CS Knowledge Base

The XIX World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Vienna, the capital of Austria, 20–24 September, 1995.^[1] There were 97 individual participants from 43 countries.^[2]

The event acted as the qualifying competition for the 1996 Summer Olympics, with 35 individual gymnasts and 7 groups qualifying based on the results of the first day of competition.^[2] As the host of the upcoming Olympics, the United States was given an automatic berth in the group competition and did not send one to compete.^[3]

A number of ties were awarded at the event, including for the all-around title, shared by defending World all-around champion Maria Petrova and Kateryna Serebrianska, the defending World champion in all four event titles. This was Petrova's third consecutive World title; she tied this record with Maria Gigova. Bronze medalist Larisa Lukyanenko tied the two gold medalists after the first two events, but following the last two, she dropped to win bronze along with Yana Batyrshina.^[3]

The number of gymnasts in groups was reduced after the previous year from six to five.^[3]

The following countries sent competitors: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Moldova, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.