World Championship was held from 13th through 15th August, Riga, Latvia

From 13th through 15th of August Calisthenics World Championship was held in Riga, Latvia, Fantadroms conference & exhibition centre.

This was not just an annual World Championship, but also a 15 year’s anniversary celebration of the World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation (WSWCF).

This was the pinnacle of global calisthenics community.

We would like to recognize our golden sponsor – Florida’s Sports Coast, – a USA governmental agency from Pasco County, FL, who believed in us and their Deputy Director of Tourism Consuelo Sanchez, STS, CATP, who was present in the competition and spoke on the opening ceremony.

Thanks to our sponsor Kenguru Pro, who provided premium class calisthenics equipment for the competition. For more than 10 years we can already say that they are top of the game and that we have proudly licensed them as our official equipment partners.

As we continue, our sponsor Autobrava AUTOBRAVA Motors | Latvia provided us with our official World Championship car brand CUPRA which served excellently as our transfer and logistics partner.

One of the persons to open the competition was Mr. Vladimirs Steinbergs Vladimirs Steinbergs, President of the Latvian Sports Federations Council , who honored us all with his first ever presence in our competitions.

We would like to also say special thanks to the whole team of Fantadroms, including Ms. Dace Raudzepa for their undying presence and help to make this event unforgettable. They are part of calisthenics family now.

Competition gathered 214 athletes from 52 countries, including, Japan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, France, Germany, Latvia, Spain, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Canada and many more.

Late cancellation in April 2026 of the Calisthenics World Championship in Rome had a big impact to WSWCF and the global calisthenics community. Therefore, it was not easy to reorganize everything and transfer the event to Riga with such a short notice.

However, with the new team onboard since beginning of 2026 this was possible. Working day and night for 4 months together with Latvian Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation, governmental institutions, private sponsors and stakeholders, eventually WSWCF managed to deliver what is called the most successful calisthenics competition that has ever been there.

This year global calisthenics community received an excellent and state of digital production and event management service by aimstud.io and its CEO and Founder Alexander Ivashko, who orchestrated the whole event. Technology, media, production, livestream, music, sponsor recognition during the event, scoring, athlete management and fan engagement – it was a one-stop shop of WSWCF for anyone attending.

WSWCF truly wanted to deliver an event which would now establish a footprint for the global calisthenics community and beyond.

As the WSWCF is currently working towards Olympic recognition and inclusion of our sport in the Olympic programme, it was very important to engage different stakeholders from around the world in the preparations and exposure.

Competition itself was held in 3 days. 1st day was freestyle qualification. 2nd day was power&endurance qualification. 3rd day was the Grand Final in freestyle, power and endurance.

In total, 48 medals were awarded to winners and 3 absolute champion cups.

18 medals in freestyle and 1 male absolute champion.

17 medals in power and 1 male absolute champion.

13 medals in endurance and 1 male absolute champion.

Leading gold medalist country is France with 4 gold medals, followed by Sweden, United Kingdom and Egypt with 2 gold medals each. Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine, Israel, Armenia and Finland got 1 gold medal each.

In overall, France dominated the competition, winning 7 medals, followed by Egypt with 6 medals and Ukraine with 4 medals.

In female categories in total 39 female participants competed. As we are constantly growing the female sport, it is of high importance for the WSWCF to have female participants and include them in the competitive landscape of calisthenics, especially in power&endurance competitions.

Male absolute champions with additional absolute champion cup were Edgar Papoyan from Armenia in Freestyle, Dimitris Siderakis from Greece in Endurance and Stoyan Banov from Bulgaria in Power.

Female absolute cups were not presented as female categories are still growing in numbers and therefore there was no distribution in weight categories for female athletes.

WSWCF judging board consisted of 8 judges in Power&Endurance with Head judge from Jordan, field judges – 4 from France, 1 from Bulgaria, 1 from Jordan and 1 from Latvia. For Freestyle – Head judge from Hungary, field judges – 1 from each – Bulgaria, Germany, Slovakia and Latvia.

During the award ceremony Mr. Vadym Oliinyk was included in the WSWCF Hall of Fame and presented a special present from WSWCF.

This year’s calisthenics world championship was opened by the following persons:

1. Mr. Vladimirs Steinbergs, President and Chairman of the Latvian Sports Federations Council;
2. Ms. Consuelo Sanchez, STS, CATP, Deputy Director of Tourism of Florida’s Sports Coast;
3. Mr. Rolands Kikors, President and Chairman of the World Street Workout and Calisthenics Federation.

A 15 year’s anniversary short movie was also premiered during the event, whereas history of calisthenics world championships was shown since 2011 until 2026.

Here is what Rolands Kikors has to say regarding the competition: “We are very happy that we held this event in Latvia. For us this was a pilot project for the long-awaited new structure of the federation and event organizing. In 2025 it was the last year where the event was organized by the local organizing committee in Bulgaria, Sofia. Since this year the WSWCF shall work as a platform to provide its own even management team and know-how, including technologies, platforms, equipment, etc. Hence, we are no longer relying, nor we are establishing any authority to LOCs. We took a risk this year when cancelling Rome, but at the same time not only we cancelled Rome, but we completely cancelled LOC approach. With the new and extended team and service providers we are now ready to do events all around the world no matter the location. We more than grateful to our main event Production and Technical Lead Mr. Alexander Ivashko, who orchestrated the success of this event.”

Next Calisthenics World Championship will be held in Riga, Latvia, August 2026. Precise dates to be announced soon.