The discipline's flagship event, due to get underway on Friday (October 3) and continue until October 12, will be a record-breaking affair with an unprecedented 619 gymnasts - 276 women and 343 men - from 73 countries set to compete for the 14 sets of medals on offer.

The previous participation record was 585 gymnasts at the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, United States.

The team event in China will be the first step to qualification for Rio 2016, with the top 24 men's and women's teams advancing to next year's World Championships in Glasgow, where the top eight teams will earn their places at the Olympics.

Kōhei Uchimura will be looking to defend his world title in Nanning ©Getty Images


Among the possible highlights at the competition are home wins for the Chinese squad, which includes national champion Deng Shudi, while Japan's Olympic and world champion Kōhei Uchimura will be aiming for a record fifth all around world title.

The tournament will take place at the Guangxi Sports Centre Gymnasium, a sports complex built in 2012 that can accommodate more than 9,000 spectators, and it will be the second time that China has hosted the biggest sporting event on the International Gymnastics Federation competition calendar after first staging it in Tianjin in 1999.

Television network CCTV is the host broadcaster for Nanning 2014.

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