“She is a role model for many young women around the world, and now she is back,” said psychologist Robert Andrews, American gymnast Simone Biles’ primary therapist.
10 years after taking charge of Biles’ mental health, Andrews talked with the Spanish media “Relevo,” where he revealed the secrets to treating a world-class athlete.
“I worked on this with Simone from March 2013 to July 2017,” the specialist indicated during the talk.
He explained that he was free to talk about part of the treatment because the gymnast had already done it in her book and biographical film.
The therapist recalled that the hardest battle he and Biles faced was “fighting that old culture of stoicism where it seems like a gymnast is not having fun.”
Another challenge was the insecurity of someone who is considered the best gymnast of all time. “She wasn’t very sure of herself. Simone didn’t really believe in herself. That’s what we started to work on, helping her develop her confidence,” he said.
Andrews explained that to overcome these obstacles they had to “work hard to keep her empowered and so that she could continue to appear that way despite a culture that did not allow it.”
Simone gets the reward
Her psychological hard work paid off in 2013, when she won the first of three consecutive world medals in the individual all-around: Antwerp 2013, Nanning 2014, and Glasgow 2015.
“At the Rio Games, she won four Olympic golds and one bronze medal,”Andrews recalled, although he admitted there could have been five golds if not for an ill-timed slip on the balance beam.
Biles’ success also deeply impacted the specialist’s career: “I had to hire four people in my practice due to the work overload that arrived in 2016.”
One of the keys to success in treating the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic champion was helping her “take her foot off the accelerator or, in other words, not use so much energy,”Andrews explained.
He detailed that a couple of years ago, she was struggling to master a new skill for her routines, so he texted her: “Remember the concept of taking your foot off the gas.”
He highlighted the courage she displayed to pause her career in 2016 to care for her mental health despite the barrage of criticism. “I think the best example is that she retired and not only made that decision for her mental health but also her physical health.”
“What Simone did was defend herself mentally, physically, and emotionally,” said Andrews, and he also highlighted that the athlete’s example“gave many athletes permission to ask for help.”
Simone Biles recently became one of the most successful gymnasts in the world by earning her 37th medal, and while many news outlets are talking about her success including the respected Wall Street Journal, they made a mistake that could’ve been corrected, however, they left it as is.
The Wall Street Journal used a photo of another gymnast when promoting a tweet
The Wall Street Journal made an embarrassing mistake when writing their piece called “Simone Biles is officially the most decorated gymnast in history” which was set to give praise to the Olympian, however, they used a photo of a different gymnast.
In digital media, many things could be corrected by editing the article, however, before they even tried to change it, Simone Biles caught wind of what happened and called them out with a simple, yet, powerful tweet.
Simone Biles saw the tweet of the WSJ sharing the article on the platform and simply replied to the publication with “This picture isn’t even me, Try again.“.
Immediately, users on the platform started bashing the tweet, “This is really rather poor. One of the world’s greatest sporting icons just happens to be American, and you, an American newspaper, can’t even stretch to using the correct picture of her, at one of her greatest triumphs. What does one call that.” A user commented on Biles’ publication.
The Wall Street Journal had promoted the tweet and then deleted the post, but not before she caught the mistake, according to The Spun, the WSJ apologized to Biles and then changed the photo to an accurate one.
“I am sorry they did this to you. Congratulations though on all you have accomplished in the last few days. You are amazing.” Added another user.
Simone Biles had an exceptional comeback to competitive gymnastics winning four gold medals at the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
Simone Biles closed out an incredible comeback meet after a two‑year layoff by winning gold on the balance beam and floor exercise at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships as Britain’s Jake Jarman became world champion for the first time by winning the men’s vault competition.
“When I woke up this morning, I felt good,” Jarman said. “I just had a good feeling. I think it’s not really sunk in yet; it will probably sink in when I get home and relax. I’m just super happy to take my career to this stage.”
Biles, after two years away from international competition, has seamlessly resumed her dominance with five medals in Antwerp, winning gold in the all-around, team, balance beam and floor exercise competitions in addition to silver on the vault. Biles has a record 37 medals at world championships and Olympic Games.
It has been clear for some time that Jarman was capable of competing for world titles but last weekend his place in the final was in significant doubt. During the qualifying round the 21-year-old Briton fell while attempting his Yonekura vault, which packs in a total of three and a half twists.
“As soon as I sat that first vault down, I was definitely gutted, I was heartbroken,” he said. “Instantly, in my head, I was like: ‘I have not done it.’”
Such is the difficulty of his vaults, though, he scored well enough to sneak into the final. In the final, the difficulty of his two vaults was considerably greater than those of all of his competitors, who had no response after he nailed the Yonekura vault and the famed Dragulescu vault, a front double somersault with a half twist.
The final day of Biles’s comeback meet ended with a demonstration of her supreme mental strength and competitive fire. After a long, exhausting competition, the 26‑year‑old American saved her best balance beam routine for when it was most needed in the final, weaving through without a single balance check. Biles scored 14.800, edging out Zhou Yaqin of China by a tenth.
Biles closed out her meet by holding off Rebeca Andrade of Brazil to win her fourth gold medal on the floor exercise. Andrade, who beat Biles to gold on vault, has proven a worthy rival and their mutual admiration was clear. The 24‑year‑old enjoyed a historic championships herself, a bronze on the balance beam meaning she also left Antwerp with five medals.
Simone Biles has done it yet again, clinching her 20th gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championship and leading the U.S. women’s team to their historic 7th consecutive victory.
There is no question that Simone Biles is the greatest gymnast that has ever set foot on the mat. Her domination in the sport has been unparalleled, and she has earned every bit of praise she has received as a gymnast.
However, there’s a solid argument to be made that she isn’t just the GOAT of gymnastics, but truly the greatest athlete of all time. Yes, I know, it’s a subjective title, comparing sports is like comparing apples and oranges and people will argue about who deserves that title the most. But hear me out before putting Michael Jordan or Muhammad Ali or Jim Thorpe up against the 4-foot 8-inch wonder that is Simone Biles.
1. She has dominated her sport with the winningest record of all time
This is the easy argument, of course, and one that could be used for any athlete who holds the most gold medals and the most medals overall in their sport. Let’s just see this as the foundation of the GOAT house that Simone built.
Biles has now won 26 world championship medals (20 gold, three silver and three bronze) and seven Olympic medals. That puts her at the top of women’s gymnastics historical record and has her tied with Belarus’ Vitaly Scherbo for most gymnastics medals, male or female, earned on the world stage.
2. She can do things no one else in her sport can do
There’s winning championships, and then there’s pushing your sport forward by inventing new moves or succeeding in feats no one has ever attempted, much less achieved, before.
Biles has done that, not once, not twice, not thrice, but a whopping five times. This single gymnast has five official moves named after her in the international rule book (one on balance beam, two on floor exercise and two on vault). She is pushing the boundaries of the sport like no one else ever has.
Every sport has had individuals who excel at a unique skill. Many of those individuals aren’t also world champions. Most of them don’t have multiple moves that bear their name because no one else has ever done them. Biles has done it all.
Simone Biles is is an effective team leader.
3. She stands out as an individual competitor and as a team leader
Gymnastics is both an individual sport and a team sport, and Biles has proven her skills in both. As an individual competitor, obviously, Biles is No. 1. But she has also led the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team to victory time and time again.
Biles’ teammates praised her leadership skills after she backed out of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 (which we’ll get to in a moment). Though she was no longer competing herself, she stood on the sidelines and became her teammates’ best cheerleader. Her teammates and coaches said that meant the world, and Biles’ unwavering encouragement and support for her fellow gymnasts helped propel them to their own medal-winning performances.
To be able to dominate at the highest level as an individual and be an effective team leader is the mark of an exceptional athlete. Biles does both and makes it look easy.
Simone Biles is a serious competitor
4. She faced a devastating setback in her sport and came back on top
It’s not easy to maintain the status of being “the best” at a sport. Being the best and then having a major setback disrupt your career is even more difficult. Overcoming that setback and returning not only to a high level of competition but jumping back up to the very top is something only GOATs do.
Biles did it. After getting the dreaded “twisties” at the Tokyo Olympics, Biles did the right thing and dropped out of the competition. (The twisties cause a gymnast to lose their sense of place in the air, creating both a frustrating and incredibly dangerous situation.) She could have called it quits then and no one would have blamed her.
But she didn’t. She came back. And unlike some other star athletes who have pushed past their prime and lost some of their competitive edge, Biles is slaying once again, winning world titles like she was born for it.
She balances it with wisdom, but her competitive spirit is unstoppable.
Simone Biles is now 26. Most elite female gymnasts retire by her age.
5. She is well past retirement age and still dominating in her sport
Biles is 26 years old, which isn’t old by most measures, but she’s a bit of a grandma in the world of gymnastics. The average age for elite female gymnasts to retire is 22. There are other competitive gymnasts who are older than Biles, but they aren’t up there on the world championship podium with her. The main reason gymnasts retire so early is the wear and tear gymnastics puts on their bodies. Biles continually pushes her body to do what no one else can do, and she’s still going strong.
Her ability is unparalleled but her longevity is equally impressive. Peak time varies by sport, of course, but for a gymnast to be this dominant for this long is an incredible accomplishment.
Simone Biles is a tiny woman with an enormous legacy.
Honorable mention: She’s a woman in a GOAT field filled with men
Should being a female athlete make a difference? Well, the International Certification of Excellence in Fitness (ICEF) seems to think so, since they made a list of the 10 Greatest Athletes of All Time and there’s not a single female on it.
As the ICEF’s Top 10 list unwittingly demonstrates, male athletes are automatically thought of as better athletes than women, no matter the variables, which is silly. No one is putting Babe Ruth up against Muhammad Ali as having the same or even similar skills, so why are there no women at all on this list?
I’d put Simone Biles up against any of these 10 men for all-time athlete GOAT. Yes, even Michael Jordan, who holds the top spot. He holds records in his sport. He pushed the boundaries of basketball. He was an individual standout and a good team player. He overcame setbacks (more in his personal life than the sport itself, but still) and he came out of retirement twice to keep playing. Heck, he was even famous for defying gravity. Simone Biles has done all of that on a global level—and on a beam 4 inches wide.
No one can argue with a straight face that gymnastics is an easy sport—the years of intense training and discipline and the combination of strength, agility, flexibility, gracefulness and body control elite gymnastics requires are utterly bonkers. Arguably, gymnastics requires more athleticism than many other sports, so Simone Biles’ total domination of the sport for this long at this level certainly qualifies her for GOAT status—not just among gymnasts, but among all athletes of all time.
ANTWERP, Belgium — The U.S. women’s gymnastics team had mistakes in the team final at world championships — and an injury during warmups of the final rotation — but the Americans did more than enough to earn the gold medal, becoming the first team to win seven straight team titles at world championships.
Simone Biles delivered an excellent floor routine in the final rotation to clinch the victory by more than two points over runner-up Brazil. The Americans’ score of 167.729 was well off its mark in the qualifying round, and the winning margin was narrower than their other recent team titles, but they had to overcome a fall on beam, an injury to Joscelyn Roberson and minor miscues throughout the meet.
With its silver, Brazil won its first team medal at world championships or the Olympics, and third-place France rose from seventh in the qualifying round to win the bronze. China had a solid performance but couldn’t stay in medal position because of it’s low difficulty scores on vault.
Two years after her emotional Tokyo Olympics exit, US superstar Simone Biles made a spectacular and dramatic return to international gymnastics at the world championships on Sunday.
The 26-year-old successfully became the first female gymnast to execute a “Yurchenko double pike vault” now renamed “Biles II” during women’s qualifying.
Her ambitious return earned her 15.266 points, far ahead of the competition.
In total, she accumulated 58.865 points at the end of the four apparatuses and took the lead in qualifying.
A 19-time world and four-time Olympic champion, Biles arrived in Japan for the 2021 Olympics as the huge favourite thanks to her four titles won five years earlier in Rio.
However, she broke down in full view of a global audience, withdrawing from most of the events.
She then explained that she was fighting against “twisties”, a temporary mental block whereby gymnasts lose their sense of where they are in the air, with the risk of injury when they land.
She returned to action at the beginning of August and demonstrated that she had lost none of her incredible level.
US’ Simone Biles competes in the balance beam during the women’s qualifying session at the 52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, in Antwerp, northern Belgium, on October 1, 2023. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)
US’ Simone Biles competes during the women’s qualifying session at the 52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, in Antwerp, northern Belgium, on October 1, 2023. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)
She won the US Classic, where she obtained the best scores on vault, floor and beam, followed by a record eighth US all-around title at the national championships.
“I think what success means to me is a little bit different than before because before everyone defined success for me, even if I had my own narrative that I wanted,” Biles told Olympics.com prior to the world championships.
“So, now, it’s just showing up, being in a good head place, having fun out there, and whatever happens, happens.”
On Sunday, she also competed on the uneven bars for 14.400 points, balance beam where she scored 14.566 and then soared on the floor exercise for a reward of 14.633.
That paved the way for her spectacular vault.
Biles and her USA team will now go for team gold on Wednesday in Antwerp.
– Chiba inspires Japan –
Meanwhile, Kenta Chiba led the way as Japan dominated the men’s team all-around qualifiers.
With 258.228 points, they are four points ahead of the United States and Britain.
They also occupy the first three places in the individual standings.
With a total of 85.799 points, Chiba finished first ahead of teammate Kazuma Kaya (85.598) and Daiki Hashimoto (85.432), the reigning Olympic and world champion in the individual all-around.
Only two competitors from each country can compete in the all-around final, so Hashimoto should have been left out.
But his team, as the regulations allow, said they preferred to retain Hashimoto at the expense of Kaya.
The floor, pommel horse, rings and high bars were also dominated by the reigning Olympic champions of each apparatus.
The qualification rounds are also used to allocate the last team places for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, the Netherlands and Ukraine have secured their places joining China, Britain and Japan who were already qualified.
France, however, missed out on a berth at their own Olympics after finishing 19th in qualifying.
“We knew we had to achieve something almost perfect to qualify,” said one of the team, Jim Zona.
France also failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
In today’s episode of Racism Is A Global Phenomenon, a resurfaced 2022 clip showing a young Black girl getting passed over for a medal at a gymnastics ceremony in Ireland while every white competitor on the stage received their awards has gone viral.
The clip has garnered so much attention that a legendary Olympian has confirmed that she took action to support the snubbed Black girl in question.
According to CNN, the video footage is from a GymStart event that took place in March 2022. And yes, it does appear that the Black girl at GymStart got passed on by like she was a Black girl at Sesame Place. As folks on social media were outraged by the perceivable racist snub, Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles weighed in on it saying the girl’s parents “reached out” and that it “broke my heart to see, so I sent her a little video.”
“There is no room for racism in any sport or at all!!!!” Biles declared.
According to The Irish Independent, which interviewed the girl’s mother under the condition of anonymity this week, Biles sent the family a video in which she said, “I wanted to let you know that I saw how you were treated at your GymStart event recently. I was completely shocked and wanted to let you know that you deserve a medal just like all of the other girls.”
“I know you’ve worked incredibly hard at the sport and I wanted to say I am rooting for you from here,” she continued. “Sending you my very best and know that there are so many of us here to support you.”
Meanwhile, Gymnastics Ireland said in a statement that the official who ignored the Black gymnast “accepted fully that what had happened had not been acceptable but stressed that it had not been intentional.”
“The official concerned said that upon realising the mistake they immediately rectified it and ensured that the competitor concerned was presented with her medal before she left the Field of Play,” the statement continued, adding that the official has expressed “deep regret” for their “honest error.”
Look, there’s roughly a dozen girls on that stage and we’re to believe it was just an accident that the lone Black girl got passed up? Just saying, that puts a whole new spin on, “I don’t see color.”
Gymnastics Ireland also noted that a “written apology provided by the identified individual has since been issued to the competitor and her family,” but, according to the girl’s mother, that matters were never settled and the apology they received was not “genuine.”
“We are often the only Black family at gymnastics events and this has been very hurtful for us,” the mother told The Independent. “Now eight million people have seen the video. From Pakistan to Ethiopia they can see this was wrong but Gymnastics Ireland still can’t accept it and say sorry.”
Simone Biles is joined by three more past world champions on the most decorated U.S. women’s gymnastics team — by previous medals won — in world championships history.
Biles, a record 25-time world medalist, earned the first spot on the roster for October’s worlds by winning a selection camp all-around competition Tuesday (by a matter of inches).
A selection committee picked the other four women — announced Wednesday — who will travel to Antwerp, Belgium, for worlds that start Oct. 1.
The group includes 2022 World champion team members Shilese Jones (a three-time world medalist), Leanne Wong (a three-time world medalist) and Skye Blakely.
Joscelyn Roberson, a world championships rookie, rounds out the team. Kayla DiCello, the 2021 World all-around bronze medalist, is the alternate.
Biles’ 25 medals alone are more than any previous U.S. women’s team totaled going into a worlds.
It’s the second time that four members of a U.S. women’s team competing at a worlds already own world championships gold medals.
In 2015, Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman and Madison Kocian were returning world champions.
The U.S. is going for a seventh consecutive world women’s team title, a streak that began in 2011.
The only nation to beat the U.S. at worlds or the Olympics in the last 15 years is Russia, which has been banned from international competition for the last year and a half due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Biles, 26, is set to become the first U.S. gymnast to compete at six worlds and the oldest U.S. woman to compete at worlds in more than 50 years. She competed in August for the first time since the Tokyo Games. In her first three all-arounds, she posted the world’s top three scores in this Olympic cycle, according to the Gymternet.
Jones, 21, considered quitting elite gymnastics after placing 10th at the Tokyo Olympic Trials. A year later, she placed second in the world.
This year, she returned from a torn labrum in her shoulder from February to place second to Biles at August’s U.S. Championships and at the selection camp. She would have become the second gymnast to outscore Biles in a one-day all-around in the last decade if her feet didn’t brush the mat on her closing uneven bars routine Tuesday.
Wong, who turned 20 on Wednesday, is set to compete at a third consecutive worlds. A Tokyo Olympic alternate, she was then the 2021 World all-around silver medalist. She made the 2022 World team after her freshman season at the University of Florida. She placed third in the all-around at last month’s nationals after her sophomore year in Gainesville.
Blakely was, at 17, the youngest member of the team at the 2022 Worlds, where she placed fifth on the balance beam. This year, she was fourth in the all-around at nationals and third at the selection camp.
Roberson, 17, went from 18th in her senior nationals debut last year to making the world team this year. In between, she moved from the Texas-Arkansas border city of Texarkana to train at Biles’ gym outside Houston. Her best events are floor exercise and vault.
Jade Carey, the Olympic floor gold medalist and reigning world champion on vault, and Jordan Chiles, an Olympic team silver medalist, did not make the team.
Carey had the highest first vault score at the selection camp but was 11th and 17th on floor, respectively, at nationals (where she was dealing with an arm injury) and the selection camp.
Chiles was fifth in the all-around at nationals and ninth at the selection camp. She took a break after her sophomore season at UCLA and had an abbreviated, month-long run-up to compete at summer elite meets.
Suni Lee, the Tokyo Olympic all-around champion, declined an invitation to the selection camp. Lee posted Wednesday that it was a difficult decision, she prioritized her health and that she’s “not in the best shape” right now.
She trained and competed through two kidney diseases this summer, limiting her to two apparatuses at nationals.
The U.S. Women’s world team selection camp, which will also determine the team for the Pan American Games, is set for September 19-20 in Katy, Texas.
The selection camp consists of two days of competition:
Tuesday, September 19 @ 6:50 p.m. ET: All-Around competition
Wednesday, September 20 @ 6:15 p.m. ET: Select events
Per the world team selection procedures, “Day two, athletes compete on a minimum of one event as requested by the Athlete Selection Committee (ASC). The athlete may request to show events that the ASC does not request.”
The highest scoring all-around athlete from the first day of competition at the selection camp will automatically qualify to the six-member team. The ASC will select the five remaining members of the team, one of which will be a traveling alternate, based on discretionary selection criteria outlined in the selection procedures.
The team is expected to be named on the evening of September 20, but as has often been the case in the past with the U.S. women’s team, the alternate may not be named until 24 hours prior to the start of qualifications, at the latest.
The 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships are set for September 30 to October 8 in Antwerp, Belgium. The 2023 Pan American Games will take place October 21 to November 4 in Santiago, Chile.
Field and favorites for the 2023 U.S. women’s world team selection camp
USA Gymnastics announced the field for the U.S. women’s world team selection camp on Tuesday, September 13, with 19 athletes slated to compete.
Reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee was invited to camp but has opted to not participate as she continues to battle a kidney-related health issue that has impacted her ability to train since March. Lee showed world-competitive balance beam routines at the Core Hydration Classic and Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships in August but was still limited to vault and beam at both events.
U.S. women’s world team selection camp field
Simone Biles
Skye Blakely
Jade Carey
Jordan Chiles
Kayla DiCello
Amelia Disidore
Addison Fatta
Madray Johnson
Shilese Jones
Katelyn Jong
Kaliya Lincoln
Eveylynn Lowe
Nola Matthews
Zoe Miller
Joscelyn Roberson
Tiana Sumanasekera
Leanne Wong
Lexi Zeiss
Alicia Zhou
Barring unforeseen circumstances, Biles is likely to earn the automatic berth to the world team on Day 1 of competition after winning championships by nearly four points (two-day combined) and the Classic by five points.
Expected to join her on the team is reigning world all-around silver medalist and championships runner-up Shilese Jones, who is also the reigning world silver medalist on bars. Other favorites include 2021 world all-around silver medalist Leanne Wong and Skye Blakely – both of whom were part of the 2022 world team with Jones that won gold in the team competition.
The fifth spot is the most contentious.
Reigning world vault and Olympic floor champion Jade Carey and reigning world vault and floor silver medalist Jordan Chiles have yet to show a full return to elite form as they did a year ago ahead of Liverpool. Both gymnasts, along with Wong, are coming off long NCAA seasons in the spring for the second year in a row. The adjustment period – which consists of resting post-NCAA and then ramping up numbers and modifying routines to the elite code – varies from gymnast to gymnast.
After finishing fifth in the all-around at championships, Chiles said she had only been back in the gym training elite for five weeks but that she expects to “be at the point that [she needs] to be when that time comes.” The UCLA standout did not compete two vaults at championships but could boost her stock by adding a second at camp.
Meanwhile, Carey struggled with execution across events at nationals and was dealing with an apparent shoulder injury that caused her to not be able to feel her arm at one point, according to the broadcast. She finished 15th all-around and third on vault.
Joscelyn Roberson won vault at championships after her World Champions Centre teammate, Biles, opted to not compete the Yurchenko double pike on Day 2 as a precaution. Roberson has had a breakout season internationally, winning eight individual medals – four of which were gold – across two world cups and the Pan American Championships. Roberson’s strengths are vault, floor, and beam. She’s still improving on bars, but the Arkansas commit could slot into that fifth spot nicely as a promising event specialist with medal potential. It might be her first worlds, but Roberson has proven herself again and again this year on big stages.
Another name that could be a dark horse for the team is Kaliya Lincoln – the only other U.S. athlete currently competing a difficulty score above 6.0 on floor besides Biles and Roberson. Lincoln earned execution scores over 8.0 on the event both days of championships and could use the senior international experience ahead of next year, but with a number of strong floor workers in contention who can score higher on other events, it’s more likely she’ll get that experience as a member of the Pan Am Games team.
Other top contenders for the five-member Pan Am Games team are Tiana Sumanasekera, Kayla DiCello, Amelia Disidore, and Zoe Miller.
2022 world team alternate and reigning Winter Cup all-around champion Lexi Zeiss had an ankle scope 10 days before championships that limited her to vault and bars at the meet, but depending on her recovery, she could be a contender for that team as well.
Similar to the U.S. men’s situation with Vahe Petrosyan, Katelyn Jong has already earned a nominative (for her only) individual berth to the Pan Am Games for winning the all-around at the 2021 Junior Pan American Games. If Jong qualifies as part of the team or is unable to participate in the meet, her named individual spot will be void and the U.S. will just send the five-person team.
Up to three non-traveling alternates can be named to the Pan Am Games team. See the full selection procedures for discretionary selection criteria.
How to watch the U.S. women’s world team selection camp
Both days of the U.S. women’s world team selection camp competition will be live on USA Gymnastics’ streaming platform, FlipNow.
Viewers can pay a one-time fee of $14.99 to watch both days of competition or buy an annual subscription for $64.99. FlipNow streams select artistic events, as well as USAG’s other disciplines, throughout the year.
The competition will be available internationally and a full replay of the event will be uploaded to the platform if you can’t watch live. The competition is not open to the public.
Live scores are expected to be available via MyUSAGym. Links will be added to this page in due course. Gymnastics Now will also have a live blog and recap of both days of competition. Subscribe for unlimited access to that and our on-site world championships coverage.
For the country’s top gymnasts, the road to the Paris Olympics will run through Fort Worth next year: The 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships will take place at Dickies Arena, May 30-June 2, 2024.
The four-day men’s and women’s competition will crown national champions and determine the members of the U.S. National Team who will then compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Minneapolis, June 27-30, 2024.
According to a release from the Fort Worth Sports Commission (part of Visit Fort Worth), more than 150 athletes and tens of thousands of fans are expected to attend.
“Tens of thousands” might be a lean estimate considering the bold-face names expected to compete: Tokyo Olympic medalists Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, and Jade Carey; 2016 Olympic champ Gabby Douglas; and U.S. rising superstars Skye Blakely, Shilese Jones, Leanne Wong, Konnor McClain, Kayla DiCello, Zoe Miller, Joscelyn Roberson, Katelyn Jong, Lexi Zeiss, Tiana Sumanasekera, and more.
Not only did Fort Worth host a successful 2021 competition, but the city is a convenient location for many of athletes and coaches. Texas has become a powerhouse state for elite gymnastics, with many of the world’s top athletes now training at World Champions Centre in Spring (Biles’ home gym, owned by her family); World Olympic Gymnastics Academy, or “WOGA,” in Plano (owned by Olympic champ Valeri Liukin, father of 2008 gold medalist Nastia Liukin); and Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell (owned by Olympian Kim Zmeskal and national team member Chris Burdette).
Dickies Arena also hosted the 2022 NCAA Gymnastics Championships and the Biles-led Gold Over America Tour following the Tokyo Olympics.
“We truly value our partnership with USA Gymnastics and we couldn’t be more excited to host this prestigious championship and welcome the best gymnasts and fans in the country to experience all Fort Worth has to offer,” says Jason Sands, executive director of the Fort Worth Sports Commission, in the release.
Tickets to the 2024 Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships will go on sale later this year, organizers say.
