Before the official start of the second day of the women’s competition at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials, 80% of the five-person team was almost locked in.
Simone Biles, Suny Lee, Jordan Chiles and Jade Carey emerged from the injury-stricken squad on night one to claim a top four all-around spot as the Tokyo Olympics The foursome work together to form a well-rounded team.
But unlike the Tokyo Olympics, the rhythmic gymnastics event at the Paris Olympics will consist of five-person teams. Three staunch contenders for the team, Shilese Jones, Skye Blakely and Kayla DiCello, withdrew due to injuries sustained while competing in Minneapolis Trials. Jones, the favorite to make the team, injured her knee during Friday’s vault warmup and did not compete on Sunday. Blakely ruptured his Achilles tendon during podium drills before Wednesday’s competition, and DiCero suffered the same injury during his first vault on Friday.
After two days of intense, unpredictable competition, Hazley Rivera earned his spot on a team that features four seasoned veterans.
Olympic team finals required In the “three on three” competition system, three athletes compete on each device, and all three scores are included in the competition. Team USA can fill the three spots in each event with Biles, Lee, Chiles and Carey, but that combination has slight weaknesses on the uneven bars and balance beam that could be improved by adding another gymnast. Enter the lineup and contribute a few more points.
Enter Rivera.
The 2023 junior all-around national champion made his senior elite debut earlier this year and just turned 16 in early June. She doesn’t have much experience competing internationally, but she was part of the team that won a silver medal at last year’s Junior World Championships. Rivera, born in Oradell, N.J., trained under Maggie Haney, coach of 2016 Olympian Laurie Hernandez, but Haney is currently serving a five-year suspension USA Gymnastics verbally and emotionally abuses athletes. Rivera and her family moved to Texas, where she now trains at WOGA under the guidance of Valeri Liukin, who coached him in 2008 His daughter Nastia won the Olympic all-around title.
Her practice on the uneven bars and balance beam are key elements in how she fits into the team-building puzzle. Her 6.1 difficulty score on bars puts her over 14.000 on the shot, and she can also contribute points ranging from an upper 13 to a lower 14.00 on the beam with a 6.0 difficulty score.
On Sunday, she scored 14.300 on beam and 14.275 on balance beam, which tied her for first in those events.
Imagine being a high school junior and competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials? !
For 16-year-old Hezly Rivera, that dream has become a reality. #USAGTrials24 pic.twitter.com/n8A9wmsMgQ
— NBC Olympics and Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 1, 2024
Her two lower-scoring events — vault and floor exercise — weren’t a problem, as Biles, Chiles and Carey excelled on those machines. In Paris, if Lee has been suffering from kidney-related health issues and is unable to perform on competition day, she may have been counted on to perform on beam in the team finals and as an alternate option in the bars lineup.
When the stakes are high and even some veterans get nervous, Rivera proves she can handle the pressure. Now she is going to Paris.
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(Photo: Andy Lyon/Getty Images)
