# World Artistic Gymnastics Championships – Women's balance beam

Women's events at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships were first held in 1934, at the 10th World Championships. Only the All-Around and Team events were held. In 1938, at the 11th World Championships, the other apparatus events were added.
The women's balance beam competition has been held in every year since its inception.
Three medals are awarded: gold for first place, silver for second place, and bronze for third place. Tie breakers have not been used in every year. In the event of a tie between two gymnasts, both names are listed, and the following position (second for a tie for first, third for a tie for second) is left empty because a medal was not awarded for that position. If three gymnastics tied for a position, the following two positions are left empty.

## Medalists

Bold numbers in brackets denotes record number of victories.
| Year | Location | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1938 | Prague * | Vlasta Děkanová * | unknown | unknown |
| 1950 | Basel | Helena Rakoczy | Marja Nutti | Licia Macchini |
| 1954 | Rome | Keiko Tanaka | Eva Bosáková | Ágnes Keleti |
| 1958 | Moscow | Larisa Latynina | Sofia Muratova | Keiko Tanaka |
| 1962 | Prague | Eva Bosáková | Larisa Latynina | Anikó Ducza Keiko Ikeda |
| 1966 | Dortmund | Natalia Kuchinskaya | Věra Čáslavská | Larisa Petrik |
| 1970 | Ljubljana | Erika Zuchold | Cathy Rigby | Larisa Petrik Christine Schmitt |
| 1974 | Varna | Ludmilla Tourischeva | Olga Korbut | Nellie Kim |
| 1978 | Strasbourg | Nadia Comăneci | Elena Mukhina | Emilia Eberle |
| 1979 | Fort Worth | Věra Černá | Nellie Kim | Regina Grabolle |
| 1981 | Moscow | Maxi Gnauck | Chen Yongyan | Tracee Talavera Wu Jiani |
| 1983 | Budapest | Olga Mostepanova | Hana Říčná | Lavinia Agache |
| 1985 | Montreal | Daniela Silivaș | Ecaterina Szabó | Yelena Shushunova |
| 1987 | Rotterdam | Aurelia Dobre | Yelena Shushunova | Svetlana Boginskaya Ecaterina Szabó |
| 1989 | Stuttgart | Daniela Silivaș | Olesya Dudnik | Gabriela Potorac |
| 1991 | Indianapolis | Svetlana Boginskaya | Tatiana Gutsu | Lavinia Miloșovici Betty Okino |
| 1992 | Paris | Kim Zmeskal | Li Yifang Maria Neculiță | — |
| 1993 | Birmingham | Lavinia Miloșovici | Dominique Dawes | Gina Gogean |
| 1994 | Brisbane | Shannon Miller | Lilia Podkopayeva | Oksana Fabrichnova |
| 1995 | Sabae | Mo Huilan | Dominique Moceanu Lilia Podkopayeva | — |
| 1996 | San Juan | Dina Kochetkova | Alexandra Marinescu | Dominique Dawes Liu Xuan |
| 1997 | Lausanne | Gina Gogean | Svetlana Khorkina | Kui Yuanyuan |
| 1999 | Tianjin | Ling Jie | Andreea Răducan | Olha Rozshchupkina |
| 2001 | Ghent | Andreea Răducan | Ludmila Ezhova | Sun Xiaojiao |
| 2002 | Debrecen | Ashley Postell | Oana Ban | Irina Yarotska |
| 2003 | Anaheim | Fan Ye | Cătălina Ponor | Ludmila Ezhova |
| 2005 | Melbourne | Nastia Liukin | Chellsie Memmel | Cătălina Ponor |
| 2006 | Aarhus | Iryna Krasnianska | Sandra Izbașa | Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs |
| 2007 | Stuttgart | Nastia Liukin | Li Shanshan Steliana Nistor | — |
| 2009 | London | Deng Linlin | Lauren Mitchell | Ivana Hong |
| 2010 | Rotterdam | Ana Porgras | Rebecca Bross Deng Linlin | — |
| 2011 | Tokyo | Sui Lu | Yao Jinnan | Jordyn Wieber |
| 2013 | Antwerp | Aliya Mustafina | Kyla Ross | Simone Biles |
| 2014 | Nanning | Simone Biles | Bai Yawen | Aliya Mustafina |
| 2015 | Glasgow | Simone Biles | Sanne Wevers | Pauline Schäfer |
| 2017 | Montreal | Pauline Schäfer | Morgan Hurd | Tabea Alt |
| 2018 | Doha | Liu Tingting | Ana Padurariu | Simone Biles |
| 2019 | Stuttgart | Simone Biles | Liu Tingting | Li Shijia |
| 2021 | Kitakyushu | Urara Ashikawa | Pauline Schäfer-Betz | Mai Murakami |
| 2022 | Liverpool | Hazuki Watanabe | Ellie Black | Miyata Shoko |
| 2023 | Antwerp | Simone Biles (4) | Zhou Yaqin | Rebeca Andrade |
* There is conflicting and incomplete information about medal winners in the individual apparatus events at the 1938 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships as non-primary sources gives different information about it.

## All-time medal count

Last updated after the 2023 World Championships.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 9 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| 2 | Romania | 8 | 8 | 7 | 23 |
| 3 | China | 6 | 8 | 5 | 19 |
| 4 | Soviet Union | 5 | 8 | 5 | 18 |
| 5 | Czechoslovakia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| 6 | Japan | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 |
| 7 | Russia | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | East Germany | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 9 | Ukraine | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 10 | Germany | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 11 | Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Canada | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 | Italy | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 14 | Australia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | Netherlands | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Hungary | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 17 | Brazil | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (17 entries) | Totals (17 entries) | 41 | 44 | 42 | 127 |

## Multiple medalists

| Rank | Gymnast | Nation | Years | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Simone Biles | United States | 2013–2023 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Nastia Liukin | United States | 2005–2007 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Daniela Silivaș | Romania | 1985–1989 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Pauline Schäfer | Germany | 2015–2021 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | Eva Bosáková | Czechoslovakia | 1954–1962 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Deng Linlin | China | 2009–2010 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Larisa Latynina | Soviet Union | 1958–1962 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Liu Tingting | China | 2018–2019 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Andreea Răducan | Romania | 1999–2001 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | Keiko Tanaka-Ikeda | Japan | 1954–1958 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 11 | Svetlana Boginskaya | Soviet Union | 1987–1991 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Gina Gogean | Romania | 1993–1997 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Lavinia Miloșovici | Romania | 1991–1993 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Aliya Mustafina | Russia | 2013–2014 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 15 | Lilia Podkopayeva | Ukraine | 1994–1995 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | Dominique Dawes | United States | 1993–1996 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Ludmila Ezhova | Russia | 2001–2003 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Nellie Kim | Soviet Union | 1974–1979 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Cătălina Ponor | Romania | 2003–2005 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Yelena Shushunova | Soviet Union | 1985–1987 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Ecaterina Szabo | Romania | 1985–1987 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 22 | Larisa Petrik | Soviet Union | 1966–1970 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |