HARTFORD, Conn. – The country's best gymnasts competed at the US Classic on Saturday night at the XL Center, offering a first look at who has the best chance of making the squad for the five-member Olympic team heading to Paris in July.
It was a night marked by injuries and falls: Konnor McClain suffered an Achilles tendon injury while warming up on floor and Gabby Douglas left the competition after suffering two falls in her opening parallel bars event. But there were still some bright spots. Simone Biles won the all-around and floor titles and came second on bars and beam, and a number of other gymnasts made good cases for their place on the Olympic team.
So who has the best chance of booking their ticket to Paris at this point, with two major competitions remaining – the US Gymnastics Championships and the Olympic Trials? Here's our outlook so far, based solely on Saturday's competition.
No spotter, no problem.@Simone_Biles scores a 15,600 in the Vault with the Biles II.#CoreClassic | @NBCOlympics | @TeamUSA pic.twitter.com/QvotvGRKQD
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) May 19, 2024
Level 1: Simone Biles
She's the GOAT for a reason, and the 27-year-old Biles proved that again with a memorable performance on Saturday. In his first competition of 2024, Biles was strong in all four events, finishing the all-around with a 1.85 point lead over runner-up Shilese Jones. In typical Biles fashion, her high level of difficulty and high-flying skills (some even named after her) were on full display throughout the night. She performed her triple-twist-double on floor for the first time since 2021, and her Yurchenko double-pike on vault earned the highest score of the night in any event at 15.600.
Biles appears to be a lock for her third Olympic team.
Level 2: The top favorite is not called Simone Biles
While Biles is in a category all her own, so is Shilese Jones, who has further increased the distance between her and the rest of the field. On Saturday, thanks in part to her amazing 15.250 bar routine, Jones held the overall lead at the halfway point of the competition and appeared to be giving Biles a run for her money. Although she was unable to maintain her lead, she finished the race more than two points ahead of Jordan Chiles, who secured the bronze medal, and everyone else. She also won the parallel bars title and finished in a tie for second place on floor. As a six-time world medalist, Jones has already made a name for herself on the world stage and has once again proven that she is currently one of the best.
“I have more confidence,” Jones said after the competition about how her mentality has changed over the course of the quad leading up to the Olympics. “I've grown a bit, gotten older at the same time, moved back home and I'm just trying to build confidence every time I compete. Before, I was the outsider; I have the feeling.” 1716098104 I'm just showing the world and proving myself.
Shilese Jones. Uneven bars. 15,250. 🤯.
Experience #CoreClassic on CNBC and Peacock! pic.twitter.com/DrauNc693n
— USA Gymnastics (@USAGym) May 19, 2024
Level 3: The other favorites
Jordan Chiles: A fan favorite and member of the silver medal-winning team in Tokyo, the 23-year-old's strong performance reminded everyone why she played such an important role in the last Olympics. Chiles – who was left out of the world team in the fall – was the epitome of consistency on Saturday when many others were struggling with nerves. And she saved the best for her final routine of the evening on the parallel bars, where she achieved a score of 14.300 – good enough for a tie for third place.
Jade Carey: The 2020 Olympic floor champion has had mixed results at the elite level over the past year, but looked largely similar to her previous form on Saturday. With the exception of a fall on parallel bars, Carey was on the podium in all three other events and won the vault title. Her final score of 54.400 was good enough for fourth place in the all-around.
“I feel like I'm getting a little better every day and in the end I'm taking another step toward my goal,” Carey told ESPN on Saturday after the meeting. “I would say I'm on the right track to peak at the right time.” Suni Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion, won beam on Saturday. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
Skye Blakely: The 19-year-old was a member of the previous two gold medal-winning world teams and was already in the mix for Paris, but an impressive showing in all four events in Hartford only strengthened her case. Blakely placed second on vault and did not score lower than 13.200 on any event, resulting in a top-five finish in the all-around.
Suni Lee: After returning to competition last month after being diagnosed with a career-threatening kidney disease, the Tokyo all-around gold medalist only competed in three events on Saturday, but she counted. Lee was solid on vault and floor, winning the beam title with a nearly flawless performance of 14.600m in her final round of the evening. After choosing to skip parallel bars – her signature discipline – Lee said afterwards that she expected to compete on the apparatus at the U.S. Championships.
“[My plan is to do] “It's just important for me to go out and compete on parallel bars and beam, all at once, and train my body to persevere” for the rest of the season.
