Heading into the Paris Olympics, many American gymnasts are favored to win medals across the various apparatuses.
Following the Olympic trials, U.S. Gymnastics has selected the men’s and women’s Olympic teams. Both teams will hope to win individual and team medals in Paris.
At the Olympic games, teams will compete in a qualifying round, determining the qualifiers for the team and individual finals. In the all-around, 24 gymnasts will qualify to the final round to compete in every event. The top eight in each event will qualify in that specific event to take part in the final. Individual finals are limited to two gymnasts per country for each event and the all-around.
U.S. Women’s Olympic team
The projected U.S. Women’s Olympic team shifted several times before trials due to three previous contender injuries. Six time world medalist Shilese Jones suffered a leg injury in the warmups prior to the start of competition and was forced to withdraw. Fresh off a silver medal finish in the all-around at the U.S. National Championships, Skye Blakely ruptured her achilles during podium training just two days before the start of competition. Kayla DiCello, the bronze medalist from the same event, ruptured her achilles while vaulting on the first day of competition. Despite the injuries, team USA appears sharp heading into Paris. The team is composed of five gymnasts: seven-time Olympic Medalist Simone Biles, reigning Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee, reigning Olympic floor exercise champion Jade Carey, Olympic Silver Medalist Jordan Chiles and newcomer Hezly Rivera, who is the youngest member of team USA across all sports.
After taking home the silver medal in the team competition at the last Olympic Games, the U.S. women will look to regain Olympic Gold for the first time since 2016. Biles called the Paris Olympics a “Redemption tour” for all of the returning Olympians. Chiles, Biles and Lee were all a part of the silver medal team performance. The U.S.’s biggest competition will be competitors from China, Italy, and Brazil.
Biles is favored to win gold during the all-around while Lee has a strong possibility of winning another medal. Their biggest competitor will be the reigning Olympic all-around silver medalist, Rebecca Andrade of Brazil. Other top competitors include Qiu Qiyuan of China, Kaylia Nemour of Algeria and Melanie De Jesus dos Santos of France. Due to the two-per-country rule, Lee will have to score higher than her teammates in the qualifying round in order to make the final. Her biggest internal competitor will be Chiles, who is also returning from the 2020 Olympic Games. However, if either Biles or Lee win gold, they would become the third woman to win two Olympic all-around gold medals.
On the Vault, Biles will once again be favored to win gold, likely competing the appropriately-named Biles II, also known as a Yurchenko double pike. Her biggest competitor will be Andrade who is the reigning Olympic and world champion. Jade Carey is looking for a better vault placement after a misstep at the Olympics in 2021 that resulted in an eighth place finish. Carey has a strong chance of winning a medal, but will be in direct competition with Yeo Seo-jeong of South Korea, the reigning Olympic bronze medalist.
On the Uneven Bars, Lee will be the best chance for the U.S. to win a medal as she comes into the final as the reigning Olympic bronze medalist on bars. However, the bars final is set to be the most competitive final of the games. Qiyuan of China and Nemour of Algeria look to battle each other for the gold medal with start values above 7.0. Lee showed a difficulty score of 6.4 at the Olympic trials, but has posted videos on social media that prove she is capable of bringing a more challenging routine to the games. Other strong competitors for a bars medal will be Rebecca Downie of Great Britain, Alice D’Amato of Italy and the reigning Olympic champion Nina Derwael of Belgium.
At the last two Olympic Games, Biles won bronze on the balance beam. After winning the world title on beam last year, she will once again be favored to return to the podium for the third time. China is sending a pair of athletes with extremely difficult beam routines. Qiyuan has shown a routine with a difficult score of 7.1 and her teammate Zhou Yaqin has shown a routine with a difficulty score of 7.2. Lee’s maximum difficulty score is 6.7. Biles has a 6.5, but could make up the difference on execution.
Andrade and Biles will battle each other one last time in the floor final. Biles has shown a routine with a maximum score of 7.1. Andrade has yet to compete on floor exercise this year, but comes into this event as the reigning world silver medalist. Carey enters as the reigning Olympic floor exercise champion. However, her biggest challenge will be making the final over her teammate Jordan Chiles, who is the 2022 world silver medalist on floor, and was less than a tenth behind Carey at the Olympic trials due to the two gymnasts per country rule. Other medal contenders include Flavia Saraia of Brazil, Sabrina Maneca-Voinea of Romania, and Manila Esposito of Italy.
U.S. Men’s Olympic team
The U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team have not won a medal in the team final at the Olympics since 2008 when they won bronze. This year appears to be their best opportunity as the team is fresh off a bronze medal finish from the 2023 world championships. After the Olympic Trials, the U.S. selected a team of world champions: Stephen Nedoroscik, Olympian Brody Malone, world medalists Asher Hong, Frederick Richard and Paul Juda. While teams from Japan and China seem out of reach, they look to battle teams from Great Britain and Ukraine for the bronze medal.
After winning the bronze medal in the all-around at last year’s world championships, Richard will battle to be on the Olympic podium. Malone will also look for a medal just a year after a serious leg injury that once seemed to have ended his gymnastics career. They will be up against heavy competition from reigning Olympic all-around champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan, reigning world all-around silver medalist Illia Kovtun of Ukraine and world all-around champion Boheng Zhang.
Richard and Juda both aim for a spot in the floor exercise final. Their difficulty is slightly lower than the top contenders, but they can make up the difference with strong execution in their routine. Other big contenders for medals will be reigning world and Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, Carlos Yulo of the Philippines and Jake Jarman of Great Britain.
Nedoroscik’s role for the U.S. team is to be a pommel horse specialist as the 2021 world champion in the event. Nedoroscik will be in direct competition with the reigning world champion Rhys McClenaghan of Ireland and the reigning olympic champion Max Whitlock of Great Britain.
Hong has the potential to excel in the vault and parallel bars final. Hong competed a 6.0 difficulty vault and finished sixth in the parallel bars final at last years world championships. Richard could also be in the parallel bars final, as he earned a 15.050 on the event at the Olympic trials. They will all be outside contenders for medals.
The U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Team’s most likely event to rack up medals is the high bar final. Malone is the 2022 world champion on high bar. Despite his injury, he returned to competition with his most difficult routine ranking as a 6.7 difficulty score. Richard will also be in the conversation as he has shown a routine that starts from a 6.4 difficulty score. Hashimoto of Japan will be their biggest competition as he is the reigning world and Olympic champion in the event.
The Olympic Games begin on July 26 in Paris. The gymnastics events run from July 27 through Aug. 5.
Edited by Dylan Heinrich | dheinrich@themaneater.com
Edited by Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com