1987 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships

1987 World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships were held in Varna, Bulgaria on September 17–20, 1987.

The World Championships were a qualifying event for the 1988 Summer Olympics. The top 50 gymnasts in the all-around won an Olympic quota for their country, up to two per country.

Bulgaria dominated the competition; the individual all-around winner, Bianka Panova, received a perfect 10.0 score on every routine and won all four apparatus finals as well (though with ties with different gymnasts on each event). She was the first gymnast to win all five individual medals at the Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships. The two tied silver medalists, Adriana Dunavska and Elizabeth Koleva, were also Bulgarian. Bulgaria also won the group competition and both routine finals, receiving a perfect 20.0 score for most of their routines and one 19.900.

The competition was the first World Championships where groups were required to compete two different routines. Video replay was used by the judges more frequently than in the past. Nora Hitzel, the head of the United States rhythmic gymnastics program, noted changes in difficulty and style in routines performed at the competition, with more use of the feet to manipulate the hoop, more bouncing and rolling of the clubs, and better jumping and skipping in rope routines.