JotBlog

HARTFORD, Conn. — Jordan Chiles, one of the most accomplished gymnasts in the United States, wasn’t pleased with her performances last year. The Tokyo Olympian and three-time world championships medalist expected more than the up-and-down outings that led her to miss out on a spot at worlds. She returned for 2024 more prepared and with urgency, “realizing that I wanted to go for Paris for real,” she said.

But the day before her season debut at the U.S. Classic, Chiles found herself a bit disappointed again. Her pre-meet training session didn’t go as well as she had hoped.

Chiles’s coach, Cecile Landi, reminded her: “Angry Jordan is a great Jordan.”

So Chiles found a spark by thinking “back in time to when I felt like I wasn’t seen in this sport,” referencing the years before her rise to Tokyo when she was viewed as a talented but inconsistent gymnast. Chiles returned to XL Center on Saturday night, and an outstanding performance followed.

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Chiles finished third behind Simone Biles and Shilese Jones, the only gymnasts who entered the year with spots on the five-person Olympic team nearly certain. That leaves three slots available for at least twice as many athletes who have a legitimate chance. The U.S. Classic began a run of three competitions — the national championships and the Olympic trials are still to come — that are critical for the top contenders.

For Chiles, Saturday’s solid all-around outing was a key step, particularly after her trouble last year. She finished the meet with a 55.450, nearly a full point better than her top score in 2023. That would have been the fourth-best score in the 2023 world championships all-around final, and even though judging is usually more strict at major international competitions, it’s still a reassuring gauge of Chiles’s competitiveness.

In the lead-up to the Tokyo Games, Chiles became known as a steady all-arounder whom the team could rely on. She began to look that part again at the U.S. Classic despite a couple of errors on floor. She landed out of bounds on one tumbling pass and finished a bit short on another but otherwise was solid throughout the competition.

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Experience at the Olympics means little when athletes are vying for selection several years later. The five-member team for the world championships in 2023 included just one previous Olympian: Biles. Like Chiles, Jade Carey, the floor gold medalist in Tokyo, struggled at times last year. Sunisa Lee, the reigning Olympic all-around champion, was severely limited as she dealt with two kidney diseases and ultimately withdrew from the worlds selection event.

But with the Olympic trials just six weeks away, those three Tokyo Olympians are strengthening their competitive résumés.

Lee’s progress

Lee and her coaches have carefully paced her training since her health trouble began in early 2023. She started this year with a lackluster showing at the Winter Cup as she struggled on bars and beam, usually her best events. A couple of months later, she was excellent on beam at the American Classic and replicated that performance, despite a more difficult mount and dismount, at the U.S. Classic. Lee’s 14.600 on the apparatus topped the field, and she has now scored at least a 14.000 on beam in four of six outings since the beginning of 2023, giving the U.S. selection committee ample evidence she could help the team. On the other apparatuses, Lee has more to prove.

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“Right now, I’m just trying to give myself some grace and realize that I’m just not where I want to be quite yet,” Lee said. “But it’s only going to get better.”

Lee performed just a full-twisting vault but hopes to attempt a double twist at nationals. At the U.S. Classic, she did a competitive elite floor routine for the first time since the Tokyo Games. And while she said “it’s good to kind of fight that demon,” Lee admitted it was “obviously not the routine that I want to do for the rest of the season,” hinting at her plans to boost the level of difficulty. Bars has long been Lee’s specialty, but since struggling at the Winter Cup in February, she has not attempted a routine in a meet. She said she plans to compete in the all-around at nationals.

Even though Lee’s beam performances have been impressive, she may need to supplement that with her trademark excellence on bars to secure an Olympic spot.

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Carey gets closer with difficult vault

If Carey makes the Olympic team, it will be in large part because of how she can help the United States on vault and floor. Carey finished fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Classic and took a positive step by landing her most difficult vault, known as a Cheng, which has a higher maximum score than the vaults of all U.S. gymnasts except for Biles. (Joscelyn Roberson, another Olympic hopeful, also performs a Cheng.) That vault gives Carey a 0.6-point boost over most of her peers.

Carey scored a 14.300, a solid mark. But if the selection committee values gymnasts who can maximize the team’s total, she may need to show that her vault is at least a few tenths of a point better than other contenders who rely on the slightly easier double-twisting Yurchenko. (At the U.S. Classic, the best three double-twisting Yurchenkos earned between 14.050 and 14.350.) Carey, who scored as high as 14.800 last fall, has the potential to solidify herself as the country’s second-best vaulter behind Biles.

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Carey placed fifth on floor with a 13.800. Kaliya Lincoln, a newcomer who also has a chance to make the Olympic team, is excellent on that apparatus. Lincoln scored 14.000 at the U.S. Classic and has been consistently solid, which could make Carey’s upcoming performances on vault more important. Contributing on multiple events may lead the selection committee to favor Carey over Lincoln, even if Lincoln has a narrow edge on floor.

Douglas’s fading hopes

Gabby Douglas has returned to competitive gymnastics after a layoff of nearly eight years but has struggled. She performed some difficult skills in her debut last month but also made mistakes. At the U.S. Classic, she began the meet on bars and fell twice. After that, she withdrew from the competition. No reason was given.

Douglas did not achieve the all-around qualifying score needed for nationals. At the American Classic, she earned a three-event total that met the required benchmark, so she can compete on vault, bars and beam at nationals, but her Olympic hopes are fading fast.

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