 8 a.m. ET
The 2023 World Championships is a qualifying competition for the Olympic Games Paris 2023.<https://olympics.com/en/news/paris-2024-artistic-gymnastic-qualification-system-explained>
