With a bright smile, Seema Tello described her mixed emotions ahead of the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, set to take place from Oct. 19-25, 2025, at Indonesia Arena in Jakarta.

This world championships marks Seema’s first-ever international tournament —and Jakarta is the first city outside Syria she has ever visited to compete. “I’m very scared, but everyone here is very nice… I’m just happy to be here,” she said.

The 26-year-old gymnast is a serial winner. Seema holds eight national gymnastics titles in Syria, but she is not setting lofty expectations for herself. She only wants to perform the routines she has practiced. “Maybe I will improve in the next championships.”

Given Syria’s social and political turmoil in recent years, she has not been able to train properly. The war has devastated her training facilities. “Our gym was bombed and the equipment are broken,” Seema said.

Meanwhile, Seema admitted to being impressed by the facilities and various equipment at the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. "I think I'll need some time to get used to the equipment here," she concluded.

Here’s a brief interview with Seema Tello:

This is your first world championships. Do you have any comment about that?

I'm so happy to be here. This is so exciting, everyone here is so nice. This is my first international competition ever. Yeah, i'm proud of myself [and] proud of my friend Abdullah Tarrab, he is in the MAG gymnastics.

Could you tell about your preparation in Syria?

Yeah, it is new for… everything is new. In Syria, we don’t have a spring floor. We have the old floor: the one with the woods and foam pits, [there] and the wood is broken because of the war.

In Syria, we had war for 14 years and then our gym was bombed, and the equipments are broken. [But] we train, we still train on them. And I think this is enough [to] prove that how much we love gymnastics, how much we are willing to give to the sport.

Will your first world championships be nerve-wracking, or something you’ll enjoy?

I’m very scared but everyone here is very nice. I’m a little bit, uh, I don't know how to explain it. I'm just… I'm just happy to be here. I’m excited about the floor. It's very different. I think we need some time to get used to it.

Since this is your first world championships, do you have any personal targets or goals?

Hopefully… Now Syria is free [and] we have the opportunity to compete more internationally. So hopefully i will compete in more international competitions. My target today, my target for this competition [world championships], is just to do a clean routine, a simple clean one, and maybe I will improve in the next championships.