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2024 Olympic gymnastics trials: Biles leads Team USA

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  • Amy Van Deusen, ESPN EditorJun 30, 2024, 07:33 PM ET

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      Amy Van Deusen is a senior editor at espnW. A former Division I collegiate gymnast, she is currently based out of San Diego.

MINNEAPOLIS — It all came down to this. On Sunday night, the U.S. women’s gymnastics Olympic team was announced, after a heartbreaking week that included injuries to front-runners Skye Blakely, Kayla DiCello and Shilese Jones.

Missed any of the action? We have you covered here:

The 2024 Olympic team

Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera were named to the team, with Leanne Wong and Joscelyn Roberson the traveling alternates.

And that’s a wrap

The crowd was electric in the final rotation — and the gymnasts matched the energy. Simone Biles started off with her signature triple-double mount on floor, closed with a double layout and even with a step out of bounds earned the highest floor score of the night. She looked relieved — and a little exhausted — at the end. She and Suni Lee shared a hug after Lee finished her night on vault with a Yurchenko double full.

Tiana Sumanasekera and Joscelyn Roberson competed one after another on floor, and each drew the crowd in to their performances. The pair have been incredibly consistent throughout the entire competition, and both have a case for a spot as alternate or team member. Jordan Chiles solidified her own probable spot on the team with her floor routine, which had the crowd on its feet and her in tears at the end.

The most dramatic moment of the fourth round came on vault. Leanne Wong went for the difficult Cheng vault despite failing to make any in warmups — and landed it. Her 14.500, and the nerves of steel she showed here, could perhaps grab her a team spot.

So … who will be on the team? The first four seem to be an easy bet: Biles has locked her spot in by finishing first, and Lee, Chiles and Jade Carey are the next most obvious picks. That final spot doesn’t seem any clearer than it was coming in. Could Hezly Rivera make it for her beam prowess — and because she placed fifth all-around? Or did Wong secure it with her competitive grit? We will find out in the next half hour.

The final all-around results: 1. Simone Biles, 2. Suni Lee, 3. Jordan Chiles, 4. Jade Carey, 5. Hezly Rivera, 6. Joscelyn Roberson, 7. Leanne Wong, 8. Tiana Sumanasekera, 9. Kaliya Lincoln, 10. Simone Rose, 11. Evey Lowe 12. Zoey Molomo 13. Dulcy Caylor

More struggles on beam

Leanne Wong started off on floor with her usual expressive dance and newly upgraded double-double mount, improving her score nearly .500 over the first night. Her campaign to earn that final Olympic spot is looking strong. Simone Biles was on track for a fantastic beam set until she fell on her side aerial right at the end. She scored higher than she did on Friday, earning a 13.900 despite the fall, which should be noted is still the fourth highest score on beam tonight.

Suni Lee rebounded from her disappointment on beam, tumbling an impressive full-twisting double layout mount, and had the crowd once again on its feet at the end of her routine. Tiana Sumanasekera matched her first-night score on beam at 13.950, and her teammate Joscelyn Roberson improved on hers with a 14.050, placing them third and tied for first overall, respectively, in the beam standings. This could be important if the selection committee is worried about beam: Jordan Chiles also had a fall later on, meaning that three out of the four top contenders for the team fell on that event tonight.

Hezly Rivera nailed the same opening pass as Lee but had a stumble right at the end on floor. Still, she earned almost an identical score to the first night and is sixth overall. Roberson has jumped into the No. 5 spot, with Biles, Lee, Chiles and Carey in the top four all-around positions, respectively.

An up-and-down rotation

Jordan Chiles continued to cruise on bars, while Leanne Wong improved her beam score from the first night by .400 — no small thing when beam seems to be an event the U.S. team is weaker on. Jade Carey fought through a pirouette on bars and scored lower than the first night, but it shouldn’t hurt her case for the team, as it’s not an event the team would use her on.

In the second half of the rotation, Simone Biles was a little off but kept it together on bars for a score just slightly lower than the first night. The wheels came off for Suni Lee on beam, though, after winning the event on the first night. She fell on her round-off layout stepout mount then had a major break on her handspring layout-layout series and wobbled on a leap. She looked very frustrated as she left the podium, but she has done so many great routines here in Minneapolis that it shouldn’t hurt her Olympic chances.

Hezly Rivera, the youngest competitor here at 16, had a confident beam routine immediately after Lee that earned a 14.275, the highest score of the night so far on that event. Is she making her Olympic case on beam?

The top five in the all-around at the halfway mark are Biles, Chiles, Lee, Carey and Rivera, respectively.

The good vibes continue in the first rotation

Jade Carey looked like a potential Olympic medalist on her first vault, a Cheng, then had to save her Amanar second vault from sitting down but managed to do so. After a hard fall in touch warmups immediately prior, hometown girl Suni Lee got the first standing ovation — and earsplitting approval — from the crowd for her bar routine, which earned a massive 14.875, the highest score on the event so far.

Simone Biles then did her namesake Yurchenko double pike vault, over rotating it and taking several steps but staying on her feet. Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles are now tied for second place overall, with Simone Biles in first.

It all begins

Tiana Sumanasekera started the competition off in resounding fashion with a nearly stuck Yurchenko double full vault. Hezly Rivera followed with a beautiful bar routine, and Joscelyn Roberson vaulted perhaps the best Cheng she has completed in competition this year. All three improved their score over the first night.

Leanne Wong on bars and Jordan Chiles on vault each hit well too.

It looks like the top contenders are on their game tonight. The crowd is loud and the energy is high. The meet is off to a much different start than the first night, when injuries set a heart-wrenching tone for the entire competition.

Warmups report

No nerves were on display — and thankfully no injuries were sustained before the competition. Simone Biles, Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles all looked strong on beam, an event during which they each had errors on opening night. On floor, Biles nearly stuck a triple-double tumbling pass to huge cheers from the crowd, and she did one Yurchenko double pike attempt on vault. She fell back on it but looked unfazed.

Jade Carey landed her Amanar vault easily. The only struggles came from Leanne Wong on vault. She attempted her new Cheng vault many times without completing any, before switching to a Yurchenko double full vault at the end of warmups.

Team predictions

Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and ??.

Biles is a lock, even if something wild happens and she doesn’t finish in first. Defending Olympic champion Lee has looked impressive this entire year, and even more so at trials. Her scores on bars and beam are must-have for Team USA.

If Chiles has another night as rock solid as the first, she likely has earned her spot as well, and Jade Carey perfectly complements Lee’s strengths. Carey is the reigning Olympic floor champion and showed up to trials with a difficult Amanar vault. That would be four of the five spots — and perhaps no one predicted that that would exactly match four of the Olympic team members from the Tokyo Games.

Who will get the fifth spot? Shilese Jones made it through a bar routine with an injured knee on Night 1, hitting well and earning the top score of the event. It was one of the gutsiest routines we’ve seen; she has one of the best bar sets in the world, and is the No. 2 all-arounder in the country if healthy. But Jones competed in only that event and she announced Saturday that she was withdrawing from Night 2. We don’t know the severity of her injury, but if she could be healthy enough to do even bars in Paris it would be a huge asset to the team.

Other possibilities include Leanne Wong, who has four world medals to her name, or one of the younger gymnasts such as Hezly Rivera, Joscelyn Roberson or Tiana Sumanasekera. All three performed especially well on beam Friday, when some of the veterans struggled. It all depends on how strongly the selection committee values previous experience, and clearly Wong has the most of that group.

Night 1 results

Biles had the top scores in the all-around, vault and floor. Lee had the highest score on beam, and Jones on bars.

At the Olympics, the team will compete using three of the five members on each event, so placing in the top three in any individual event at trials can help a gymnast’s cause substantially.

All-around results:

1. Simone Biles 58.900; 2. Jordan Chiles 56.400; 3. Sunisa Lee 56.025; 4. Jade Carey 55.825; 5. Joscelyn Roberson 55.475; 6. Kaliya Lincoln 54.875; 7. Hezly Rivera 54.825; 8. Leanne Wong 54.750; 9. Tiana Sumanasekera 54.700; 10. (tie) Simone Rose and Evey Lowe 51.675; 12. Zoey Molomo 50.950; 13. Dulcy Caylor 50.550; 14. Shilese Jones 14.675 (one event).

Vault results:

First vault only — some gymnasts performed two

1. Simone Biles 15.975; 2. Jade Carey 14.600; 3. Leanne Wong 14.450; 4. (tie) Joscelyn Roberson and Jordan Chiles 14.325.

Bars results:

1. Shilese Jones 14.675; 2. Simone Biles 14.425; 3. Suni Lee 14.400; 4. Jordan Chiles 14.350; 5. Hezly Rivera 14.025.

Beam results:

1. Suni Lee 14.400; 2. Tiana Sumanasekera 13.950; 3. Joscelyn Roberson 13.925; 4. Hezly Rivera 13.700; 5. Simone Biles 13.650.

Floor results:

1. Simone Biles 14.850; 2. Kaliya Lincoln 14.150; 3. Jordan Chiles 14.100; 4. Jade Carey 14.075; 5. Joscelyn Roberson 13.925.

Meet Beacon, the therapy dog at Olympic trials

One of the biggest draws at this year’s Olympic trials is Beacon, the first therapy dog to work for USA Gymnastics. His schedule has been jampacked in Minneapolis, as he has been helping the gymnasts, coaches and staff deal with the stress that comes with the competition. READ


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