Due to uncertainty over the nuclear situation following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the International Federation of Gymnastics revealed it was considering moving the event,[1] but on May 22 FIG president Bruno Grandi announced that the World Championships would take place in Tokyo as planned.

[2] 83 countries participated, which included gymnasts from This event was the first qualifying stage for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which were held in London.

The winners of gold, silver and bronze medals in each apparatus qualified for the Olympics, either as individuals or as members of their national team.

[6] Oldest and youngest competitors During the presentation of medals, the National Anthem of the United States was abruptly ended, causing some frustration amongst both the coaches and the gymnasts themselves.

Maroney has since described this incident as "the scariest night of my life"[7] Nassar, later convicted pedophile, was on the floor next to the gymnasts for most of the world championships.

A number of gymnasts ranked high enough to make the all-around final, but did not qualify due to the two-per-country rule.

Also affected were Tan Sixin (15th) and Jiang Yuyuan (20th) of China, Yuko Shintake (21st) and Yu Minobe (23rd) of Japan, and Anna Dementyeva (31st) of Russia.

Maroney's performance secured the third consecutive World gold medal for the USA on women's vault following Kayla Williams in 2009 and teammate Alicia Sacramone in 2010.

As her first world championships was in Indianapolis in 1991, she has been competing at an international level since before her fellow vault finalists were born.

The Chinese team won the title for the fifth successive time, benefiting from crucial mistakes by the last 2 Japanese gymnasts.