Leanne Wong’s time is now — Watch interviews from World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia

Leanne Wong, silver all-around world medalist again! 

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I think we’re seeing the quad of Leanne Wong just getting started here. Wong has been an alternate on two Olympic teams (2020 and 2024). She was, as I referenced above, also the world silver AA medalist in 2021, the year worlds were held just after the Olympics due to the COVID-19 postponement of the latter, and won a bronze on floor there as well. Then we saw her as a workhorse member of the 2022 and 2023 worlds teams, where she contributed to two consecutive team gold medals but did not win any individual medals. 

During this time, of course, she was competing at the University of Florida simultaneously while also running her business, the Leanne Wong Bowtique, and starting a foundation, and becoming somewhat of a real estate mogul. This year, she will serve as the Gators’ student assistant coach, taking graduate classes with an eye on med school. 

And this silver medal proves that you can have a life and do elite gymnastics, and do both astonishingly well. Wong is exactly what gymnastics fans had hoped would emerge out of the last tumultuous decade of our sport: An athlete who can perform equally well on the world stage and in college, can get a college degree while making money as an athlete through NIL, and can create new pathways as both an athlete and a businesswoman that will carry her past her career in gymnastics. And she’s not even close to being done with gymnastics; she’s just getting started here, with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics sparkling in the distance.  

Wong, long known for her bars and beam prowess, emerged this season as a surprise vault superpower for the U.S. squad. With Simone Biles and Jade Carey out of the picture this elite season, and Skye Blakeley, whose own Cheng vault was the talk of Olympic Trials last year until Blakeley ruptured her Achilles, only competing bars and beam this year, Wong’s Cheng suddenly became her ticket to Jakarta.

And it’s what cinched her silver medal in Jakarta as well. Wong was in fourth place in the standings with just vault left to go, and she went for broke. It paid off for her. The difficult vault has caused some issues for Wong in the past, including deductions for not using both of her hands during her block off the vault table. But she made it through the judging process at worlds, and goes home with the hardware. 

Wong already had proof that she can compete, and medal, at this level. But now she’s standing out rather than blending in to the teams she can make, and showing that she is more than just the perfect alternate for an international team. I can’t wait to see what’s next. 

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Other gym news

The Gymternet liveblogged the AA and qualifications (all of the subdivisions!) for us. Bless. 

The Balance Beam Situation also liveblogged the AA and qualifications (Day 1 and Day 2). 

GymCastic has comprehensive worlds coverage here, including daily podcast recaps. 

Kaylia Nemour did a cute Get Ready With Me before the AA final: 

Five at The IX: GymCastic at World Champs in Jakarta

Check out this playlist of interviews by GymCastic’s Jessica O’Beirne, shot by videographer Deanna Hong: