Best male gymnasts of the 21st century
The list of the best gymnasts since 1948 has recently been updated. Now it’s time to focus on a more recent era: men’s artistic gymnastics has changed a lot for the past 25 years: change of the scoring system in 2006, the growing number of countries winning medals and a MAG Code of Points, which places greater emphasis on difficulty and execution.
The 50 best male gymnasts of the 21st century, ranked according to their medal counts at the Olympic Games and World Championships since 2000, are highlighted herein. Among the 261 gymnasts who have attained a minimum of one medal, which ones are in the top 50?
How the best male gymnasts of the 21st century were selected …
WHEN?
Since 2000: 7 Olympic Games and 18 World Championships
WHO?
Based on the 261 gymnasts who have won a medal at the Olympics and/or at World Championships since 2000 in Teams, All Around and Event finals
HOW?
Not all medals hold the same value; hence, a points-based bonus system has been established:
1/ Olympic medal bonus: +2 points
2/ All Around medal bonus: +2 points
3/ Individual apparatus medal bonus: +1 point
Consequently, a silver medal obtained on the Pommel Horse at the World Championships is valued at 2+1=3 points. A gold medal in the All Around at the Olympics is valued at 3+2+2=7 points.
Rankings of the 50 best male gymnasts of the 21st century
Technically, the 21st century started on the 1st of January 2001 but the 2000 Olympics have been included.
Medals count of gymnasts who started their career before 2000 includes only the medals won since the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
| RANK | GYMNAST | NOC | YEARS | OG MEDALS | WC MEDALS | TOTAL POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kohei Uchimura | JPN | 2007-2021 | 7 | 21 | 107 |
| 2 | Yang Wei | CHN | 1999-2008 | 5 | 10 | 57 |
| 3 | Max Whitlock | GBR | 2010- | 6 | 8 | 57 |
| 4 | Zou Kai | CHN | 2006-2014 | 6 | 7 | 55 |
| 4 | Daiki Hashimoto | JPN | 2019- | 4 | 10 | 55 |
| 6 | Jordan Jovchev | BUL | 1992-2013 | 4 | 10 | 50 |
| 6 | Marian Dragulescu | ROM | 1999-2021 | 3 | 10 | 50 |
| 8 | Chen Yibing | CHN | 2005-2012 | 4 | 8 | 49 |
| 9 | Li Xiaopeng | CHN | 1997-2009 | 5 | 8 | 47 |
| 10 | Zou Jingyuan | CHN | 2017- | 5 | 7 | 47 |
| 11 | Xiao Ruoteng | CHN | 2015- | 5 | 8 | 45 |
| 12 | Denis Ablyazin | RUS | 2011- | 7 | 4 | 44 |
| 13 | Kenzo Shirai | JPN | 2013-2021 | 2 | 11 | 42 |
| 14 | Fabian Hambüchen | GER | 2003-2016 | 3 | 9 | 38 |
| 14 | Xiao Qin | CHN | 2001-2008 | 2 | 8 | 38 |
| 16 | Liu Yang | CHN | 2013- | 4 | 7 | 37 |
| 17 | Nikita Nagornyy | RUS | 2015-2024 | 4 | 5 | 35 |
| 18 | Alexey Nemov | RUS | 1993-2004 | 6 | 2 | 34 |
| 19 | Artur Dalaloyan | RUS | 2015- | 1 | 9 | 33 |
| 20 | Hiroyuki Tomita | JPN | 2002-2008 | 3 | 7 | 32 |
| 21 | Paul Hamm | USA | 2001-2012 | 3 | 5 | 31 |
| 22 | Kaya Kazuma | JPN | 2014- | 3 | 8 | 30 |
| 22 | Carlos Yulo | PHI | 2018- | 2 | 6 | 30 |
| 22 | You Hao | CHN | 2013- | 2 | 9 | 30 |
| 25 | Louis Smith | GBR | 2006-2016 | 4 | 5 | 29 |
| 26 | Eleftherios Petrounias | GRE | 2011- | 3 | 4 | 29 |
| 27 | Oleg Verniaiev | UKR | 2011- | 2 | 5 | 28 |
| 27 | Zhang Chenlong | CHN | 2010-2016 | 2 | 7 | 28 |
| 29 | Danell Leyva | USA | 2009-2016 | 3 | 5 | 27 |
| 29 | Epke Zonderland | NED | 2005-2021 | 1 | 6 | 27 |
| 31 | Zhang Boheng | CHN | 2018- | 3 | 3 | 26 |
| 31 | Takehiro Kashima | JPN | 2002-2008 | 3 | 5 | 26 |
| 33 | Lin Chaopan | CHN | 2013- | 2 | 7 | 25 |
| 34 | Arthur Zanetti | BRA | 2007-2024 | 2 | 4 | 24 |
| 34 | Feng Zhe | CHN | 2008-2012 | 2 | 4 | 24 |
| 34 | Krisztian Berki | HUN | 2004-2017 | 1 | 5 | 24 |
| 37 | David Belyavskiy | RUS | 2010- | 3 | 4 | 23 |
| 38 | Marius Urzica | ROM | 1994-2005 | 3 | 2 | 22 |
| 38 | Shinnosuke Oka | JPN | 2021- | 4 | 0 | 22 |
| 38 | Teng Hablin | CHN | 2002-2012 | 1 | 5 | 22 |
| 41 | Artem Dolgopyat | ISR | 2015- | 2 | 3 | 21 |
| 42 | Gervasio Deferr | ESP | 1999-2011 | 3 | 2 | 20 |
| 42 | Leszek Blanik | POL | 1998-2008 | 2 | 3 | 20 |
| 42 | Ryohei Kato | JPN | 2011-2016 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
| 42 | Yusuke Tanaka | JPN | 2011-2018 | 2 | 5 | 20 |
| 42 | Ri Se-Gwang | PRK | 2005-2020 | 1 | 4 | 20 |
| 42 | Diego Hypolito | BRA | 2002-2016 | 1 | 5 | 20 |
| 48 | Huang Xu | CHN | 1997-2008 | 2 | 5 | 19 |
| 49 | Hisashi Mizutori | JPN | 2003-2010 | 1 | 6 | 18 |
| 50 | Deng Shudi | CHN | 2014-2021 | 1 | 6 | 17 |
| 50 | Koji Yamamuro | JPN | 2010-2016 | 2 | 4 | 17 |
Stats & Review
15 out of the 50 best male gymnasts of the 21st century are still competing in 2025.
The gap between the 1st and the 2nd gymnasts is 50 points, while the gap between the 2nd and the 50th is 40 points. Uchimura Kohei really dominated the sport between 2008 and 2016, winning the All-Around competitions at each World Championship and Olympic Games between 2009 and 2016.
Gymnasts who won the most medals at the same competition:
– Alexei Nemov (RUS) won 6 medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, including two golds (All-Around and High Bar)
– Artur Dalaloyan (RUS) won 5 medals at the 2018 World Championships and 4 at the 2019 World Championships
– Uchimura Kohei (JPN) won 4 medals at the 2010, 2011 and 2013 World Championships
– Hashimoto Daiki (JPN) won 4 medals at the 2022 World Championships
Gymnasts still competing and next in line to reach the Top 50:
– Wataru Tanigawa (JPN) – currently 52nd (tie)
– Rhys McClenaghan (IRL) – currently 52nd (tie)
– Tin Srbić (CRO) – currently 55th
– Artur Davtyan (ARM) – currently 60th
– Lukas Dauser (GER) – currently 64th (tie)
– Illia Kovtun (UKR) – currently 64th (tie)
Source: Trendsgroup.cn
Breakdown of the 50 best male gymnasts of the 21st century:
More here: FIG website
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