2024 USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials: Preview, field, schedule, how to watch
The USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials are set for June 27-30 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the conclusion of the competition, the men’s and women’s teams for the 2024 Paris Olympics will be named.
A note on selection procedures
The selection procedures for the men’s and women’s U.S. teams are different and important to note.
Both teams will consist of five (5) athletes each (10 total) and be named after Day 2 of competition for the respective teams (Saturday, June 29 for the men, Sunday, June 30 for the women).
For the U.S. men, in addition to the main team, there will be two traveling alternates and up to three non-traveling alternates decided by the Senior Selection Committee (SSC).
If the top all-around athlete after two days also places in the top three on at least three apparatus, they will automatically make the team. The remaining team (or the whole team, if the top all-around athlete doesn’t meet the aforementioned criteria) will be decided using 1) team-scoring scenarios and 2) discretionary criteria.
We won’t dive deep into the data sets and numbers conversation, but know that, depending on how Olympic Trials shakes out, the men’s team could be determined via automatic selection based on the established team-scoring scenarios and criteria. But, if the data is essentially not clear cut on who the team should be, then the SSC could consider additional discretionary criteria (more scoring scenarios, difficulty scores, individual medal potential, etc.) to decide the team.
For the U.S. women, the selection of the main team, plus two traveling alternates and two non-traveling alternates, is almost entirely based on discretionary criteria.
The only individual the Athlete Selection Committee (ASC) won’t decide is the all-around winner of Olympic Trials, who will automatically qualify to the team.
So who is likely going to Paris?
Women’s preview
On the women’s side, 37-time Olympic and World medalist Simone Biles is expected to make her third Olympic team after winning her ninth U.S. all-around title earlier this month.
The remaining four members of the women’s team started to take shape at the U.S. championships. While there will be 16 deserving athletes competing in Minneapolis, about half of those are in true contention for the Paris squad.
Despite having to withdraw as a precaution from championships due to a nagging shoulder injury, Shilese Jones is the clear No. 2 gymnast for Team USA and can contend for multiple individual Olympic medals as well (all-around, bars), barring that injury turning into something major. Skye Blakely finished second at championships and saw her Olympic stock sky-rocket when she debuted an upgraded Cheng as her second vault. Blakely’s upgrade puts Tokyo Olympian Jade Carey and Joscelyn Roberson’s chances in jeopardy since they also add significant value on vault. It’s unlikely that reigning Olympic all-around champion Suni Lee will get the chance to defend her crown with Biles, Jones, and Blakely stronger across all four events, but her medal chances on bars and beam, and ability to contribute on the other two events if needed, make her a likely pick.
The fifth and final spot is expected to be the most contentious, with Carey, Roberson, Tokyo Olympian Jordan Chiles, Kayla DiCello, and Kaliya Lincoln all able to contribute in some of the top-scoring team scenarios.
Carey, the reigning Olympic floor champion, and Roberson would both contribute significantly on vault and floor. Chiles and DiCello can put up strong scores on vault, bars, and floor. Lincoln is on the top-scoring team solely because of her floor prowess, but she would essentially be taken as a single-event specialist – a risky endeavor considering the other options.
Leanne Wong, Hezly Rivera, and Tiana Sumanasekera could also make their case with strong performances in Minneapolis. Wong has been a steady contributor for the U.S. as the only gymnast to make all three World teams this quad. Rivera is a first-year senior who had an outstanding U.S. championships and is strong across the board, but she shines on beam. Sumanasekera has been one of the most consistent gymnasts as of late, but her weakness on bars is a concern.
Men’s preview
The battle for the men’s team could be even more interesting as the U.S. program has made impressive strides this quad. That’s thanks in large part to a bonus system that rewarded athletes for increasing their difficulty in an effort to put the team on par with powerhouses China, Japan, and Russia (the latter of who will not be competing in Paris).
A year removed from a nearly career-ending leg injury, Brody Malone is expected to make his second Olympic team after winning his third U.S. all-around title earlier this month – an incredible comeback that cannot be overemphasized.
Expected to join him in Paris are World medalists Fred Richard and Khoi Young – both strong all-arounders with individual medal potential.
If the team is automatically selected based on scoring scenarios, then a discussion about the final two spots is a moot point. (BTW, Malone, Richard, and Young are currently on basically all of the top-scoring teams.) That being said, it could still go to discretionary criteria, and there are still two more days of competition to be considered.
The fourth and fifth spots are where Olympic Trials will likely be the determining factor, although Yul Moldauer already slots into that fourth spot nicely thanks to his strong all-around scores and individual strengths on floor and parallel bars.
A mix of Moldauer, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda, and Donnell Whittenburg occupy the final two spots of a lot of these scoring scenarios after championships.
Nedoroscik is a pommel horse specialist. He would be taken to Paris to compete a max of three pommel horse routines – that’s it. Nedoroscik narrowly missed out on making the Tokyo team to Alec Yoder and went on to win the 2021 world pommel horse title. He’s flexible on the fly and could put up a safe, yet still difficult, set in qualifying and take it up a notch in finals. If he were to hit his most difficult set in the Paris pommel horse final, he would easily contend for the podium, potentially gold (read: there are a lot of talented pommel specialists going to Paris).
Juda and Whittenburg are both steady all-arounders with different strengths. Juda can put up strong scores on floor, pommel, and vault. He could make a floor final and was a vault finalist at 2023 Worlds. Whittenburg — the oldest competitor, man or woman, at trials at 29 — looks strong, especially on his trademark events of rings and vault, where he could make event finals.
Other all-arounders to watch for are Tokyo Olympian Shane Wiskus, who finished top five at championships, Cameron Bock, Colt Walker, and World medalist Asher Hong, who struggled a bit in Fort Worth but shouldn’t be counted out after being a crucial member of the past two World teams.
The other non-all-arounder that is in contention is Curran Phillips, who had to withdraw from championships on Day 2 because of a thumb injury. Phillips would really be taken for his parallel bars, where he is a medal contender. He can also put up strong scores on vault and high bar and showed a floor routine at championships that could be used as a backup in qualifying or team final.
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Keep reading for the full field, schedule, and how to watch.
Field for the 2024 USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials
Women (16)
- Simone Biles — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
- Skye Blakely — Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
- Jade Carey — Phoenix, Ariz./Oregon State University
- Dulcy Caylor — Spring, Texas/World Champions Centre
- Jordan Chiles — Vancouver, Wash./World Champions Centre
- Kayla DiCello — Boyds, Md./Hill’s Gymnastics
- Shilese Jones — Auburn, Wash./Ascend Gymnastics Center
- Suni Lee — St. Paul, Minn./Midwest Gymnastics Center
- Kaliya Lincoln — Frisco, Texas/WOGA Gymnastics
- Eveylynn Lowe — Blue Springs, Mo./Great American Gymnastics Express
- Zoey Molomo — Frisco, Texas/Metroplex Gymnastics
- Hezly Rivera — Oradell, N.J./WOGA Gymnastics
- Joscelyn Roberson — Texarkana, Texas/World Champions Centre
- Simone Rose — Sammamish, Wash./Pacific Reign Gymnastics
- Tiana Sumanasekera — Pleasanton, Calif./World Champions Centre
- Leanne Wong — Overland Park, Kan./University of Florida
Men (20)
- Fuzzy Benas — Richmond, Texas/University of Oklahoma
- Jeremy Bischoff — Santa Clarita, Calif./Stanford University
- Cameron Bock — Tustin, Calif./University of Michigan
- Tate Costa — Narragansett, R.I./University of Illinois
- Alex Diab — Hinsdale, Ill./EVO Gymnastics
- Asher Hong — Tomball, Texas/Stanford University
- Patrick Hoopes — Lehi, Utah/U.S. Air Force Academy
- Paul Juda — Deerfield, Ill./University of Michigan
- Josh Karnes — Erie, Pa./Penn State University
- Brody Malone — Aragon, Ga. /EVO Gymnastics
- Kiran Mandava — Cypress, Texas/Cypress Academy of Gymnastics
- Yul Moldauer — Arvada, Colo./5280 Gymnastics
- Stephen Nedoroscik — Worcester, Mass./EVO Gymnastics
- Curran Phillips — Naperville, Ill./EVO Gymnastics
- Frederick Richard — Stoughton, Mass./University of Michigan
- Kai Uemura — Chicago, Ill./Lakeshore Academy
- Colt Walker — Cedar Park, Texas/Stanford University
- Donnell Whittenburg — Baltimore, Md./Salto Gymnastics
- Shane Wiskus — Spring Park, Minn./EVO Gymnastics
- Khoi Young — Bowie, Md./Stanford University
Schedule & how to watch the 2024 USA Gymnastics Olympic Trials
*All times Eastern.
| Date | Time | Session | How to Watch | Start List |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, June 27 | 6:30-9:00 p.m. | Men Day 1 | USA Network, Peacock (Live Scores) | Start List |
| Friday, June 28 | 7:30-10 p.m. | Women Day 1 | NBC (at 8 p.m.), Peacock (Live Scores) | Start List |
| Saturday, June 29 | 3:00-6:00 p.m. | Men Day 2 | NBC, Peacock (Live Scores) | Start List |
| Sunday, June 30 | 8:00-11:00 p.m. | Women Day 2 | NBC (at 8:30 p.m.), Peacock (Live Scores) | Start List |
