Inside the American and International Jump Rope Championships: Lessons from My First Competitions

By Jordan Lindstrom, CEO of Elite Jumps

July was a busy month of traveling here at Elite Jumps! We recently attended both the American Jump Rope Championships in Sioux Falls, SD, and the International Jump Rope Championships in Kawasaki, Japan. For those who are curious about the sport of competitive jump rope, here’s a quick recap of what it was like and what I learned.

First, I should note that these were the first two jump rope competitions I’ve attended. Our company grew up in competitive jump rope and we’ve been serving athletes for many years, but since I’ve been at Elite Jumps, it was always someone else going to the actual competitions. I was excited and nervous!

American Jump Rope Championships – Sioux Falls, SD (June 30 – July 2, 2025)

• Around 200 competitors from across the USA.

• Hot spots for competitive jumping in the USA include North Carolina, Indiana, Idaho, and Maryland, with limited representation from the South.

• Many teams are run by PE teachers who start after-school programs. Thank you, PE teachers!

The first thing you notice at a jump rope competition is the family feel. Most teams are a mix of ages—from about 9–10 years old into the early 20s. The teams are familiar with each other and genuinely friendly. Everyone cheers for everyone. Younger kids cheer for the older athletes, and older kids cheer for the younger ones. Outside of competition, the kids spend the whole day hanging out and practicing new tricks and moves.

It’s exactly the kind of environment most parents would want their kids to be part of. I even found myself plotting how to start a jump rope team in my own community so my kids could have the same opportunity.

I brought my 10-year-old son with me to the event (he wanted to hang with dad and sell some jump ropes), and he fell in love with it. A month later, he’s still jumping almost every day and practicing his tricks. He recently made a goal of hitting 300 jumps every day—and he’s sticking with it. He was inspired by all the kids he saw jumping.

Here's a picture of him watching the competitions from our booth: 

Jump rope competitors are always looking for a little edge in competition. There are quite a few disciplines, including freestyle (think gymnastics with a jump rope), team double dutch, 30-second speed jumping (how many jumps can you get in 30 seconds?), triple unders (how many in a row?), and more.

On the product side, I noticed a trend: American athletes are seeking out thinner and faster ropes for freestyle and tricks. That means lighter, thinner beaded ropes and thinner freestyle cables. A few years ago, almost everyone used a 3.2 mm freestyle cable. Now the trend is 2.8 mm and thinner. These lighter ropes make double and triple under combos easier, which are highly valued in competition.

Takeaway: We’ve already started working on a thinner freestyle cable and some thinner, lighter beads. Expect both of those products in the coming months.

International Jump Rope Championships – Kawasaki, Japan (July 27 – Aug. 3, 2025)

• Over 2,100 athletes from 28 countries (including Guatemala, Israel, the Bahamas, and Thailand).

• Some of the biggest athlete delegations came from Belgium, Germany, Australia, USA, Korea, and China.

• My favorite event to watch was the Single Rope Freestyle: Chengwei Zhang from China was the men’s champion, and Lauren Ellis from the USA won gold for the women. 

• The USA also had some huge wins in Double Dutch Single Freestyle Men, Double Dutch Pair Freestyle Men, and the Team Show.

One of my favorite moments happened during the Triple Unders Competition. For those who don’t know, triple unders is a ridiculously hard endurance event. Athletes start at the same time and go until failure.

Our booth was just outside the venue, and we could hear the crowd noise building before it erupted. Korea’s Minjae Kim had put up an incredible 583 in a row. 

Then, in the very next heat, China’s Yongqi Li set a world record with 723 in a row. 

Later, during the Grand Championships, Minjae would break the record with 742 triple unders. Absolutely amazing!

Looking forward to unlock Triple Unders and see how far you can get? Read our guide: How To Master Triple Unders: A Step-By-Step Guide 

I left Kawasaki with the sense that the sport of jump rope has major momentum and a real chance of becoming an Olympic sport in the coming years. The 2,150 athletes represented a 1,000-athlete increase from the previous World Championships, held just two years ago. And the level of competition keeps climbing. In fact, 16 world records were set during the event.

Takeaway: We’re all in on competitive jump rope here at Elite Jumps, and we’re going to look for ways to support the growth of the sport and teams—especially here in the USA.

Want to Get Involved?

If you’d like to learn more about competitive jump rope or how to start a team, check out the resources at the International Jump Rope Union (IJRU).