World Artistic Gymnastics Championships Liverpool 2022 took place between 29th October – 6th November at the M&S Bank Arena, with athletes from 70 countries competing for 14 world titles. The event was run by Liverpool City Council acting as the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in conjunction with British Gymnastics and supported by UK Sport.

At the closing of the event the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President, Morinari Watanabe hailed the Championships a great success by declaring;

“The organising committee has created a wonderful stage and a wonderful World. As you know, the Beatles created a new music scene. Liverpool World Championships turned gymnastics from sports to entertainment this time. It is the start of the new gymnastics scene.”

With a theme of 'Welcome to Our World' the Championships did just that with packed-out, international crowds and in a first for a World Championships, a dedicated fan zone welcomed more than 18,500 visits from ticketed and non-ticket holders. The fan zone is now hailed by the FIG as a key legacy for future events. In addition, British Sign Language Interpreters provided non-stop sign language interpretation throughout the competition, whilst sensory rooms and accessible shuttles were provided.

Another first saw the delivery of the 'Safe Sport Symposium' which looked at the worldwide approach to safeguarding and athlete welfare in gymnastics, another innovation that will now be an integral part of future World Championships.

On the Field of Play Great Britain surpassed their best-ever World’s medal haul, with an incredible six medals and saw both the men’s and women’s teams achieve automatic qualification to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the only nation to do so. The event received more than 753 hours of broadcast coverage, across 29 countries.

Ensuring engagement across Liverpool’s communities was a priority for the event, with 47 schools accessing coached taster sessions prior to WGC2022, increasing to 67 schools by the end of 2024. This resulted in a total of 13,000 gymnastics experiences before the event again expected to increase to more than 16,000. In addition, 38 schools and 13 community groups attended the event as spectators, many allocated complimentary tickets.

It wasn’t only young people involved. The event also trained 11 people to be 'Love to Move' instructors, with funding for a further 12 ringfenced for 2023/24 to support care home programmes and weekly community sessions across Liverpool. In addition to this, more than 30 community volunteers have accessed funds, to attend nationally accredited coach and personal development workshops, with additional funding to support 4 clubs across the city for this to continue.

The Championships won 'Best Sports Promoter' at the Event Production Awards; Highly Commended in the 'Best Visitor Experience' category and shortlisted in the 'Diversity and Inclusion' category at the Access All Areas Awards; shortlisted in the International Sports Technology Awards for 'Event of the Year' and won Silver at the international Eventex Awards in the 'Best Sports Event' category.