This is Cassidy Hettesheimer’s live report from Target Center on Sunday night. To read Jeff Day’s final report on the final day of the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics trials, go here.
Day 2 of U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics trials: Rotation-by-rotation recap
Four Tokyo Olympians are going back to another Summer Games, but injuries to three contenders for the U.S. team this week at trials in Minneapolis opened up an opportunity for a teenager to make her first Olympics.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
July 1, 2024 at 4:01AM
Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey and Hezly Rivera were named to the United States Olympic team in women’s artistic gymnastics Sunday night at Target Center.
Biles is headed to her third Olympics at age 27.
Lee, a 21-year-old from St. Paul, earned an especially-large swell of applause from the crowd. She will compete at her second Olympics after winning gold in the all-around in Tokyo three years ago.
Chiles, 23, and Carey, 24, completed the quartet of Tokyo Olympians returning for another Games.
Rivera, a 16-year-old from New Jersey, is the youngest member of the squad (she is, in fact, currently the youngest member of Team USA going to Paris) and the only member making her Olympic debut.
Leanne Wong, 20, and Joscelyn Roberson, 18, will travel as alternates. Wong was an alternate for the Tokyo Olympic team as well.
Here’s how the night played out:
9:28 p.m.: Simone Biles wins Olympic trials; Suni Lee second
Simone Biles’ floor routine began to the opening beats of Taylor Swift’s “Ready for It?” And Biles is ready for it — it, being the Paris Olympics.
By finishing in first in the all-around competition at trials at Target Center, Biles booked an automatic ticket to this summer’s Olympics, without any deliberation from the officials. But the standing ovation Biles received as she left the floor and sat on the nearby stairs, smiling and waving, showed that it wouldn’t have been much of a choice for the officials anyway.
Biles’ greatest competition was … Biles, who is headed to her third Olympics. Her 14.725 on floor was second-best of the trials — behind only herself, on Friday. At 27, she’ll be the oldest American female gymnast at the Olympics since the 1950s.
For the rest of the trials field, the wait begins as the officials select the rest of the team.
Suni Lee was beaming before she even landed her vault, grinning into her small hop. Her 14.100 improved on her Friday vault score by .575; she had been the vaulter to follow Kayla DiCello after her rotation one injury on vault that night. Lee made hearts with her hands toward the hometown crowd as she finished up her night in second in the all-around.
Hezley Rivera also boosted her vault score considerably, a 14.200 Sunday compared to Friday’s 13.575. Rivera stuck her landing, the last punctuation of the 16-year-old making her Olympic case to the officials.
As rotation four progressed, each gymnast began to receive a standing ovation after completing their routines — something that was saved for a small handful of gymnasts at the men’s trials Saturday.
Beside the floor exercise mat, Jordan Chiles took a moment to look upward, eyes closed, breathing deep before her floor routine. The rest of the gymnasts stood nearby, joining the crowd in its cheers that, after a nailed pass across the floor, almost drowned out the routine’s music. Chiles finished third in the all-around and, after embracing her teammates, was right back to the corner near where the final competitor, Jade Carey, stood waiting to begin her floor routine, ready to cheer.
Carey nailed her last pass across the floor to the end of “Seven Nation Army” and scored a 14.150. Joscelyn Roberson matched her night one 13.925 on floor. Leanne Wong’s fourth rotation vault of 14.500 helped her finish with the trials’ best vault scores after Biles and Carey.
Chiles wouldn’t let the deliberation wait be a quiet one. After the last routine of the night, she ran across the vault, waving her arms and pumping up the crowd.
Final all-around standings
1. Simone Biles, 117.225
2. Suni Lee, 111.675
3. Jordan Chiles, 111.425
4. Jade Carey, 111.350
5. Hezly Rivera, 111.150
6. Joscelyn Roberson, 110.975
7. Leanne Wong, 110.425
8. Tiana Sumanasekera, 109.550
9. Kaliya Lincoln, 109.400
8:50 p.m.: More wobbles on the beam
After Simone Biles’ wobbly beam routine on Friday, she left the apparatus looking visibly frustrated. On Sunday, she smoothed out each wobbly pass that caused hiccups on Day 1, but came off the beam shortly before her dismount, a misplaced front heel causing her to teeter and hop to the floor. Jordan Chiles did the same later in the rotation, another top all-arounder coming off the beam in her night two routine.
Still, Biles left the beam grinning this time, her 13.900 behind just Suni Lee and Tiana Sumanasekera’s beam scores from Friday.
She was grinning wider when a 106-year-old World War II veteran interviewed on the jumbotron by the in-arena host said he was there to see his favorite athlete, Biles. From the arena floor, she gave him a big wave with both hands.
Kaliya Lincoln, 18, stepped out of bounds once on the last pass of her floor routine, scoring 13.650. Her night one floor score of 14.150 was second-best behind Biles. A strong floor routine would be part of Lincoln’s path to Olympic selection — a gymnast that the U.S. would want to be confident entering in the event while going for gold on the all-around.
If floor is a part of Lincoln’s path to the Olympics, then beam is a key factor for Tiana Sumanasekera, 16. She had Friday’s second-highest beam score and matched it Sunday: 13.950. But Hezly Rivera, also 16, scored higher on her beam routine earlier in the night, with a 14.275. Good for Rivera’s chances, less so for Sumanasekera.
A member of last year’s World Championships team, Joscelyn Roberson continued a solid all-around performance on night two, with a 14.050 on beam. Combining both nights, Roberson and Rivera’s beam scores are identical.
All-around standings after third rotation
1. Simone Biles, 102.500
2. Suni Lee, 97.575
3. Jordan Chiles, 97.325
4. Jade Carey, 97.200
5. Joscelyn Roberson, 97.050
6. Hezly Rivera, 96.950
7. Leanne Wong, 95.925
8. Tiana Sumanasekera, 95.825
9. Kaliya Lincoln, 95.150
8:10 p.m.: Suni Lee struggles on beam
Suni Lee’s Sunday beam looked different from her beam routine on Friday. On Friday, she scored the highest on beam than any other gymnast (14.400). But in Sunday’s second rotation, Lee came off the beam after her mount and needed several balance checks to stay on the bar during the rest of the routine. She scored 12.825, with execution deductions knocking down her routine’s high difficulty score.
On uneven bars, Simone Biles matched Jordan Chiles’ score from rotation one (14.200). Uneven bars is the one event Biles doesn’t have an Olympic medal in, but her combined bars scores from both nights of trials is still second behind Lee.
Jade Carey scored a 13.075 on high bars, a lower score than her Friday routine. But Carey’s strengths are in vault and floor. She had the second-highest vault score of the trials in the first rotation, behind Biles.
Carey won a gold on floor at the Tokyo Olympics, where she was not a part of the team competition. That’s no longer the way the Olympics organizes its gymnastics competitions, so Carey is looking for her strengths to land her a spot for the team event. Floor will be her last rotation.
Among gymnasts vying to make their first Olympics, 16-year-old Hezly Rivera improved her beam score by .575 from Friday, performing the second-most difficult beam routine of the second rotation, behind Lee. Rivera’s first-rotation bars score of 14.300 was higher than Biles and Chiles in rotation two. She is now in fifth in the all-around standings.
All-around standings after second rotation
1. Simone Biles, 88.600
2. Jordan Chiles, 85.100
3. Suni Lee, 83.725
4. Jade Carey, 83.575
5. Hezly Rivera, 83.400
6. Joscelyn Roberson, 83.000
7. Leanne Wong, 82.300
8. Tiana Sumanasekera, 81.875
9. Kaliya Lincoln, 81.500
7:35 p.m.: Suni Lee stuns on uneven bars
It didn’t take long to get the first standing ovation of the night. With each of Suni Lee’s skills on the uneven bars, the Target Center crowd gasped and clapped. When Lee stuck her dismount, the crowd rose to its feet. Her 14.875 on the bars in rotation one is the highest bars score of either night of the trials so far, thanks to its high difficulty rating and her execution.
Simone Biles was the last gymnast to compete on vault, attempting her namesake move but stepping out the landing. But it’s the most difficult vault for a reason; even with the stumble, Biles scored a 15.500, the second-highest vault score of the trials behind her attempt on Friday night.
Jordan Chiles scored a 14.500 on vault, an increase from her Friday score with her UCLA coach Janelle McDonald cheering from the front row of the stands. Chiles and Lee are now tied in second behind Biles in the all-around.
Hezly Rivera’s 14.300 on bars is the fourth-highest bars routine score of trials. She moved up to sixth in the standings.
Next up, Lee’s group rotates to beam, while Biles’ group competes on bars.
All-around standings after first rotation
1. Simone Biles, 74.400
2. (tie) Jordan Chiles, 70.900
2. (tie) Suni Lee, 70.900
4. Jade Carey, 70.500
5. Joscelyn Roberson, 69.975
6. Hezly Rivera, 69.125
7. Tiana Sumanasekera, 69.050
8. Leanne Wong, 68.650
9. Kaliya Lincoln, 68.325
Day 2 preview
Simone Biles and St. Paul’s Suni Lee, the last two Olympic all-around gold medalists in women’s gymnastics, shone on Day 1 of the United States Olympic trials Friday at Target Center. But the shadow of injuries to three top contenders for the Paris Games loomed over the competition.
On Wednesday in training, Skye Blakely, a member of the gold medal-winning teams at the last two world championships, ruptured her Achilles and withdrew from trials the next day.
Then in Friday’s warmups, another member of those world championship teams, Shilese Jones, injured her knee on vault. She competed only on high bars that night and later confirmed she would not compete Sunday, though the extent of her injury is not yet known.
Also on vault, 2023 Pan American Games all-around champion Kayla DiCello had to be helped off the floor after the first attempt of rotation one. DiCello confirmed on social media that she had also ruptured her Achilles, ending her Olympic hopes.
Heading into the second night of trials with a dramatically altered field, 13 gymnasts will compete for five spots on the Olympic team, plus two traveling alternate spots. Biles currently leads in the all-around standings, followed Jordan Chiles, Lee, Jade Carey and Joscelyn Roberson.
The scores from Sunday’s competition will be combined with Friday’s results, and the all-around winner will automatically qualify for the Paris Games. The other four members of the team, and the alternates, will be selected by a three-person committee.
Tonight’s competition begins at 7 p.m. and will be aired on NBC and streamed on Peacock, which will also offer individual apparatus streams.
After the gymnasts rotate through each of the four events, officials will deliberate and the Olympic team will be announced at 9:50 p.m.
Lee will begin on the uneven bars, then go to balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
Biles, who is expected to qualify for her third Olympics at age 27, will start on vault, then go to bars, beam and floor.
Unlike the men’s team, which used a strict mathematical formula to select the highest-scoring roster for the team event in Paris, the women’s team has more discretionary criteria. And discretion will be needed after all the injuries this week.
All-around standings after Day 1 of U.S. Olympic trials
1. Simone Biles, 58.900
2. Jordan Chiles, 56.400
3. Suni 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
Two Gophers on 29-player list as teams prepare for World Junior Tournament in late December.
