U.S. women’s world team selection camp 411: Field, schedule, and how to watch
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 @ 5:15 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.
