Hezly Rivera, a national and Olympic champion — Watch all the GymCastic press coverage from nationals

And a tip of the hat to our new national champion, Hezly Rivera! 

The senior women’s competitions, which took place over the course of two days, are available to watch (or rewatch) on Peacock (and, if you’re crafty, you might find the international feed on YouTube). The junior women’s competitions are available via USA Gymnastics’ YouTube channel. 

After watching nationals, my takeaway is that it’s a great thing that gymnasts are now encouraged to participate in both elite and NCAA competitions, whether simultaneously or switching off between seasons. The results in New Orleans were testaments to the finesse that college gymnastics can bring to the elite world. 

Rivera, of course, has not yet started college, and she was also the only competitor present with a shiny, gold Olympic medal. Which, if you aren’t aware, adds a lot of pressure to an already pressure-filled situation. Rivera spoke to GymCastic about trying to approach nationals without the weight of expectations, and her strategies seem to have worked. She looked noticeably less shaky than she did at last month’s U.S. Classic — which makes sense, as no one’s peaking at Classic and Rivera’s almost certainly got her eye on making the worlds team for the U.S. this year. But beyond that, her gymnastics also seemed lighter and her performances more cheerful, especially on floor. 

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After the two days of competition, it was Rivera who convincingly came out on top of the podium. She showed off a measured amount of difficulty, appropriate for someone both coming off the Olympic year and going through a growth spurt, and she performed well and cleanly. She took not only the all-around victory, but claimed gold on bars, beam, and floor as well. LSU has to wait a year for Rivera to enroll, but they have to be happy with this result. 

Leanne Wong, a recent Florida graduate and new student assistant coach for the Gators, was the runner-up to Rivera in the all-around. But the real news here was Wong’s Cheng vault, which came out of hiding on the second day of competition and propelled her right to the top of the standings. It also greatly increases her chance of making the world team — has she finally unlocked the curse of the alternate? Let’s hope so. She looked great across the board here, but it’s great to see her spotting a weakness for the national team and capitalizing on it. 

In third place was Joscelyn Roberson, coming in hot off her freshman year at Arkansas. Roberson’s typically powerful tumbling was balanced here by far more cleanliness than she’s demonstrated in previous seasons. But the most obvious change to Roberson’s gymnastics was her bars performance; whatever the Razorbacks are doing with her there, they should keep it up, because she came within a hair of medalling on the event after years of it being her noticeable weakness in the sport. 

As of now, unless someone whose day was not quite as great in New Orleans (like Jayla Hang or Claire Pease, both of whom appeared nervous at nationals but certainly have the potential) comes back and secures a guaranteed spot on the worlds team at the selection camp, I think the team could well be comprised of Rivera, Wong, and Roberson, with an assist from Skye Blakely. Blakely, also a Florida Gator, only competed two events — bars and beam — but shone on both despite some jitters. If she continues to improve, the U.S. would be foolish to leave her home. To look that good a year after an Achilles tear is a big statement, and Blakely is certainly on her revenge tour this season after her tendon took her out of the running for the Paris Olympic team. 

The mood on the floor at nationals certainly looked and felt more like a college meet than the elite meets of yore, and that’s a positive change for a USA Gymnastics that continues to evolve. 

Other gym news:

You can read all the nationals liveblogs at both The Balance Beam Situation and The Gymternet.

College Gym News reviews Hezly Rivera’s performance at nationals and looks ahead to her LSU career. 

Suni Lee appears to be officially retired, and living her best life. 

Rebeca Andrade announced that she will no longer compete floor. Bad for gym fans, great for her ACLs!  

Taylor Spears is stepping down as Arizona’s assistant coach. 

Morgan Hurd was inducted into the USAG Hall of Fame. 

Hurd also did a live show with GymCastic during nationals (and on a break from their job photographing the competition!). Here’s a preview; you can visit the GymCastic website to buy a ticket to view the whole thing. 

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