HARTFORD, Conn. – Simone Biles is kicking off the Olympic year in historic fashion.
The Rio Games all-around gold medalist begins her season Saturday at the US Classic, where she will be joined by London champion Gabby Douglas and Tokyo winner Suni Lee. This is the first time that three Olympic all-around champions have competed together.
“It’s a really fun time,” Douglas, who is back after taking nearly eight years off, said Friday.
This meeting does not directly affect who will be on the U.S. team for the Paris Olympics. But that plays a role because it’s a qualifier for the national championships later this month in Fort Worth, Texas. Results at the national championships determine who will be invited to the Olympic trials, June 27-30 in Minneapolis.
How to watch the 2024 American Classic
Biles’ competition session will be broadcast live on CNBC and Peacock, NBC’s streaming service. NBC will also air a show recapping all the highlights from the US Classic at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.
More:How to watch gymnastics stars Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Gabby Douglas at the 2024 US Classic
Big stars start at flagship events
There will be fireworks early. Gabby Douglas begins on the uneven bars, her flagship event, while Simone Biles moves up to the beam, where she is the reigning world champion. Oh, and Jade Carey starts floor exercise, where she won gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Sit back and grab the popcorn. This is going to be fun.
Fans Fight Over Biles Before Event Starts
There’s still an hour before the competition starts and the XL Center isn’t even close to being half full. But the fans are already LOUD. When Simone Biles performed her Yurchenko double pike – also known as Biles II – the cheers were deafening.
What to expect from Biles, Lee and Douglas
Biles already qualified for the national championships as a member of the U.S. team that won a seventh straight title at last year’s world championships. But she takes advantage of this meeting to test her routines. She brought back her triple twist, her double somersault on the floor, also known as Biles II, as well as the double-double descent on the uneven bars.
She also has new floor choreography, by French choreographer Gregory Milan.
Lee had originally planned to make the all-around, which would have been her first since having to cut short her final season at Auburn due to kidney disease more than a year ago. She did bars and beam at the Winter Cup in February, and vault and beam at the American Classic last month. But Lee chose not to do bars here, but instead to do vault, beam and floor.
Douglas qualified to compete in three events at the national championships thanks to her performance at the American Classic, but she hopes to improve so she can compete in the all-around.
Who is participating in the US Classic?
Gymnasts like to get together to work their nerves and have their routines judged before things start counting, so almost everyone is there. Biles and Shilese Jones, all-around medalists at the last two world championships, make their season debuts, as do Tokyo floor gold medalist Jade Carey and 2022 U.S. champion Konnor McClain, whose LSU team won the NCAA title last month.
How do you get on the US Olympic team?
The best all-rounder at the Olympic trials, probably Biles, is guaranteed a place in Paris. The remaining four gymnasts, along with two alternates, are chosen by a selection committee based on their performance this year, their scoring potential and their contribution to qualifications and team finals.
Unlike other sports, such as swimming and track and field, gymnastics teams cannot be chosen based solely on results or ranking order. In Olympic qualifying, teams compete against four athletes in each event and can achieve the lowest score. But in the team finals, only three athletes compete in each event and all three scores are taken into account. This means that teams must be built to produce the highest scoring potential and consistency across all four events.
And after?
The U.S. Championships are less than two weeks away, May 30-June 2 in Forth Worth, Texas. The Olympic trials will take place June 27-30 in Minneapolis. The Paris Olympics begin on July 26 and the women’s competition will begin two days later with qualifying.
News Source : www.usatoday.com
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