Current:Home > FinanceWho will make the US gymnastics team for 2024 Paris Olympics? Where Suni Lee, others stand -ProsperityStream Academy
Who will make the US gymnastics team for 2024 Paris Olympics? Where Suni Lee, others stand
Algosensey View
Date:2025-04-08 14:07:08
FORT WORTH, Texas — Simone Biles is a gimme for the Paris Olympics. Because, duh. Did you watch her at the U.S. championships? Or any other competition since she returned last year?
The question is who joins the four-time gold medalist on the squad for Paris. And that answer is now both clearer in some ways and murkier in others than it was a few days ago.
Suni Lee and Skye Blakely improved their prospects with their performances at nationals last weekend. But now there are concerns about the health of Shilese Jones, who was considered almost as much of a lock as Biles until she withdrew from nationals to protect her injured shoulder.
“There's been a little bit of progress,” Jones told NBC on Sunday night. “I woke up and I was like, 'It's feeling a little bit better than this whole week.' It's been a little bit stiff, but some progression today."
Subscribe to USA TODAY's newsletter:Chasing Gold: Your guide to the 2024 Paris Olympics
The Olympic trials for gymastics are June 27-30, so it’s not time to panic just yet. In the meantime, here’s a look at the contenders:
Stock rising
Suni Lee
Lee competed the all-around for the first time since last spring, when a kidney ailment forced her to cut her final season at Auburn short. If not for a fluke error on vault on the second night — she stubbed her toe on the runway and had to cut her Yurchenko double to a 1½ — Lee would have finished third.
Lee was fabulous on balance beam, with her 14.9 on Sunday the highest score on the event of the entire meet. She missed being third on uneven bars by a mere 0.050 points despite her routine not having its full difficulty.
“Beam and bars are the one thing I need to — not prove myself on, but that’s where I’m going to be the most useful to the team. So I’m glad I could (do) both those (well),” Lee said. “I just have to go back into the gym and work on my consistency, get my bar routine with full difficulty and keep staying consistent on beam.”
Skye Blakely
She put together two solid and consistent nights that included the first 15 of her career, for her upgraded Cheng vault. She was second to Biles in the all-around both nights, and she was top three on vault, bars and beam.
Though she was a member of the last two world championship teams, Blakely played a supporting role. Her performance at nationals showed her — and she hopes the selection committee — that she’s ready to be a main contributor in Paris.
“Coming off this meet, I know what I’m capable of now, so that will put even more confidence in myself,” she said. “I see myself in training, so I know what I can do. But to be able to finally put it out there on the floor and show everybody and myself, it really means a lot to me.”
Jordan Chiles
The Tokyo Olympian is making steady improvement, but it was her silver medal on uneven bars that really stood out. Remember that the format for team finals is three gymnasts on each event and all three scores count, and Chiles would give the U.S. women insurance on bars and vault.
Hezly Rivera
The U.S. junior champion last year made quite an impression in her first nationals as a senior, finishing fourth on balance beam and fifth on uneven bars.
Work in Progress
Jade Carey
She has the big vaults, but she needs to score better on floor exercise, where she’s the reigning Olympic champion. That's not a complete surprise, given the quick turnaround between Carey's NCAA and elite seasons.
Kayla DiCello
High-scoring potential is one thing, but consistency is another. After a fall on uneven bars and a rough performance on balance beam, DiCello needs to show at trials that she can deliver under pressure.
TBD
Shilese Jones
If she's healthy, she’s on the team. These next three weeks will be big.
Kaliya Lincoln
Lincoln withdrew from nationals midway through the first night with an injury but petitioned into Olympic trials. Could add a big score on floor exercise.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
veryGood! (47595)
Related
- New Zealand official reverses visa refusal for US conservative influencer Candace Owens
- San Diego ranks as most expensive US city with LA and Santa Barbara in the top five
- Russians commemorate victims of Soviet repression as a present-day crackdown on dissent intensifies
- King Charles III seeks to look ahead in a visit to Kenya. But he’ll have history to contend with
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Mexico assessing Hurricane Otis devastation as Acapulco reels
- Matthew Perry Dead at 54: Relive His Extraordinarily Full Life in Pictures
- Trade tops the agenda as Germany’s Scholz meets Nigerian leader on West Africa trip
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Israeli media, also traumatized by Hamas attack, become communicators of Israel’s message
Ranking
- Sam Taylor
- Former NHL player Adam Johnson dies after 'freak accident' during game in England
- In Mississippi, most voters will have no choice about who represents them in the Legislature
- 2 dead, 18 injured in Tampa street shooting, police say
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Thousands of Ukrainians run to commemorate those killed in the war
- 'Breakfast Club' host DJ Envy is being sued for alleged investment fraud
- Mass graves, unclaimed bodies and overcrowded cemeteries. The war robs Gaza of funeral rites
Recommendation
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
See How Kelsea Ballerini, Chase Stokes and More Stars Are Celebrating Halloween 2023
Mexico raises Hurricane Otis death toll to 43 and puts missing at 36 as search continues
A man is arrested in a deadly double shooting near a Donaldsonville High football game
2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
Proof Taylor Swift's Game Day Fashion Will Never Go Out of Style
A Look at the Surprising Aftermath of Bill Gates and Melinda Gates' Divorce
Poultry companies ask judge to dismiss ruling that they polluted an Oklahoma watershed