Utah Commit Claire Pease Wins the World Floor Title in Rotterdam, Her Third Medal at Her First Worlds

Claire Pease, a 17-year-old from Sunnyvale, Texas, who has committed to Utah gymnastics, won the women's floor exercise final at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam on Oct. 25, 2026. Competing eighth and last, she scored 13.866, ahead of U.S. teammate Reese Esponda (13.566) and France's Maiana Prat (13.466). It was her third medal at her first World Championships, after silver with the U.S. team on Wednesday and silver on vault on Saturday.

The floor final

Pease's routine carried a 6.100 difficulty score and a 7.866 execution score, with a 0.10 deduction, according to the official results. Esponda's difficulty was 6.000. Prat took bronze ahead of Great Britain's Abigail Martin, who finished on the same 13.466, and Canada's Lia Grace Redick was fifth with 13.300.

"I really controlled my power and settled into the podium landings," Pease said, according to NBC Sports.

NBC Sports reported that she is the youngest American to win an individual world title since Morgan Hurd won the all-around in 2017, and the first American to win individual gold at her first worlds since Hurd.

Inside Gymnastics pointed out another first: Pease is the first U.S. woman other than Simone Biles to win the world floor title since Shawn Johnson in 2007. The list of world floor champions bears it out. Biles won the event six times between 2013 and 2023, and no other American had won it since Johnson in Stuttgart.

Across the week she scored 13.333 on floor in qualifying, 13.933 in the team final, 13.733 in the all-around final and 13.866 in the final.

Silver on vault

The day before, Pease finished second in the vault final with a 14.233 average. Her first vault scored 14.366 from a 5.600 difficulty. Her second scored 13.700 after a 0.30 penalty. The Rotterdam 2026 organizers' report said she "landed a Cheng, the hardest vault in the final, but was crooked on the takeoff of her double-twisting Yurchenko" and took the penalty for landing out of bounds.

Brazil's Rebeca Andrade won her third world vault title with 14.466, 0.233 ahead of Pease. Skye Blakely, who won the all-around title on Friday, took bronze with 14.166.

Team silver and an Olympic berth

Pease competed on all four apparatus in the team final on Oct. 21. She scored 13.600 on beam and 13.933 on floor, the highest floor score of the final in the official results; USA Gymnastics called it the highest score on the apparatus to that point of the championships. The United States finished second with 165.531, behind China's 165.764 and ahead of Japan's 164.063. USA Gymnastics said the top three teams each earned a team spot at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Two days later she placed seventh in the all-around final with 54.232: 14.133 on vault, 13.833 on bars, 12.533 on beam and 13.733 on floor. USA Gymnastics noted her floor score was the best of the night. Blakely won the title with 55.733.

Pease had qualified for that final in seventh with 54.432, competing in the first subdivision on Oct. 18. "Competing in my first world championships, I was a little bit nervous," she told International Gymnast Magazine that day. "But I really just tried to take in the moment, enjoy my time with the team and think of it as another meet." She added: "I'm taking it one day, one step, one turn at a time, and staying present in the moment."

The road to Rotterdam

Inside Gymnastics reported that an injury kept Pease from trying for a spot on the 2025 world team, and NBC Sports noted she placed 10th at the 2025 U.S. Championships.

In June 2026 she won the Pan American Championships all-around title in Rio de Janeiro with 54.498, posting the highest scores of the day on vault (14.166) and beam (13.533), according to USA Gymnastics. In August she finished second in the all-around at the U.S. Championships behind Hezly Rivera, and her USA Gymnastics profile lists her as the 2026 U.S. uneven bars champion with silver on vault and beam.

The first two places on the world team went to the gymnasts with the highest combined all-around scores from the U.S. Championships, weighted at 40%, and a selection competition in Crossville, Tennessee, weighted at 60%. Pease posted the top all-around score at the selection competition, 56.700 on the first day, including 14.350 on bars, and she and Charleigh Bullock took the two automatic spots.

Who she is

Pease was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and lives in Sunnyvale, Texas, according to her USA Gymnastics profile. She trains outside Dallas at WOGA. The profile lists her goals as making the U.S. National Team, competing at the Olympics and earning a Division I college scholarship. It names balance beam as her favorite event; when College Gym News asked her to pick one in December 2025, she answered bars.

Her Utah commitment

College Gym Fans reported on Nov. 30, 2025, that Pease had committed to Utah after also visiting LSU, Oklahoma and Florida. It said she is in the Class of 2027 but "likely is deferring until the 2028-2029 season." The roster Inside Gymnastics published for the selection camp lists her NCAA commitment as Utah.

Pease explained the choice to College Gym News: when she visited Utah, she said, "I just felt a different connection not only to the team and coaching staff, but to what the Salt Lake City community had to offer." She added that "I felt I could grow not only as a gymnast here, but I could grow at becoming a better human."

The program she has chosen won back-to-back Big 12 titles in 2026 and finished .125 short of nationals in the Corvallis Regional Final. The Utah gymnastics 2027 program guide has the full season, the Utah gymnastics team page carries the official roster and schedule, and the Utah college gymnastics guide covers all four of the state's programs.

Key facts:

• Gymnast: Claire Pease, 17, of Sunnyvale, Texas; born in Honolulu; trains at WOGA under Valeri Liukin and Anna Liukin
• College: committed to Utah, reported Nov. 30, 2025; Class of 2027, likely deferring to the 2028-29 season per College Gym Fans
• Floor final, Oct. 25, 2026: gold, 13.866; Reese Esponda (USA) 13.566, Maiana Prat (FRA) 13.466
• History: first U.S. woman other than Simone Biles to win world floor gold since Shawn Johnson in 2007
• Vault final, Oct. 24: silver, 14.233 average; Rebeca Andrade (BRA) 14.466, Skye Blakely (USA) 14.166
• Team final, Oct. 21: silver with the U.S., 165.531; her 13.933 on floor was the top floor score of the final
• All-around final, Oct. 23: seventh, 54.232
• Earlier in 2026: Pan American all-around champion (54.498), U.S. uneven bars champion, U.S. all-around runner-up, top all-around score at the world team selection competition (56.700)