MINNEAPOLIS — Simone Biles has officially punched her ticket to a third Olympic Games.
She will be joined in Paris this summer by Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera.
The team was selected Sunday for the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials in Minneapolis after two days of competition. With four Olympians returning to Tokyo, this is the longest-running and most decorated U.S. women’s Olympic gymnastics team in history.
Biles, 27, will be the oldest American gymnast to compete at the Olympics in 72 years.
She earned an automatic spot on the Paris team by finishing first in the all-around, alongside Lee and Chiles. The beam proved to be perilous, the first three in the ranking, including Biles, reigning world champion, fell.
Biles attributed her qualification for her third Olympics to being “in a good mental state.”
“I knew I wasn’t done after the Tokyo performances,” she said. “I knew I would come back.”
Joscelyn Roberson and Leanne Wong were named as alternates. Wong was also an alternate for the Tokyo Games.
Alicia Sacramone Quinn, USA Gymnastics’ chief strategy officer, said the selection committee she heads “had its eye” on Rivera and viewed her as someone who could represent the United States at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“It was a tough decision,” she said of choosing the team. “All the athletes did their job, they did what they had to do. »
Although there were some mistakes in Sunday’s practice, Quinn said “it’s better here than in Paris.”
Lee, the Tokyo Olympics all-around champion, won the uneven bars with a newly improved routine. She performed bold movements flawlessly, including a Nabieva and a Bhardwaj.
Chiles’ dreams of returning to the Games were derailed after her fall on the balance beam, but she sealed her fate by dancing on the floor to Beyoncé, tumbling like a pro.
Carey, the reigning Olympic gold medalist on floor, anchored the trials with a high-energy floor routine. She was second on floor at the trials, beaten only by Biles.
Rivera, 16, will be the only teenager on a team of veterans, but she proved she can withstand Olympic-level pressure with a clutch routine on the balance beam.
Despite seeing Lee perform an unusually difficult beam dismount just before her, Rivera nailed her routine and tied Biles for the two-day average on the event.
“My mentality was that I had nothing to lose, so I went out there and did my best, gave it my all, the most important thing,” she said.
Rivera said she was shocked to hear her name called for the team.
“I was quite surprised to hear my name, but I’ve worked for this my whole life,” she said.
Three favorites were injured ahead of Friday’s competition, eliminating world champions Skye Blakely, Shilese Jones and Kayla DiCello from Olympic competition. Blakely and DiCello both ruptured Achilles tendons. The nature of Jones’ injury remains unknown.
On Friday, Biles led the overall standings by 2.5 points over Chiles and Lee rounded out the top three.
Stream every moment and every medal of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Peacock, starting with the Opening Ceremony on July 26 at 12 p.m. ET.
News Source : www.nbcnews.com
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