
Experience combined with skill puts the U.S. women’s gymnastics team in a strong position to win the Olympic team gold medal.
This month’s five female athletes consisted of four 2020 Tokyo Olympic team members. With four Olympic medalists and two all-around champions, the 2024 Paris squad is the most accomplished and decorated in American history.
The star is Simone Biles, who has won 37 medals at the Olympics and international championships. She has two bronzes, one silver, four golds, and the most sought medal in the sport—the Olympic all-around gold medal—in her collection of Olympic medals.
Since she is the current world champion in the all-around, beam, floor, and team events, she is tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by American gymnasts. She is expected to break this record in Paris.
Suni Lee, the current Olympic all-around champion, Jordan Chiles, the silver medalist, Jade Carey, the gold medalist, and Hezly Rivera, a first-year senior, will be joining Biles in Paris.
Biles referred to the upcoming Olympics as the returners from Tokyo’s “redemption tour.”
“I think we all have more to give, and we weren’t at our best in Tokyo,” Biles remarked on Sunday during the Minneapolis Olympic trials. “We have a lot of pressure to go out there and show that we’re better athletes, even though we weren’t in the best of situations either.”
After a couple of surprisingly poor decisions, Team USA had to settle for the silver medal in the Tokyo team competition. Before being forced to retire from the competition due to a case of the “twisties,” Biles got disoriented in midair during her vault, while Chiles collapsed during the floor exercise.
This week, Biles declared, “We’re more consistent, smarter, and mature.”
The current conflict in Ukraine has prohibited Russian gymnasts from competing in Paris, thus the Brazilian and Chinese teams are anticipated to be the U.S. women’s main competitors in the team competition.
The Brazilian team, which includes Rebeca Andrade, who debuted in Rio alongside Biles, is likewise well-equipped with Olympic experience and hardware. With her gold in the vault and silver in the all-around, she became the first Brazilian to win an Olympic medal in women’s artistic gymnastics in Tokyo.
After winning its first world medal as a team last year, Brazil is aiming for its first Olympic team medal.
The United States is brimming with seasoned talent, aside from Biles. On the uneven bars, where she now holds the bronze medal from the Olympics, Lee is a phenomenon. She took home three medals from Tokyo, one for each color, in addition to the silver she helped Team USA win in the team final.
Lee declared on Sunday, “I want to make all-around finals.” “I really want to win a beam gold, and I want to finish in the top three for the bars final.”
She said, “I feel like I always make it to the final and then I always mess up, it’s so annoying.”
She qualified for the Olympic beam final in the Tokyo Games and might win an Olympic medal in that competition. Among the top scores in the world, this year is her 14.600 beam score at the Core Hydration Classic.
The current Olympic floor champion, Carey, just missed the podium in Tokyo’s vault competition. She was second behind Biles going into the vault final, but she stumbled on the runway during the competition—a freak event she claims inspired her Olympic return.
“Most of us will admit that we desire atonement because we’ve all had something go wrong,” Carey remarked upon her selection for the second Olympic team.
Her experience was hindered by a postponement and various Covid-related restrictions, the same as that of the other Tokyo Olympians. She is anticipating a more engaging Olympic setting in Paris.
“I’m really looking forward to meeting other athletes, having our families there, and having a normal experience,” Carey remarked.
Rivera expressed faith in her colleagues to mentor her through the spotlight of the Olympics, despite her lack of experience.
The 16-year-old added on Sunday, “They’ve already been through it, they’ve been through the journey, they’ve been to the Olympic Games, they’ve been through the pressure.” “I believe they will be able to guide and support me greatly, not only during the competition but also during the entire training process.”
At the age of 27, Biles will be the oldest American female gymnast to compete in the Olympics in seventy-two years.
The majority of the squad, all except one, are in their 20s, which is a significant change from the American gymnastics teams that won gold medals in the past. Compared to the “Fierce Five” from the London 2012 Olympics, whose average age was 16.4, this year’s squad is over six years older.
That team consisted of first-time Olympians, as did the 2008 Olympic team.
Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas were the two Olympic returnees from the Rio 2016 squad. Biles was the only member of the team with prior Olympic experience in Tokyo.
Raisman’s colleagues referred to her as the “grandmother” when she was 22 years old during the Rio Games.
“I feel like I’m much older now, so I have to apologize to Aly for calling her “Grandma” Biles stated. “I just need to give recovery a little more thought. When I was in Rio, I was infinitely capable. I was always running, exactly like a small hamster on a wheel.”